NILAI, JULY 10, 2019 – Prof Dr Rozhan Mohammed Idrus, Research Fellow at the Islamic Science Institute (ISI) Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), became the first Professor of Distance Learning in Malaysia to receive the Award for Excellence in e-learning and also the 50 Fabulous Edutech Leaders Award held on 4 July 2019 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India. Prior to that, he received the Award for Best Professor in Immersive Technology Studies on 24 April 2019 in Kuala Lumpur in The 6th Golden Globe Tiger Awards – Education Leadership.
Prof Dr Rozhan, 60, received the award for his outstanding achievements as a consultant in the field of Open & Distance Learning as well as for his research and publication works at the international level. Among the international agencies that have received his expertise are Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), SEAMEO-RECSAM and UNESCO.
The Penang-born native holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Physics from the University of Salford, the United Kingdom and has more than 30 years of experience as an expert in e-learning technology, analyst, consultant, administrator and facilitator of workshops and has presented 52 keynote addresses in 18 countries as well as publishing 192 publications in indexed international journals, books and handbook chapters. He also served as the Chief Editor of the Malaysian Journal of Educational Technology (2001-2016).
His achievements include spearheading the electronic portal built by the institution (2003), pioneering the use of SMS in the teaching of physics (2008), garnering awards in mobile learning at the World Education Summit 2011, e-INDIA Awards (2010) and the Asia Pacific Mobile Learning & Edutainment Advisory Panel (APACMLEAP) (2009), as well as winning the Gold Medal Award in Innovation and Creation in the Education Competition 2016 at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Malaysia and the Gold Medal Award at the 3rd World Invention Innovation Contest 2017 in Seoul, Korea.
He was also conferred the Higher Education e-Learning Maestro Award at the 2nd International University Carnival on eLearning (2017). Prof Rozhan also introduced the term technogogy to the education field in 2005, a concept that combines the elements of students, teaching materials, pedagogy and technology. The concept has been applied in the development framework of technology-based teaching materials.
According to Prof Rozhan, positive developments in the use of e-learning are underscored by the implementation of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and Open Educational Resources (OER) by local and international institutions that provide students the opportunity to explore learning materials such as lectures and educational resources along with interacting with other students globally.
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) has successfully developed the MOOC for selected open courses. USIM is also an active participant in electronic education when it became the first public university in Malaysia to be listed on Apple iTunesU in 2015. Such electronic network distribution tools have facilitated educators in sharing courses and teaching and learning materials based on Naqli and Aqli, which are the pillars of knowledge philosophy supported by USIM.
Prepared by:
Noorumaina Mohamed Yunus
Pusat Komunikasi Strategik (StraComm)
Aras 1, Canselori Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan