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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the stages involved in the module development process at the Open University Malaysia (OUM), to make them “print ready,” and how this has evolved over the years with various quality assurance (QA) mechanisms in place.

The paper builds upon the 12 quality control checks in the various stages of module development from pre-development to actual development and finally to post-development process. This is in line with the QA continuous improvement process of PDCA or Plan, Do, Check and Act.

Change, through the fine-tuning of QA processes and open door communication, is the key toward achieving quality modules, and hence meeting learners’ expectations.

This paper highlights the experiences of only the Centre for Instructional Design and Technology, OUM in the development of quality learning material for the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) learners.

This paper outlines the step-by-step process in module development, from print to print-ready material, to assist the ODL universities in their mission to provide quality learning material to learners.

Online discussion forums have the potential to add value to the total learning environmental in open distance learning. A study analyzing more than a hundred online forums from twenty offered by four faculties was conducted at the Open University Malaysia (OUM). The study aimed to determine how effective online forums were in contributing to the blended learning pedagogies adopted by the university. Using the Community of Inquiry model to evaluate the effectiveness of the forum discourse, the forums were examined to determine the extent of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence in the forums. The study also looked at similarities and differences in interactions in the various forums. Several interesting observation were made as a result of the analysis. One major observation made was the need for tutors to be trained on how to field questions, pose questions and lead as well as moderate the discussions. The study was timely to ensure that online discussion forums contribute further to the blended learning environment at OUM.

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) has been widely discussed by academicians and Information Technology (IT) personnel's in recent years. In an ODL system, ELearning Delivery Platform (ELDP) plays an integral part that ensures learning materials delivered to users in the most effective and efficient manner. Identifying the selection criteria's is very important and vital for a suitable ELDP system that will enhance and enrich the ODL. At the same time, evaluation formats or check-sheets can be developed using the criteria's to evaluate various ELDP providers by the ODL provider. The criteria's can also be used to help the ELDP developer or provider to develop new systems and make further improvements from time to time. This paper gives a brief summary of the criteria's to select an ELDP system for delivering education via ODL environment. The criteria's are required to satisfy the requirements for courses such as arts, social science, business, management, IT, engineering, science, and so on. It also represents the multiple perspectives of the course developer, the course learning-ware developer, the course lecturer/tutor, the course e-learning administrative staff, the technical support staff, the student and the university administration.

The study aims to summarize the 20 years of literature published in takaful between 2000 and 2019 and propose some key areas as the directions for future research.

The present study utilizes the systematic method of reviewing the literature. The SCOPUS database has been accessed, and 96 articles have been accounted for the analysis. The articles are grouped in their exclusive themes, such as consumer behavior, financial and nonfinancial performance, takaful models, human resources and governance.

Takaful research has widely covered marketing, finance, human resource, governance and stresses on its legal issues. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies have been employed. The research gaps have been classified based on the respective areas. Large share of current body of takaful literature consists of the studies related to the application of behavioural theories to examine the behavioural intention to take up takaful services.

The study enriches the literature of takaful by reviewing articles according to their respective themes, thereby contributing to the significant findings missing from existing literature surveys.