Viewpoints

Addressing Open University UK Masters Students, 2023

My Journey

•Transformative and collaborative

•Engage in discussion forums, receive feedback from peers, collaborate on projects, and participate in a community of practice

•Supporting each others

•Introduced to concepts such as digital literacy, ownership, and open education

•Improved me as a digital practitioner, improved my research skills, helped me to identify my potential, and worked on areas of improvement.

•Joined online communities for sustainable networking and gaining support from global scholars.

•Exploredvarious online platforms

•Realized the immense potential these communities held in supporting my educational journey-feedback

•The culture of sharing and openness boosted confidence in taking ownership and disseminating knowledge to broader communities.


Tips


Open Educational Resources


Dr. Munir Moosa delivered a presentation at the United Nations General Assembly Science Summit, 2023. Here are the policy recommendations:

Interview with the Open University UK 2023

My name is Munir Moosa, and I am from Pakistan. I have been serving as an Assistant Professor of Education at a public-sector university in Karachi, Pakistan. Additionally, I hold the role of a volunteer director at the Global Forum for Teacher Educators, where I advocate for free human rights education for marginalized children, young people, and women. I also contribute to the professional development of teachers in over 75 countries at no cost.

 

I started my Masters in Online and Distance Education from the Open University UK in 2017 which ended in 2019. I am fortunate to have been awarded the Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarship. This master's program has transformed me into a digital practitioner and has significantly impacted my professional life in various ways.

 

My entire journey has been transformative and collaborative. From the beginning of the program, I was encouraged to engage in discussion forums, receive feedback from peers, collaborate on projects, and participate in a community of practice. We all functioned like a family, supporting one another. In particular, I was introduced to concepts such as digital literacy, ownership, and open education, which had the most significant impact on me. This led me to develop a greater interest in website design, testing, development, and the publishing of open educational resources. Today, I am credited with four open educational resources and have contributed to the creation of more than 20 educational and social models and frameworks.  

 

Joining online communities is crucial for sustainable networking and gaining support from global scholars. Also, if you want to get international opportunities like participating in conferences or fellowships, you have to be part of online communities. Exploring various online platforms can help you determine which one would be most beneficial for your academic growth. Initially, I was skeptical about joining numerous online communities, but I learned how to search online resources logically, maintain privacy, and effectively communicate with others. With time, I realized the immense potential these communities held in supporting my educational journey. They connected me with top-notch scholars worldwide who provided valuable feedback on my work. Additionally, these online communities allowed me to gather extensive data and feedback that would have been otherwise inaccessible

 

The culture of sharing and openness will boost your confidence in taking ownership and disseminating knowledge to broader communities. The primary purpose of education is to share knowledge and experiences rather than hoarding them. This connection to the world allows others to benefit from your work, and in turn, you will receive recognition and acknowledgment from the global community. I suggest you all start sharing your work as an intellectual gift to others

 

Education-based communities of practice benefit individuals by keeping them updated with the latest developments and ongoing innovative practices in the field of education. It will also improve your knowledge and skills and allow you to make new networks for collaboration.

 

Congratulations to all the bright minds embarking on the new online teaching program. I strongly advise you to stay active, connect, collaborate, network, and support your classmates. Extend your help and expertise to your peers and foster intellectual openness within the community.

 

MAODE has improved me as a digital practitioner, improved my research skills, helped me to identify my potential, and worked on areas of improvement. In the final year of my studies, I was privileged to be selected for full funding to attend a conference by the Commonwealth of Learning in the UK. Additionally, I am thrilled to share that I recently received the Social Impact Award for my educational model from the British Council, among other achievements.

 

As you commence this journey, it's natural to feel overwhelmed initially, but with time, you'll become more accustomed to this innovative path. I recommend allocating dedicated time each week to complete your tasks, delve into additional resources, and engage in more interactions.


Mental Health Education

For Micro-credit course  on Mental Health, Future Learn and The Open University, UK (Sadruddin, 2020)

I recently completed a Masters in Online and Distance Education as an online distance learning student from The Open University, UK. For three years, I participated in communities of practices, contributed to discussion forums, completed a few individual and collaborative projects, attended webinars, and also presented findings of my pilot project in the H818 online conference.  I am confident to say that The Open University has transformed me into a networked practitioner.

During my studies in Pakistan, I suffered from mental health challenges. It was very difficult to balance professional and academic life. I was bullied, harassed and was mentally abused. At one point during my Ph.D. studies, I experienced imposter syndrome. My dignity and self-respect were compromised. I was completely shattered and isolated. I lost all hopes in life. I never even expressed my issues with my parents or siblings because traditionally I was groomed not to push my burden on their shoulders. Comparing that with my experience at The Open University, I received moral and academic support from tutors and peers. My studies revived my hopes and strengthened my future goals. Today, I am a proud volunteer ambassador of mental health. These days, I am experimenting with innovative digital interventions to benefit wider communities.

In Pakistan, the prevalence of mental health challenges are growing rapidly. People have a stigmatizing attitude towards mental health due to a lack of awareness. Talking about mental health is considered as a stigma due to socio-cultural barriers, prejudice, social constructs, and common misconceptions like if a girl shares about the mental issue, it is difficult for her to find a good groom. Similarly, a good number of people seek social distance with someone who suffers from a mental health issue.

Pakistan follows a patriarchal culture. Sharing is considered as a shame due to which many individuals face mental exhaustion. There is a growing trends of depression and suicidal thoughts among learners due to stress and other underlying reasons. Extreme psychological distress is rising among university students and teachers due to competition, extremism, workload, harassment, discrimination, personal issues, and financial issues. This problem is more prevalent among female teachers and students. They are less empowered to cope with depression. There is no school or university offers courses on mental health across Pakistan. Also, there is no socio-counseling unit available at university level across Pakistan.

Usually, the first preference of the people is not to disclose their mental health challenge to their family members because they prefer living in isolation to avoid shaming. The second option is traditional healing practices where people visit faith healers, while very few people seek medical advice, which is not affordable for many.

During recent years, I have witnessed that awareness about mental health is gradually growing through the initiatives of civil society.

As an educator, I use social counseling and self-empowerment strategies to help others. Since the completion of my studies, I am using technology to help raising awareness about mental health. I wrote a book face of depression and silent scream for global empowerment.

I also designed and piloted a socio-culturally situated low cost mental health intervention for the well-being of Pakistani young women of disadvantaged communities. I designed a website with open resources. All the female participants participated in the community of practices. I am also teaching teachers and students to explore their identity by taking workshops and free seminars. One of the activities WHO AM I was a success. Through drawing students across Pakistan participate and share Reflective diary is also the strategy I am employing to support learners’ well-being.

I personally think that it is pertinent to teach students and teachers to reflect on their identities. To accept and embrace themselves self and to break the silence for their well-being can help to erase the long-standing societal stigma against mental illness.


Reference: Sadruddin, M.M. (September, 2020). Mental Health Education. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/view/munir-moosa-sadruddin/my-viewpoints?authuser=0


Discussion for VLog, Resh Ramasamy (Sadruddin, 2020)

I have been interacting with global learners to understand their problems for the last 8 years and working closely for their well being. They are facing unprecedented challenges. Here I will talk about three pertinent challenges faced by international students, based on my published report.

Those are 1.  Inaccessibility to higher education 2. Intolerance 3. Ban on free speech.

The inaccessibility of higher education is very common due to the weak lack of transparent funding mechanism, as well as income and gender divide. Rising education cost due to the commercialization of education has resisted many young people to quit higher education.  Although a few funding agencies are providing scholarship opportunities to talented individuals, the decision remains in the hand of powerful education commissions.

2. , Universities are the hub of breeding Extremism and intolerance. Politics, Racism, and cultural insensitivities have stimulated clashes among learners. We can’t blame students completely for their participation in violent activities. They are being indoctrinated to preach an extremist ideology. But why? We need to find the root cause. I hold this viewpoint that Young people participate in violent activities when the policies fail to deter their rights. Universities claim that they support social justice practices, but regretfully, it has failed to support social justice practices in most of the developing countries. Weak internal policies along with a lack of inclusion of human rights education in the curricula and course work are the potential reasons for growing intolerance.

3. free speech is the right of every individual however many Universities in the developing countries have imposed restrictions on those areas of free speech, which are not aligned with their ideology. Few of the universities have claimed that their policies are in support of social justice practices, but they breach faculty and students' rights. Ban on free speech has radically extended hate speech and intolerant activities.

Recommendation

1.       I strongly believe that the HE policy has the potential to stimulate social justice practices. In this regard, liaison between policy and its execution is of utmost importance. Include the excluded –here I focus on students. They should be part of institution policymaking.

2.       Education policies should be surrounded by human rights values. It will help breeding ethical leadership,

3.        There is a lack of inclusion of human rights education in their curricula. I strongly believe that if integrated, it can instill human right values among learners and teachers and can shape a positive attitude towards social justice

4.       Universities should encourage free speech practices through multicultural dialogues and critical discussions

5.       Allocation and dissemination of funding needs vigorous scrutiny so that deserving students are not left behind. I think we also need to empower youth to take ownership of creating opportunities rather than relying only on the government- that all omnipreneurship.


Reference: Sadruddin, M.M. ( 2020). Discussion for VLog, Resh Ramasamy. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/view/munir-moosa-sadruddin/my-viewpoints?authuser=0




Dr. Munir was invited to represent Pakistan in the United Nations, Vienna (Online) in October 2020

Read his comments on this website  https://www.unodc.org/hlr/en/Follow-upProcess.html  or you can read the statement below


Rising use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and its adverse mental health consequences among youth

Greetings Mr. Chair and all the colleagues.

First of all, I would like to appreciate the commitment of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the UN for putting all the efforts into combating drug abuse including the new psychoactive substances.

Pakistan is committed to eliminate the menace of drugs and to make Pakistan a drug-free nation. It has strengthened the cooperation with many organizations to combat drug trafficking, however, drugs are still easily accessible to the people.

The market of new psychoactive substances is a threat to Pakistan and is an emerging phenomenon.

Synthetic drugs such as the use of ecstasy are accessible to young people within the educational institutions, in cafes, kiosks, parks, blind-corners, and restaurants. Young people, both males and females, usually start using drugs due to many reasons including but not limited to as an experimental thing or due to peer pressure. In most cases, it turns into a chain addiction. The horrendous rising use of psychoactive substances among youth, particularly students has escalated mental health challenges among them such as memory loss, fatigue, psychiatric diseases, hallucination, social isolation, depression, schizophrenia, and suicidal tendencies. It has also resulted in their participation in drug peddling, violence, and extreme crime. One of the reasons is the lack of awareness about its consequences. There is no inclusion of courses on drug education at any educational level in Pakistan, which in my viewpoint can play a significant role in preparing youth to keep themselves away from drug abuse.

The national anti-narcotic policy of 2019 is a promising document that has highlighted the emerging trends of new psychoactive substances. It has underlined to prevent and counter the emerging challenge of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS) by developing the capacity to detect and identify those substances and strengthening law enforcement, criminal justice, and health responses.

For the prevention spectrum, I request the policymakers and the educational institutions to introduce a mandatory course on human rights education and drug education at the national level, so that young people can take ownership, and refrain to get indulged in drug practices. Alongside this, we need to provide them guidance and counseling through the establishment of socio-counseling units at the institutional level.

I present my socioecoethical model of human rights education to the competent authorities that may help in promoting human rights values among you.


Reference: Sadruddin, M.M. ( 2020). Rising use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and its adverse mental health consequences among youth. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/view/munir-moosa-sadruddin/my-viewpoints?authuser=0


For British Council, Pakistan (2020)

 

MUNIR MOOSA SADRUDDIN is a University Teacher, Human Rights Educator, Social and Educational Counselor, Teacher Educator, Independent Researcher, Social Anthropologist, Social Activist. MUNIR is also a Volunteer Director of Global Forum for Teacher Educators where he promotes complimentary human rights centered education to children and women of disadvantaged communities along with adults of all ages and varied demographics.  

 

Professionally, MUNIR pioneered Human Rights Education course for future teachers. Socially, MUNIR’S work is instrumental in promoting human rights values, particularly among children and women belonging to the marginalized communities. MUNIR is the first Asian who introduced the socio-counseling concept for learners, socioecoethical model of social work and contextual socio-eco-ethical model of human rights education. As an Alumnus of The Open University, UK, MUNIR is using radical alternative approach and breaking the prejudices and social constructs of academia through open educational praxis.  He has used low-cost technologies and open educational practices to educate visually-impaired youth; published three open educational e-books on mental health; piloted the first mental health awareness culturally contextual website for the well-being of Pakistani young women, that has now taken a shape of a close digital group having around 12,000 women, who are benefitting from open educational resources, designed contextually for self-empowerment towards mental health.  He is the first Asian who has educated more than half a million teachers towards human rights education and digital learning during COVID-19 via his volunteer platform at no cost. He has also proposed Munir's permeable digital networking model; Munir's digital taxonomy of learning; Munir’ Model of Teachers Identity Exploration; Munir's Model of Sustainable Education during Uncertain time; ESteam Education Model and Munir's Convergent Model of Reality to the world.

 

MUNIR recently completed a Masters in Online and Distance Education as an online distance learning student from The Open University, UK. For three years, MUNIR participated in communities of practices, contributed to discussion forums, completed a few individual and collaborative projects, attended webinars, and also presented his research work in online and PCF9 conference.  MUNIR observes that the Open University, UK has empowered him with digital literacy and provided him with the opportunity to pilot innovative and inclusive ideas to support his passion for disseminating education to disadvantaged communities. All in all, this distance education has transformed MUNIR into a networked practitioner.

 

MUNIR is utilizing digital literacy to upscale his social and educational work to support marginalized communities. MUNIR looks forward to participate in policy-making dialogues to advocate their human rights as sustainable endeavors.

 

BLOG ENTRIES

BLOG 1

According to Veletsianos and Kimmons (2012), one of the assumptions of open scholarship is that "[it] is treated as an emergent scholarly phenomenon that is co-evolutionary with technological advancements in the larger culture". In my views, open scholarship varies in each context and culture. Example, in Pakistan, academia is not engaged in Open Educational Practices. Few of the reasons are traditional mindset to receive financial incentive against resource sharing, weak technological infrastructure, lack of digital literacy and awareness about the potentials of open scholarship.

Sadruddin, M.M. (2019). My viewpoints. Available at https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?user=363432


BLOG 2

I am not in favor of adapting complete open or closed approach to being a networked practitioner. I prefer balanced approach. It also varies by situation, experience and context.

Open scholarship expands the horizon of sharing resources with wider community. However, we need to look at the socio-cultural contexts, copyright laws of each country, our own preferences as well as our previous experiences towards openness before making any decision about what to share with others. My online work was copied several times, and I had no power to claim those work. I agree with Weller that we can disseminate our work online to wider community through open sharing culture, but Creative Commons has many loopholes. If anyone plagiarizes your work, then it is hard to trace it. If in case the person is caught, you can’t penalize him/her as each country has different copyright laws. Reliable open publishers are looting people and asking for a huge amount for publishing my book or article. Certainly, each individual has to take ownership of open scholarship and must understand the ethical responsibility towards the term ‘openness’.

I also have set my own boundary for openness. Resources which are not supportive to my country ideology, is never shared by me with others. Similarly, I cannot talk about every topic openly online with others due to strict cyber laws. In the same way, I don’t feel comfortable sharing my private life or matters on social networking websites. Openness does not mean that we MUST have to have online accounts on twitter, linkedin, etc. For me, openness is to embrace only those social sites, which makes me feel comfortable in sharing ideas with like-minded people.

Weller said many people get benefit from open publishing to get more citation. It is very hard to ensure whether a writer publishes through open platform to promote open sharing culture or to gain more citation for academic growth?

Please guide how can a person trace how his/her work was reused? Searching online will not always give all the results!

Anne Adams rightly said, “Many virtual learning environments, do not provide adequate feedback or control rights to allow individual students this control.”

We can’t completely trust close ended approach! I am always in fear how my data will be used by social networking administrators. We cannot completely belief them. The option of privacy setting is only abstaining others from looking into our matters, but what if the administration of the social networking site misuse out data? Recently one of the Car apps in Pakistan was caught red-handed selling users data to other companies. In short, to me, openness has deep personal and cultural connection.

Sadruddin, M.M. (2019). Discussing Open and Close Approaches. Available at https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?user=363432


Interview on request of Open University UK, 2023

Please introduce yourself

My name is Munir Moosa, and I am from Pakistan. I have been serving as an Assistant Professor of Education at a public-sector university in Karachi, Pakistan. Additionally, I hold the role of a volunteer director at the Global Forum for Teacher Educators, where I advocate for free human rights education for marginalized children, young people, and women. I also contribute to the professional development of teachers in over 75 countries at no cost. I am enthusiastic about pursuing a Ph.D. with a focus on the use of open educational resources to empower persons with disabilities.

 

When did you study the Open University’s Master in Online and Distance Education?

I started my Masters in Online and Distance Education from the Open University UK in 2017 which ended in 2019. This master's program has transformed me into a digital practitioner and has significantly impacted my professional life in various ways.

 

How important was it to you to receive a Commonwealth Scholarship for your MAODE study?

I am fortunate to have been awarded the Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarship. Without it, I would have been unable to pursue these studies due to financial constraints. It alleviated the financial burden, allowing me to focus wholeheartedly on my academic pursuits.



What aspects of the MAODE that involved collaboration or community made the biggest impact on you?

My entire journey has been transformative and collaborative. From the beginning of the program, I was encouraged to engage in discussion forums, receive feedback from peers, collaborate on projects, and participate in a community of practice. We all functioned like a family, supporting one another. In particular, I was introduced to concepts such as digital literacy, ownership, and open education, which had the most significant impact on me. This led me to develop a greater interest in website design, testing, development, and the publishing of open educational resources. Today, I am credited with four open educational resources and have contributed to the creation of more than 20 educational and social models and frameworks.  

 

What do you think are the benefits to educators of joining online communities?

Joining online communities is crucial for sustainable networking and gaining support from global scholars. Also if you want to get international opportunities like participating in conferences or fellowships, you have to be part of online communities. Exploring various online platforms can help you determine which one would be most beneficial for your academic growth. Initially, I was skeptical about joining numerous online communities, but I learned how to search online resources logically, maintain privacy, and effectively communicate with others. With time, I realized the immense potential these communities held in supporting my educational journey. They connected me with top-notch scholars worldwide who provided valuable feedback on my work. Additionally, these online communities allowed me to gather extensive data and feedback that would have been otherwise inaccessible

 

 

 

 

What are your views on educators sharing their knowledge and experience? And sharing teaching resources openly?

The culture of sharing and openness will boost your confidence in taking ownership and disseminating knowledge to broader communities. The primary purpose of education is to share knowledge and experiences rather than hoarding them. This connection to the world allows others to benefit from your work, and in turn, you will receive recognition and acknowledgment from the global community. So I suggest you all start sharing your work as an intellectual gift to others

 

Since graduating from the MAODE, what online education communities have you been involved with?

 

Since graduating I founded the FREE Academy of Professional Development Academy of Human Rights Education Academy of Environmental and Climate Literacy Global Academy of Early Childhood Education Global Alliance of Inclusive Needs-based Education Global Forum for Critical Reflection in Teaching and Learning Global Club of Mental Health and Drug Awareness GFTE Academy of Open Educational Resources Publication and global academy of environmental and climate literacy.

 

I am a member of various online educational communities including the British Council, Commonwealth, Merlot, World Federation Against Drugs, Creative Commons Global Network; European Union- Research Community, and many others

 

 

Who benefits from education-based communities of practice?

Education-based communities of practice benefit individuals by keeping them updated with the latest developments and ongoing innovative practices in the field of education. It will also improve your knowledge and skills and allow you to make new networks for collaboration.

 

 

The Open University now has a new Masters in Online Teaching with its own Community of Practice including educators, students and alumni. What advice would you give to new MAOT students in terms of their engagement with this community?

Congratulations to all the bright minds embarking on the new online teaching program. I strongly advise you to stay active, connect, collaborate, network, and support your classmates. Extend your help and expertise to your peers and foster intellectual openness within the community.

 

How has studying the MAODE impacted on your practice generally? What subsequent opportunities has it provided to you?

I have been working as a university teacher and I am proud to inform tat I have taught ICT course to the students with lots of digital skills that normally is not practiced in my country by sdudents. MAODE has improved me as a digital practitioner, improved my research skills, helped me to identify my potential, and worked on areas of improvement. In the final year of my studies, I was privileged to be selected for full funding to attend a conference by the Commonwealth of Learning in the UK. 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with the new MAOT students as they begin their Masters journey?

As you commence this journey, it's natural to feel overwhelmed initially, but with time, you'll become more accustomed to this innovative path. I recommend allocating dedicated time each week to complete your tasks, delve into additional resources, and engage in more interactions.