Visionary Leadership:
Charting the Futures of Digital Education
A Free Public Event Consisting of Five Public Lectures by
Leading Experts and a Concluding Roundtable Discussion
Official Opening by
YB Senator Dato’ Seri Diraja Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir
Minister of Higher Education
Organised by
The Centre for Digital Education Futures (CENDEF), Open University Malaysia (OUM)
6 August 2025 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM | Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, Open University Malaysia (OUM), through its Centre for Digital Education Futures (CENDEF), proudly presents a special Public Lecture Series titled “Visionary Leadership: Charting the Futures of Digital Education.”
This inaugural event brings together five of OUM’s Global Fellows, all renowned voices in the field, for a day of thought-provoking lectures and a concluding roundtable.
In line with OUM’s silver jubilee theme “25 Years of Humanising Digital Education,” the series invites reflection on where we are now and how we might shape digital education futures that hold firm to the human at their core, even amid growing pressures to reduce, automate, or displace human judgment and connection.
Each speaker will bring a unique perspective to this challenge, offering insights that speak to both enduring values and emerging possibilities.
The event encourages engagement
with such critical questions as:
What does educational leadership mean in the digital age, and what forms might it need to take?
Who should lead, and how might leadership be distributed, reimagined, or exercised differently in order to shape the future we want?
Can digital education, in both present and future forms, disrupt inequality rather than entrench it, and under what conditions might that be possible?
Designed to engage policymakers, educators, learners, parents, and the wider community, the series reflects OUM’s ongoing commitment to inclusive and participatory dialogue.
As an institution grounded in public engagement, OUM seeks to create sustained spaces where diverse voices can question, reflect, and contribute to shaping more just and human-centred educational futures.
OUM Global Fellows
The speakers featured in the Public Lecture Series are OUM Global Fellows. The OUM Global Fellowship, led by the Centre for Digital Education Futures (CENDEF), brings together distinguished and emerging voices in open, distance, and digital education. Fellows collaborate with the University through research, public dialogue, and strategic engagement. Terms of engagement are flexible, typically spanning one year. Each Fellow contributes a unique perspective to the urgent task of reimagining digital education in ways that are critical, inclusive, and human-centred.
Speakers & Lecture Titles
- Prof Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria: “Rethinking Institutional Leadership Through the Lens of the University of the Future”
- Prof Insung Jung: “Education for All or for the Few? The Promise and Perils of Going Digital”
- Emeritus Prof Paul Prinsloo: “(Re)discovering the Human in Algorithmic-Informed Open, Distance, and Digital Learning”
- Emeritus Prof Junhong Xiao: “Humanising Digital Education or Digitalising Human Education: That is the Question”
- Prof Olaf Zawacki-Richter: “What Can Open, Distance, and Digital Education (ODDE) Contribute to a Sustainable Future?”
Presentation Materials
Download the full presentation from the Public Lecture Series held on 6 August 2025, featuring distinguished speakers exploring the intersection of AI, education, and sustainability.
Tentative Programme
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Arrival of Guests & Registration |
| 09:30 – 10:15 |
Official Opening Ceremony
|
| 10:15 – 10:45 | Public Lecture 1: Emeritus Prof Paul Prinsloo |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Presentation of Souvenirs to YB Minister of Higher Education Malaysia & Group Photo |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Media Conference & Morning Tea Break |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Public Lecture 2: Emeritus Prof Junhong Xiao |
| 12:00 – 12:30 | Public Lecture 3: Prof Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria |
| 12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| 14:00 – 14:30 | Public Lecture 4: Olaf Zawacki-Richter |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Public Lecture 5: Prof Insung Jung |
| 15:00 – 15:20 | Afternoon Tea Break |
| 15:20 – 16:00 | Concluding Roundtable |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Closing |