SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Centre (SEAMOLEC) is one of the 26 Centres under the auspices of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) focusing in the field of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Owing to various programs that become its core tasks, like; trainings, consultancies, research and development, and information dissemination, SEAMOLEC is assisting the SEAMEO Member Countries to find alternative solution to enhance the quality of its people through Open and Distance Learning (ODL).
The goal of SEAMOLEC is to undertake relevant programs that are responsive to current national and regional needs through the utilization of open and distance learning system. In order to reach its vision and mission, and also to continually provide good services to the region, SEAMOLEC is very keen on establishing a stronger networking system through partnerships and synergizing with other related parties. Only with good network and partnership the Centre treasures to grow bigger in the future.
Mr. R. Alpha Amirrachman, M.Phil., Ph.D lead SEAMOLEC for the period of 2019-2021. He was born in Jakarta on November 28, 1970. He got his Master Philosophy in Education from the School of Policy and Practice, Faculty of Education and Social Work, the University of Sydney, Australia. He then pursues his doctorate degree and got his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Social Sciences from the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Before joining SEAMOLEC he was one of the Special Staff of the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia for Policy Implementation Monitoring. He is also an active lecturer of the Faculty of Education, of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa State University since the year 2005 until now. He did various research and wrote many publications. One of the most current manuscripts he wrote entitled Education Decentralization in Indonesia: Community participation, market, politics, identity, and quality. It is based on his research in 2012-2013.
During his tenure at SEAMOLEC he focused more on the development of Education 4.0, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Internet of Things (IoT). The Centre’s programmes mainly brought up topics related to the current education technology. In 2020 due to Covid-19 Pandemic, SEAMOLEC’s Online Training registrants reached 10.000 participants and more webinars being held throughout the year. Working in cooperation with various partners and stakeholders, the centre also developed the Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC) Online Learning Courses to be used by public in the region for free.
During the period of 2015-2018 SEAMOLEC was led by Dr. Abi Sujak, M.Sc. He was born in Wonogiri, Central Java, on October 11, 1962. He finished his master’s degree in Corporate Training and Development from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA in 1999, and his doctoral degree in Public Administration of University of Indonesia in 2004.
Under his leadership, SEAMOLEC maintains good cooperation with main units of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia. Especially after the Minister was inaugurated as SEAMEO Council President in July 2017. SEAMOLEC has been actively involved in several activities with Secretariat General and 3 Directorate Generals of MOEC.
One of his main programs in SEAMOLEC was Open and Distance Learning develop ODL system for secondary education in West Java province. Through this program, students with limited access to formal education in the province will still be able to continue their study without leaving their home or work. He was also active in supporting online training for teachers’ quality improvement through SEAMOLEC training programmes.
Dr. Gatot Hari Priowirjanto led SEAMOLEC for 2 consecutive periods and has created a continuously networking strategy with more partners.
Many efforts were carried out during his leadership to redifine and reposition SEAMOLEC as the regional Centre for ODL. Each staff member is also responsible for actively networking and synergizing with new and established partners. Customer satisfaction also became the concern of the Centre as communication with alumni, partners and networks has been renewed through various occasions.
During his leadership there has been many programmes being carried out by SEAMOLEC in relation to ICT development in supporting education. Some of the well known programmes are SEA Edunet, SEAMOLEC Multi Studio, web conference system (using various web conferencing platform), virtual class management, digital book development, mobile learning and mobile game based learning development, online test system, and many more.
Not only the programmes, Dr. Gatot also pays attention to synergy and cooperation among SEA countries. Through school partnership programme and consortium model, he managed to strengthen cooperation among schools in SEA countries and engaged them in active programmes such as student and teacher exchange, language programme, and material or reseource sharing. He also expanded the cooperation with ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan, and Korea) by collaborating with universities and polytechnics from those countries to provide scholarships for students.
As the successor of Prof. Soekartawi, Prof. Dr. Paulina Pannen is the only female Director SEAMOLEC has ever had. She finished her Master Degree in Library Science and her Doctoral Degree in Education Technology from School of Information Studies of Syracuse University, USA.
Under the leadership of Prof. Paulina, SEAMOLEC sought to systematize and strengthen its core programs and its internal management. The Centre’s development efforts and activities were focused on improving and enhancing its organization system while maintaining and improving the Centre’s programmes. In 2006/2007 she initiated the idea of drafting the strategic plan for sustainable growth of the Centre as well as to increase the responsiveness and relevance of the Centre’s services to various clients in the region.
One of her remarkable programs during her time in SEAMOLEC was a project funded by Deutsche Bank for designing and implementing Alternative Curriculum Development in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province. The project was initiated as a response to emergency and crisis situation in NAD province’s education post Tsunami. It was aimed to integrate local wisdom, issues in multicultural diversity, and water management sanitation into the school curriculum at various levels.
SEAMOLEC was also trusted with a national program from the Minister of National Education of Indonesia namely HYLITE (Hybrid Learning for Indonesian Teachers) program. It was a program designed to improve the qualification of Indonesian primary school teachers from Diploma II to Bachelor degree. SEAMOLEC has been commissioned to facilitate the design, development, and implementation of the program which involved 23 universities in Indonesia.
The Late Prof. Dr. Soekartawi was born in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, on 1 August 1947. He was the second Director of SEAMOLEC who obtained his Master Degree from Bogor Agricultural Institute, Bogor, Indonesia in 1977 and his Ph.D from University of New England Australia in 1989. He was a very active writer who diseminate e-learning issues in Indonesia. He produced 619 scientific works in form of printed books, articles, scientific journals, modules and research reports.
Research and development activities in SEAMOLEC during 2001-2004 showed a significant increase in the number of activities and topics.The researches were also conducted more on regional and international level.
HOne of the project under his directorship was the involvement of SEAMOLEC in the Situational Analysis of the Study of IT and HIV/AIDS Education Prevention at Great Mekong Sub-Region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Thailand, and Yunan Province-China). SEAMOLEC was also actively contributed in Connecting Asian-Europe e-Learning (CAE e-LEARN) project in 2002-2004, and in Fact Finding Study on the Establishment of Open and Distance Learning Institution/Components in Lao PDR in 2002-2003.
Dr. Arief Sukadi Sadiman, M.Sc. was the first Director of SEAMEO SEAMOLEC. He was born in Kediri, East Java, Indonesia, on 20 March 1946. He got his Master Degree in Educational Technology at Syracuse University, USA in 1979, and his Ph.D in the same area at the Institute of Teacher Training, Jakarta in 1984 under sandwich programme with Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
As the leader of Indonesia delegation to Indonesia-Australia joint working group on Distance Education, he has been involved in the preparation of SEAMEO SEAMOLEC since 1995. In 1997 he was appointed to be the Interim Director, and three years after that he was appointed to be the Director of SEAMEO SEAMOLEC.
He was also appointed as the Director of SEAMEO Secretariat in June 2001. Under his directorship SEAMOLEC has conducted a study about the roles of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) play for Rural Development Program in Greater Mekong Sub Region and Southeast Asian Countries. The first inter-centre collaborative program and regional training workshop with regional participants were also conducted during his directorship.
