WUMOOC: The Free Libraries and Learning Resources for All

Walailak University is developing online teaching and learning programs to meet the needs of learners in the 21st century. These programs aim to provide students the opportunities to choose their courses and create a learning network for students, workers, and various individuals. The university’s goal is to enhance the effectiveness of learner-centered education and reduce learning gaps. These programs enable users to free public access learning content anytime and anywhere according to their willingness. Students can always interact with instructors or teaching assistants and focus on learner freedom to study at their convenience. They also integrate technology into both learning and daily life.

The Library and Media Center has been developed into a Living and Digital Library with automated library system called “Senayan”, encompassing five key areas: e-Resources, e-Services, e-Training, Digital Content, and Learning Space. These areas provide information resources to support teaching and research, including books, documents, pamphlets, research works, theses, e-books, and online databases. In addition to this, a Smart Classroom has been developed to accommodate online teaching and active learning. Online courses have also been improved, along with training programs to support various forms of learning for students, faculty, and the public.

WU MOOC is an online learning platform that is part of the Thai MOOC Learning Management System (LMS). It has been designed to address the trend of lifelong learning and to enable individuals to upskill and reskill at their own pace, supported by a responsive system that can be accessed free of charge through various devices.

Thai MOOC, short for Thailand Massive Open Online Course, is a project under the Thailand Cyber University Project (TCU), a collaboration between the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI), various universities, educational institutions, and organizations in Thailand, both public and private. This initiative is joined by over 120 institutions, including Walailak University. The development of online courses is intended to complement traditional teaching methods, allowing learners to complete their studies online and receive a degree. This approach allows each university or educational institution to utilize its resources. Since online courses can be accessed from anywhere, institutions with similar programs can share e-courseware, resulting in cost savings and enabling universities or educational institutions lacking faculty in specific fields to offer standardized online courses.

In the year 2022, the university developed a total of 24 courses in alignment with Thai MOOC, which encompassed a wide range of subjects. These courses attracted a total of 825,640 participants, a significant increase from the 523,292 participants in the previous year. Here is a list of the courses offered:

1. WU001: Information Technology for the Present and Beyond
2. WU002: Creative Thinking and Innovations
3. WU003: Developmental Psychology in the Elderly
4. WU004: Developmental Psychology in Adolescents
5. WU005: Pre-Cooperative Education
6. WU006: Thai Food for Health and Anti-Aging
7. WU007: Online Tools for 21st Century Learning
8. WU008: Internet of Things: From Idea to Product
9. WU009: Knowledge Inquiry for Developing 21st Century Skills
10. WU010: Searching Information for Research Reports
11. WU011: Criminal Law and Civil and Commercial Law for Healthcare Workers
12. WU012: Metadata for Organizing Digital Information
13. WU013: Information Services for Digital Organizations
14. WU014: Thai for Contemporary Communication
15. WU017: Information Technology in the Digital Era
16. WU021: Introduction to Public Health
17. WU022: Introduction to Environmental Health
18. WU023: Occupational Health and Safety
19. WU024: Healthy Sleep for a Healthy Life
20. WU025: Cooperative Education and Working Skill Development in the 21st Century
21. WU026: Information Ethics for Digital Citizenship
22. WU027: Creative Thinking for Personal Development
23. WU028: Work Performance Enhancement with AI
24. WU029: Work Psychology in Public Health

In addition to the 24 courses offered through Thai MOOC, there are 5 more e-learning courses and 40 training programs that support learning. These training programs have been conducted 183 times with the participation of 1,975 individuals. Furthermore, the university offers 40 training courses as follows: