JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 28 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) successfully hosted a three-day Inclusive Open Textbook Development Workshop from November 26 to 28, 2025, bringing together academics from 18 public universities across Malaysia to advance the nation’s open educational resources initiative.

In 2021, Malaysia has launched National Policy on Inclusive Open Educational Resources, guided closely by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and supported by Commonwealth of Learning. Among others, this policy lays down the foundation for us to further support inclusivity in education. This includes the development of learning resources that is accessible for all. Hence, the 3-day workshop on Inclusive Open Textbook Development aligns perfectly with Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) mission to promote the use and development of open educational resources among institutions and academics.

The workshop, held at Le Grandeur Palm Resort in Senai, Johor, was organized by UTM’s Center for Advancement in Digital and Flexible Learning (CDex) in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) and MOHE to support Malaysia’s National Inclusive Open Educational Resources Policy launched in 2021.

23 participants, comprising nine male and 14 female academics, worked intensively over three days to develop inclusive open textbooks using the Pressbooks platform. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Indira Koneru from IBS Hyderabad, India, who guided participants through finding open educational resources, creating accessible content, and structuring digital textbooks.

The open textbooks being developed span nine academic disciplines. Education leads with 23% of the projects, followed by Social Science and Computer Science at 14% each. Other areas include Arts & Humanities, Mathematics, Engineering, Medicine, Science, and Built Environment.

The three-day program covered comprehensive topics including understanding Creative Commons licenses, finding and remixing open educational resources, creating H5P interactive content, developing accessible and gender-responsive materials, and publishing strategies. Participants learned to structure textbooks with front and back matter, embed multimedia content, and ensure their materials meet inclusivity standards.

The closing ceremony on November 28 was graced by UTM’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and International affairs, who presented certificates of participation to all attendees. Workshop materials are hosted on UTM’s e-learning system, while the developed textbooks will be published on the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Open Textbook platform at https://openbook.ums.edu.my.

At UTM, open educational resources is an ongoing effort. Currently there are 154 learning resources that UTM hosts at ocw.utm.my, accessible by all, as UTM commitment to open and free education. This is has been UTM continued commitment since early 2005 by being the member in the Open Education Consortium.

Looking ahead, participants are expected to complete their textbooks by May 30, 2026, with follow-up progress meetings scheduled for December 2025 and January 2026. All textbooks will be published under CC-BY-SA license, making them freely accessible and adaptable for educational use across Malaysia and beyond.

The workshop represents a significant milestone in Malaysia’s commitment to inclusive education, ensuring that learning materials are accessible to all students, including those with disabilities.