More universities in Vietnam are taking advantage of IT to improve access to higher education and the quality of training.

HCM City Open University offers e-learning courses. (Photo courtesy of the university)

Dr Vu Huu Duc, Vice Rector of HCM City Open University, said that the university’s many e-learning courses had helped students save time and money. E-learning courses are provided in accounting, law, auditing of international business, and other majors.

By 2020, the university will expand e-learning courses in technology, Duc said, adding that it had set up an e-learning centre to manage the courses.

At the university’s Department of Accounting and Auditing, for instance, students study 90 percent of theory online and come to the university campus for practical lessons.   

Dr Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Director of the Centre for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment under Vietnam National University - HCM City, said that its three member universities were developing distance learning and blended learning in which students view lectures, access readings, ask questions, and complete assignments online in virtual learning environments.

The participating universities are the University of Science, University of Technology, and University of Information Technology. The universities allow no more than 20 percent of credits in e-learning courses.

Dr Nguyen Trung Nhan, head of the training division at Industrial University of HCM City, said several of its international and high-quality programmes had been using blended training for many years. All of its departments are encouraged to use this methodology.

Dr Do Van Dung, Rector of HCM City University of Technology and Education, said the management system of e-learning courses had reduced the need for lecturers’ testing and evaluation tasks.

On the website of the Ministry of Education and Training, Dinh Tuan Long, Director of the Centre for Technology-Learning Materials under Hanoi Open University, said that e-learning courses helped learners work independently and gave them access to abundant sources of information.

The e-learning methodology is useful for traditional learning courses, he said, adding that its 2,000 lecturers and officials were asked to help set up an electronic system.

Chinh of the Centre for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment said that e-learning courses were becoming more popular but that degrees with the courses were still not appreciated. Most e-learning courses are taken by people who want to engage in lifelong learning.

Experts said the Ministry of Education and Training should draw up more detailed regulations to control the quality of e-learning courses, and recognise degrees that include e-courses only so that students can be accepted by employers.-VNA