UPM's MOOC: A case study of lethargy by bureaucracy and mechanistics management.

 Back in the early 2000s, micro-credentials weren’t part of most Malaysian universities’ vocabulary. I watched USM experiment with short, modular courses that could stand alone yet stack into something bigger, and I saw a blue ocean. I pushed my faculty to move fast—prototype, release, iterate.

When momentum finally reached UPM, the initiative sat under CADe (Centre for Academic Development). On paper, that should have helped. But what arrived was a thick set of guidelines and regulations—templates, mappings, and approval ladders that, to my eye, treated micro-credentials like mini degree courses rather than agile learning units. (In Malaysia, the MQA did publish national Guidelines to Good Practices for micro-credentials, emphasising standardisation, quality assurance, and creditability; many HEIs—including us—aligned closely to that spirit.) 

The effect at ground level was chilling. Instead of building a two-week skills module in days, lecturers were nudged into degree-style documentation—CLO/PLO mappings, assessment matrices, credit-hour equivalences, committee rounds—the whole machinery designed for full programmes. What should have been lightweight and market-responsive became slow and exhausting. (UPM’s own materials show the PutraMOOC/Micro-credential ecosystem, with digital badges and certificates and a formal 2022 prospectus led by CADe; the ecosystem exists, but the public face has felt internally oriented.) 

Meanwhile UKM built a public-facing micro-credential storefront. Their E-Course/UKMShape pages explain that micro-credentials can stand alone and some carry academic credit, and they state formal online assessment. The portal foregrounds registration, payment, and access in a shopper-like flow. It even surfaces HRD Corp-claimable courses as a distinct category—signalling industry alignment right on the homepage. 

By July 2025, UKM was out benchmarking micro-credential strategy with MMU, which tells me they’re actively iterating the model in public, not just on paper. 

So here’s my truth. We started earlier with MOOCs. We had the head start. But our guidelines and regulations drained speed and visibility. We built compliance; UKM built a storefront. Today, UKM’s micro-credentials are easier to find, understand, and enrol in; ours feel hidden behind portals and internal documents. (UPM’s PutraMOOC site confirms recognised digital badges/certificates, and CADe continues to run MC webinars and publish playbo