Digital Transformation In The Context Of Vietnamese University Autonomy

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY Le Van Hinh (University of Economics and Law) Do Dinh Thai (Sai Gon University) Nguyen Van Y (Ho Chi Minh Cadre Academy) Abstract The world is in the context of fourth industrial revolution Many things are changing for the better So, Vietnamese higher education is obligated to change in response to the regional education developement Vietnamese universities have many conditions right now to develop in response to the demand[.]

OF VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY

Le Van Hinh

(University of Economics and Law)

Do Dinh Thai

(Sai Gon University)

Nguyen Van Y

(Ho Chi Minh Cadre Academy)

Abstract: The world is in the context of fourth industrial revolution Many things are changing for the better

So, Vietnamese higher education is obligated to change in response to the regional education developement Vietnamese universities have many conditions right now to develop in response to the demand of society Among those is the autonomy for Vietnamese university The Vietnamese goverment in 2021 has issued articles related to the digital transformtion and promoted the digital transformation.

In this article, we will introduce what the digital transformation is, how Vietnamese university development benefits from the digital transformation and how the University of Economics and Law will implement the digital transformation for training programmes, quality assurance and university governance and provide some suggestions for higher education in Vietnam

.

Key words: Higher Education, University Autonomy, Digital transformation.

1 INTRODUCTION

With the explosion of the industrial revolution 4.0, the outstanding development of online-based communication technology has been changing the academic environment and contributing to the digital transformation at the institution Today almost every student owns at least one smartphone and is able to access the internet through this mobile device The universities are increasingly interested in accepting new media technologies in teaching and enhancing digital transformation in teaching

The digital transformation specifically e-learning, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been seen

as a backup education system to continue the learning process To date, this disease COVID-19 has broken out and spread almost all over the world The inability to predict when this pandemic will end and brings a lot of uncertainty and confusion affecting economic, social and political institutions, as well

as the connections between individuals

In the context of the pandemic, studies (Youssef, AB, & Dahmani, M., 2008; Batista, J., Morais, S.,

& Ramos, F., 2016) have proven the digital transformation as a tool useful because of its ability to increase the level of interaction between students and faculty in higher education This type of interaction takes place mainly in the classroom, but now it is not limited to just one place but can happen almost anywhere and at any time (Wentzel, 2009) In addition, through online learning activities, students use mobile devices to become more effective in their daily tasks and also in innovating their learning methods Students also become more self-sufficient due to easier access to available information Instructors have also changed the way they teach, taking advantage of greater access to information technology

Thus, the application of technology in higher education is an essential need to respond to the rapid change taking place in the world (Butt, BZ, & Ur Rehman, K., 2010) However, the digital transformation

in teaching requires readiness in many aspects, (Sabo, 2014) and argues that the human resources are important keys because there may be cases where students establish communication with teachers any time of the day or any day

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Legal documents

Actually, there are some misunderstandings about the digital transformation Firstly, everything should not be digital transformation in the framework of a university Secondly, even once the technology

is applied, there is no guaranteeing the success of your company or university The first step for the digital transformation is the change of your mindset, strategy and vision of each institution like the image below:

Source: https://smartfactoryvn.com/digital-transformation/chuyen-doi-so-la-gi/

So, Vietnamese government has issued the decision number 2289/QĐ-TTg about the national strategy for fourth industrial revolution and decision number 749/QD/TTg about the digital transformation Those legal reasons help Vietnamese universities build its development strategy, based on the two important decision, and define the concrete coopeations between foreign universities and Vietnamese partners

2.2 Definitions

2.2.1 The definition of Christ of Ebert and Carlos Henrique C Duarte, IEEE (2018) introduced digital transformation goals about the social goals and economic goals in which the role of the technology is less important than the knowledge of the people.

Digital Transformation Goals

Social

Foster the development of a more innovative and collaborative culture in industry and society Change the education system to provide new skill and future orientation to persons so that they can achieve excellence in digital work and society

Create and maintain digital communication infrastructure and ensure their governancem accessibility, quality of service and affordability

Strenthen digital data protection, transparency, autonomy and trust Improve the accessibility and quality of digital services offered to the population

Economic Implement new and innovative business models

Increase income generation productivity and value addition in economy Improve the regulatory framework and technical standards

2.2.2 Digital: recording or storing information as a series of the numbers 1 and 0, to show that

a signal is present or absent 1

2.2.3 Transformation: a complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone, especially so that thing or person is improved 2

2.2.4 Strategy:a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry,

or sport, or the skill of planning for such situations 3

3 RESEARCH METHOD

Rodrigruez-Abitia, G.; Bribiesca-Correa, G, (2021), the digital transformation takes place on 3 aspects: (1) ICT application at the universities, (2) materials and methods and (3) results and discussions; Oleg Ye Kaminskyi, Yulia O Yereshko và Sergii O Kyrychenko (2018), the digital transformations

is set to digitize all major, all services to the learners (university admission, the choice of curricula and courses, the results of examinations, etc.…), curriculum, financial management, training planning, academic training scheduling and many other functions The university, as a provider of educational services, should first focus on creating new services and and converting existing services into digital ones Here is the model for the digital transformation at the university

Source: Oleg Ye Kaminskyi, Yulia O Yereshko and Sergii O Kyrychenko (2018)

1 Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/dictionary/english/digital

2 Retrieved from: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/dictionary/english/transformation

3 Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/dictionary/english/strategy

Those are two research model from the foreigner universities about the digital transformation Our research is based on the use of general scientific and theoretical methods: analysis and synthesis

of scientific, technical and pedagogical literature concerning the digital transformation of society and its impact on the system of higher education; studying digital transformation at the University of Economics and Law; making an assessment, evaluating the good aspects and disadvantages of digital transformation the combination of theories and conclusions from various fields of research The paper uses argumentative, deductive, inductive and systematic approaches

4 THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION

On December 9th, 2020, the workshop on “Digital transformation in education and training”, Minister of Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha said: “In June 2020, the Prime Minister approved the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025 oriented to 2030 in which education and training

is one of the top eight priority areas” and he affirmed “The education sector focused on training Vietnamese citizens with knowledge and skills about the digital transformation to become global citizens Therefore, the digital transformation is identified as a breakthrough and an important task that needs to be implemented in the coming years The implementation of digital transformation not only helps improve the quality of education, but more importantly contribute to improving labor productivity, creating great opportunities for international integration

The Minister sets out the orientation of digital transformation in education in general and in higher education in particular: “First of all, there should have a unified national technology foundation for each collective and individual, every teacher, every student who can participate and function effectively Based on that foundation, it will continue to perfect the database, build a repository of digital learning resources in which management, learning, research, teaching, and knowledge sharing activities become effective and practical”

We can understand the digital transformation is inevitable, especially in the context of the fourth industrial revolution which has been developing strongly The digital transformation is a long process, the result of this process can bring a new look of education, many new methods, tools and so on The digital transformation orientation of Vietnamese higher education begins firstly with the awareness of leaders, lecturers and students and needs to focus on two directions: Firstly is the application of technology in teaching and learning, scientific examination, evaluation and research and secondly is the application of technology in educational management

The digital transformation takes place on 3 core fields in Vietnam Higher Education

a Application of technology in teaching, learning, testing, assessment and scientific research

With the development of technology, almost all aspects of teaching and learning can be using technology The most typical is the transition from teaching on a blackboard with white chalk into beautiful, clear digital lectures that are convenient for both learners and teachers In Vietnam, according

to ViOLET’s statistics, there have been nearly one million electronic lectures uploaded by the teaching and learning community This is a rather big number which demonstrates the growth rate in transforming teaching and learning models, as well as the potential and demand of digital transformation in teaching and learning

Online teaching always goes along with the development of digital learning materials, and

at the same time it is necessary to build a healthy and convenient digital learning environment for

both teachers and learners In addition, human resources, mainly lecturers, also need to be flexible

in teaching, especially need to improve their qualifications and adapt to the digital transformation

in higher education in particular and the industry revolution 4.0 in general Therefore, at the higher education online conference, Deputy Minister of Education and Training – Mr Hoang Minh Son, the digital transformation at the higher education focused on a number of key orientations: “Development

of the grassroots system national data on higher education; Developing and exploiting learning materials platforms and digital learning environments; Developing highly qualified human resources for national digital transformation”

When the digital transformation takes place, the examination and assessment of education quality should be considered because the teaching and learning model have changed, it is necessary to change the way of testing and assessment to adapt in the new context Many universities have developed regulations to assess the quality of education for online teaching The advantage of assessing an online test helps student know their result immediately in comparison with the traditional test The assessing can be made many times, anywhere In addition, the teachers can easily monitor the learning progress of each student, adjust and shape the teaching methods in the best way

The digital transformation in higher education has a great influence on the scientific research process of both faculty and students By sharing a common data set and scientific research results among member universities will promote the scientific research process at each educational institution In addition, when the digital transformation process takes place, opportunities for international cooperation between universities are also enhanced, raising the level of university lecturers

Last but not least, the application of digital transformation in higher education will contribute to promoting the development of subjects or training programs of the future such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science, data analysis, big data…etc Thereby, both teachers and learners need to have the necessary skills to keep up with the development trend of the times Even managers need to invest in equipment, effort, and necessary funds to catch up with this “new wave”

b Application of technology in educational management

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said in the higher education online conference: “In 2007, credit training which was launched in a few schools allow learners to register for study and to view their learning results and pay tuition fees online Most universities have implemented this kind of training today The registration for high school exams and online admission, school administration are also digitized and implemented on the basis of information technology application” This not only helps to reduce the workload in management, but also helps to improve the quality of educational management, promote the model more simple, more effective than traditional models Specifically, the digital transformation in educational management includes the digitization of information which is necessary to establish large interconnected databases, and uses the achievements

of 4.0 technology to manage, forecast, operate and make decision accurately and quickly

Currently, according to statistics, the electronic management system of more than 300 universities and colleges across the country has operated stably, smoothly and associated with the development of technology platforms

c Development strategy of higher education institutions in Vietnam towards autonomy in the context of digital transformation

The introduction of Law No 34/2018/QH14 and Decree 99/2019/ND-CP has promoted the process

of university autonomy In the context of digital transformation, the process of university autonomy also needs many changes to adapt to new circumstances and improve the quality of the training institution itself in particular and of higher education in particular

Currently, the university autonomy model is born under the management of the university council The members of university council are very diverse in many universities including businessmen This is the foundation of the development for digital transformation in the trend of university autonomy The role and function of the university council were formed We can see that the digital transformation will help the university council to properly implement the autonomy model

5 Actual digital transformation at the University of Economics and Law

In order to have a good model for Vietnamese university autonomy, Vietnamese Goverment has issued the legal document: Decree 77/2017 about the piloting model of operating mechanism with public higher education institutions in the period 2014-2017 (Accoding to the decision, there are 23 public higher education institutions) which allows public higher education institutions to increase the tuitition fee to improve the education quality in the new context of Vietnamese autonomy university

Learners in the digital era are learners who want to create value and product-oriented learning (Zhao, 2012) They co-create teaching content with the teacher and with the university Their position move from a receiving position to a provider position The lecturer no longer plays the role of providing knowledge, but also creates a customized learning context according to the learners’ requirements

At the same time, ICT has changed the teaching, learning and research environment of universities which have to reshape teaching because the teaching activities is no longer within the framework of the university ICT changes the services for academic training activities, scientific research of universities

In that context, the application of the digital transformation at UEL is imperative to meet the new requirements of learners, employers and stakeholders, help learners co-create teaching content in the context

of university autonomy of Vietnamese universities

The University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (UEL) has implemented the university autonomy at the beginning of 2021 which allows to increase the tuitition fee,

to improve the education quality in the new context of Vietnamese autonomy university The autonomy university falicitated UEL to develop in term of training, the scientific activities, the finance activities, the human ressources, the academic activities, to build its brands, to to improve the education quality, has made breakthroughs in training and research, contributing to creating a new “face” for higher education system of Vietnam

The digital transformation of UEL in the fields of economics, law and management is a mandatory condition to develop itself in all aspects, to best meet the needs of learners and stakeholders The digital transformation helps the university operate well the human resources, finance, training and research aspects for the faculties, the supporting departments as well as the university’s research units in the new context

So, UEL assess that digital transformation is vital for its developement in the context of 4th Industrial Revolution and university autonomy In UEL’s strategy, the digital transformation is one of the 3 pillars

for the new development UEL also implements the E-learning on different platformes BigBlueButton (BBB), Zoom, Quickcom or Google Meet to support students Moreover, UEL has constructed digital learning materials in the framework of Education 4.0 Project

Here is some aspects of the digital transformation at the UEL

5.1 E-learning

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

1.

Faculty of Information System

Number of student

2 Faculty of Economics Maths

Applied mathematics in economics, management and finance - - 33 71 109

Source: UEL

5.2 Some information about the Education 4.0 Projet

No Faculty (including slide, case study, Year/ Number of subject

e-test, introduction video) Subject

1 Faculty of Information System (20)

2018

6 subjects for online material

1 E-marketing

2 System analysis and design

3 Programming techniques

4 Business website design and programming 1

5 Data Analytics in Business

6 Data structure

2019

6 subjects for online material

1 Basics Informatics

2 Business Information System

3 Management information systems

4 E-commerce

2020

4 subjects for online material

1 Information system technology platform

2 Graphics and multimedia

3 Database management system

4 Information system security

2021

06 subjects for online material

1 Applied Statistics

2 Econometric

3 Economic forecasting

4 Time series analysis in finance

5 Asset Valuation Model

6 Operations Research

2 Faculty of Economics Maths (11)

2018: 03 subjects for online

material

1 Applied Statistics

2 Econometric

3 Economic forecasting 2019: 3 subjects for online

material

1 Higher Mathematics

2 Bayesian Statistics

3 Data Visualization

2020: 3 subjects for online

material

1 Probability theory

2 Maths for Economics

3 Time series analysis in finance 2021: 02 subjects for online

material

1 Asset Valuation Model

2 Operations Research

Source: UEL

In the academic year 2019 – 2020, there were 1.751 subjects and in 2020 – 2021, there were 1969 subjects which are implemented in the framework of Education 4.0 Project The UEL took many steps

to prepare for the digital transformation and has received many positive feedbacks from the faculties and students after 2 years Moreover, the digital transformation will be better if the infrastructure for IT, e-learning and the most important things are improved more and more

5.3 Advantages and disadvantages of the digital transformation at the University of Economics and Law

5.3.1 Advantages:

- The active participations of the rectorate board, all faculties and departments

- The experiences in developing training programs according to CDIO in the period 2015 - 2017;

- The implementation of the Education 4.0 Project for the period 2018 - 2022 setting up a good environment for E-learning teaching at the university

- The active participation of students according to the blended learning teaching method

5.3.2 Disadvantages:

- The trainers meet the difficulties due to the schedule and COVID-19

- The regulations of IT application for training management and organisation takes time because it relates to the finance, properties industries and legal documents

5.3.3 Some suggestions for the university autonomy in the context of the digital transformation

• Start the changes from the leader’s mindset, university council It is necessary to manage university activities by applying available technologies on the basis of a common database of universities

• There should have a set of evaluation rules, measuring work performance based on KPIs and implement through scientific research evaluation indicators such as h-index, Citations, or i-10 index This contributes to international integration about the research in particular and to the development of higher education in general

• In the context of university autonomy, financial autonomy can be implemented with student data which gives recommendations for admissions activities in order to have a roadmap to attract students

• Organize more academic activities through online seminars which contributes to promoting the development of local human resources and, at the same time, to attracting foreign investment

• There should have an examination and evaluation of the effectiveness of autonomous activities in higher education This can be done by application of verified inspection systems and implemented in parallel with personal assessments to avoid subjective assessments which waste finance and human resources

• Encourage students and lecturers to seek out open learning resources and online courses to improve their qualifications, thereby universities’ leaders build a suitable e-learning system for their own higher education institution: like Coursera, Udemy, Edx,

• Train the human resources (managers, lecturers, specialists, students) with knowledge and skills

to meet digital transformation requirements: skills in using IT, skills in information security, skills in exploiting and using applications for teaching and learning work

• Finally, strengthen the link between the school and the business in order to meet the student’s output in response to the needs of the employer They can have the opportunities to use the new technology instead of using the outdated technology at the university

6 CONCLUSION

Digital transformation is not just about disruption or technology It’s about value, people, optimization and the capability to rapidly adapt when needed through an intelligent use of technology and information It is the profound transformation of business and organizational activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of a mix of digital technologies and their accelerating impact across society in a strategic and prioritized way, with present and future shifts in mind

The Vietnamese universities should implement digital transformation in the new context, which helps them develop, intergrate to internationalisation, save money, adapt to learner’s demand The first step should start from the strategy of each university and change mindset and attitude from the leaders, each person at the institution which are the core elements for digital transformation That is the biggest transformation for the university autonomy in Vietnam Higher Education

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