This blog post is from our themed series on Malaysian Contentpreneurship in conjunction with the Malaysian national day celebrations. For more success stories from education providers around the world, please visit the OpenLearning case studies page.
Have you ever watched a video by your favourite YouTuber without clicking the ‘Skip Ad’ button? Or subscribed to an independent online magazine? Or funded a podcast channel on Patreon?
If you have done any of these things, then you’ve supported the work of a Contentpreneur!
Contentpreneurs often share valuable, original content that others are willing to invest time, money, or other resources into to support the continuation of their work—either as consumers, or partners.
This makes Contentpreneurship one of the most rewarding ways of turning your skills, knowledge, and experiences into a digital product with a positive impact—whether it’s to save lives, empower fresh graduates, or even to tackle the sticky issue of unemployment.
As our Malaysian community approaches national day celebrations, we thought it would be a great time to share our appreciation for the valuable contributions and innovative work of a few Malaysian Contentpreneurs who have launched successful online courses on OpenLearning.
If you have ever wondered, "How can I sell my online courses?", you can draw inspiration from these online course creators who are transforming lives by offering their expertise on OpenLearning.
Meet Norizan Sharif , Content Creator and CEO of Enescorp International Sdn Bhd.
Norizan has 28 years of experience working in both the public and private sectors, with a special interest in empowering young people with professional skills. Currently based in New York, Norizan is the founder of MyCareerDrift, a program targeted at enhancing Malaysian graduates’ skills and employability.
In an effort to transform the working landscape for Malaysian youths, he is offering online self-development courses in the local language, Bahasa Malaysia.
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Norizan’s first online course on Interpersonal and Human Relations managed to attract more than 2,000 students in just a few weeks. Students are charged RM30 upon enrolment, which means that in the first month, this online course generated RM60,000 in income for Norizan!
Confident in the demand for these localised courses, Norizan has launched Skorlah.Online, a branded online portal on OpenLearning. He now offers three more courses on Persuasive Communications, Conflict Resolution, and Personal Branding and Marketing.
“I did not expect to gain over 2000 learners in less than 1 month after launching the course. This proves that there is high demand for professional development courses in Bahasa Malaysia.”
Norizan Sharif, Skorlah Online
Meet Associate Professor Dr Tengku Fadilah Tengku Kamalden from the Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Dr Tengku is a former Malaysian national swimmer and has been advocating water safety awareness for almost 30 years. As Vice President of the Life Saving Society of Malaysia, she launched a certified online course in both English and Bahasa Malaysia to help her scale and spread her message of water safety and encourage everyone to stay safe around bodies of water.
▶️ Click here to watch our interview with Dr. Tengku and find out why she chose to teach online.
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The course has been completed by over 315 students in Malaysia and from around the world, where learners pay a RM30 fee to enrol, earning her a total of RM9,450 to date. The course has also been adopted by the Malaysian Swimming Teachers Association—further ensuring that swimming instructors can teach water safety awareness to the public.
“By going online, I can penetrate to places where they don’t have access to practical training in water, like in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and even parts of Malaysia.”
Dr Tengku Fadilah, UPM Water Safety
Meet Sim Yee, a data analyst and performance marketer.
Sim Yee has been using Excel pivot tables to dig up business insights throughout her career. But she noticed that many others were unable to find those same insights for themselves. Realising that she had a useful skill to share, she created the 'Analysing Data with Excel Pivot Tables' online course on OpenLearning.
The course teaches data analysis through a series of Pivot Table projects for a fictional food sales company. Future plans include running live online workshops with 10 learners per session, where learners will be able to submit their own data sets and discuss them live.
"I would definitely recommend OpenLearning to other educators. I enjoyed the extensive customisation options that go beyond quizzes to test my learners' understanding.”
Sim Yee, Analysing Data with Excel Pivot Tables
Meet Bruce Lee Xia Sheng, Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia.
Bruce is a Civil Engineer, Building Information Modelling (BIM) Consultant, educator and self-proclaimed tech enthusiast. As a certified Autodesk BIM Professional and Revit Architecture Professional, Bruce used OpenLearning to share his knowledge with the world.
▶️ Click here to watch Bruce's online learning journey and his 3 tips for course creators.
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Bruce has created 2 practical online courses—BIM 101 and BIM 202—to teach others the fundamentals of Building Information Modelling. To date, his courses have been taken by over 7,000 students worldwide, most of whom are practising professionals in the construction industry.
“My philosophy when it comes to transformational education is, if you don’t replace yourself with a digital self, others will replace you. For me, it is better to replace yourself, rather than being replaced by others.”
Bruce Lee, Building Information Modelling 101 & 102
Meet Zi Siang See, a lecturer in the school of creative industries at the University of Newcastle.
Zi specialises in the design, use and integration of interactive media, including augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Based on his experience of working with universities and multinational corporations such as McDonald's and AirAsia, he collaborated with Sunway University to launch an OpenLearning course.
His course 'AR VR, The Promise of Sci Fi' became a learning community for 1,800+ learners to exchange new knowledge, refresh current knowledge, and find guidelines for pursuing a career in the AR VR industry.
▶️ Click here to watch Zi's interview about his MOOC, 'AR VR The Promise of Sci Fi'.
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Learners are guided to plan, create, and develop AR and VR content with a focus on user experience. The course also inspires a discussion of ARVR's role in a range of industries and fields.
Meet Dr Rose Kamalludeen, Assistant Professor at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).
Dr. Rose teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, and was also a CEO@Faculty Mentee at OpenLearning for half a year in 2017. Her course, 'Instructional Design: Designing Impactful Learning Experiences' has attracted 200 enrolments and is open to the public.
Together with learners from around the world, the community discusses theories, frameworks, and applications in designing impactful and memorable learning experiences—whether it is face-to-face, online or blended; and whether it is a one-hour lesson or a whole semester course.
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Online teaching and training is no longer an option for most industries—it is the only scalable way forward. And it’s becoming clear that with more advanced learning design and reporting capabilities, online courses are able to compete with TikTok videos, eBooks, and other forms of educational digital content.
Increasingly, professionals in the 'Contentpreneurship' industry are incorporating e-Learning platforms into their digital offering. Many amazing Contentpreneurs are creating online courses to share their passion, with some even earning a side income from teaching online.
What’s more: If you have the skills, experience, or knowledge on a certain topic or subject, you can also deliver successful online courses with OpenLearning.
All you need to get started is a 30-day free trial on OpenLearning—and you’ll be on your way to becoming a Contentpreneur, effecting worldwide change, and generating an income. Selamat Hari Merdeka and Happy Malaysia Day!
Sign up for a free trial and begin your Contentpreneurship journey with OpenLearning.
