Abtar has many years of teaching and leadership experience at various learning institutions. She is an alumnus of the University of Malaya (PhD), Malaysia, Syracuse University (MS Instructional Design) and Indiana University (Post-Doctoral Fulbright), USA. She was attached to the Ministry of Education (Malaysia) before she joined the University of Malaya as a lecturer and Chief Instructional Designer. When you moved on to the Open University Malaysia, she held the following posts: Director, Centre of Instructional Design and Technology; Director, the Open and Distance Learning Pedagogical Centre, and Deputy Dean, Post Graduate Studies. Abtar was in Dubai as the Dean of the  School of E-Education at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University from 2014- 2019.

Currently, Abtar is Professor, Innovative Digital Learning at the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, driving innovative digital learning and positioning APU as the influencer in digital learning. Abtar trained educators worldwide under the auspices of various organizations such as the World Bank, UNESCO, the UNDP and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Her most impactful e-learning project was for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where together with a team from Open University Malaysia, the National E-Learning Centre was set-up. 

Abtar is on several journals and advisory boards, her recent appointments being the International Advisory Board member of the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (ETHE) and quality assurance member for the International council of Badges and Micro- credentials (ICoBC).  

Abtar has published widely in international journals, books, and book chapters and has won numerous international awards related to e-learning. Her current co-edited book is Cases on Smart Learning Environments (https://www.igi-global.com/book/cases-smart-learning-environments/197081). Her research is focused on amongst others, how to create powerful and impactful learning designs for online, e-learning, hybrid learning and mobile learning. Abtar is currently looking into Next Generation Digital Learning Environments (NGDLE) and AI Technologies related to disruptive learning environments.

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abtar/