We should avoid being passive learners

“I AM bored and did not understand the topic I have learnt.”

Students these days should learn to better adapt to the 21st century maxim, of “to go with the flow”.

We have the Internet, mobile devices and the like. We can use these to better our learning process.

Based on a research paper titled “Facilitating Effective Student Learning through Teacher Research and Innovation”, teachers have a role to play — to nurture and support a student’s creative potential; they may use creative learning methods to inspire and motivate the students.

They can also show the skills needed to promote learner-centred approaches, collaborative work methods, and the use of information and communication technologies as modern learning tools.

We should avoid being passive learners. As Dr Nurkhamimi Zainuddin, a lecturer from Islamic Science University of Malaysia, said in his writings, there are weaknesses among educators in Malaysia because they keep using a dogmatic teaching method which focuses on the written text.

It is good to read the text given, but not all the students will participate; some will just feel bored and sleepy.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform allows anyone to create, run, teach and enrol in a course, either for free or privately.

Both teachers and students will enjoy using this method because everybody gets to participate. They can read the slides and notes, and even watch videos on subjects that are required.

The teaching process should also change. According to Frederick Scheffler in his book Computer Technology In Schools, learning comes from student inquiry, critical thinking and problem-solving. They can use presentations, interactive software, educational programmes or anything else to understand the subject better. The presentation method is quite good because they have to do their own research and present to others.

They will derive two benefits from it — knowledge and communication skills. This is because they need to be creative to make the audience understand what they are saying.

Seeking knowledge is important in our lives. Therefore, it is our responsibility to learn as Allah said in Surah Al-Mujadila verse 11, which means, “O you who have believed, when you are told, ‘Space yourselves’ in assemblies, then make space; Allah will make space for you. And when you are told, ‘Arise,’ then arise; Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do”.

AINUL WIDAD RUSDI

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negri Sembilan