Changing to keep up
IT has been a steep learning curve for many as the movement control order made online teaching platforms a mandatory tool in education.
Some have adapted and some have not. Now that higher education institutions will continue to hold lessons online until the end of the year, academic staff have no choice but to change their methods to ensure their quality of teaching does not deteriorate.
HELP University Faculty of Education and Languages professor Prof Dr Jayati Roy G N Roy said the inability for older members of the teaching fraternity to effectively cope with this new mode of delivery has affected student satisfaction.
“Lecturers who are often novices or new converts to online learning have been found wanting in their knowledge of student learning styles, prior learning, or the pedagogy and philosophy of online learning,” she told StarEdu.
To begin with, the 72-year-old said content which was normally meant for face-to-face teaching had to be converted for online use.
She added that a lecturer’s lack of experience with virtual platforms has often led to a lack of interconnectedness with the students.
On top of that, learning has to be “inspirational and fun.”
“Especially where videos are uploaded, thus leading to a one-way communication,” said Prof Jayati Roy.
“Interconnectivity, be it software applications such as a learning management system (LMS) for administration, documentation, tracking, automation and delivery of eLearning courses both asynchronous based or syn
chronous based; live streaming tools such as Streamyard for social media; video conferencing tools such as, Zoom, Microsoft Team, Adobe Connect, Cisco Webex, Google Classrooms or GoTo Webinars or game-based learning platforms such as Kahoot, make a fair share of demands on the learner as well as the teacher.”
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Council of Professors chairman Prof Dr Omar Yaakob, 59, said academics need to take into account the problems faced by their students with online learning before fixing their own teaching styles.
“Internet connectivity aside, some students are not ready for fully online teaching because the situation that they are in is not conducive for online remote learning,” he added.
For example, he said one of his students mentioned that his Internet data is limited and he has to be careful about his quota because he is taking five subjects.
“Some live in small houses or apartments or flats where they have to share rooms with their many siblings.
“When they are at home, they may be required to do some house chores such as cooking and cleaning and these may clash with their online learning classes,” added Prof Omar Yaakob, who is also a member of the Education and Human Development Cluster of the Academy of Professors Malaysia.
In contrast, students had a more conducive learning environment when they were staying in their respective residential colleges or in accommodation near the campus.
“Besides having their own private spaces and superior Internet facilities, they have peers who can be a source of motivation and help,” he added.
Prof Omar said lecturers need to understand that what they are doing now is different from programmes designed for online distance learning mode.
“In these programmes, the course content, learning materials, lecturers and learning platforms are all tailored for online learning.
“The online teaching and learning we are facing now is not by design but rather forced upon us by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, describing this new method as “emergency remote teaching.”
“If this concept is understood properly, lecturers will not take the easy way out of converting the face-to-face class sessions which are supposed to be carried out during the normal semesters into online face-to-face teaching video conferencing classes only.”
He advised academics to take into consideration all the limitations facing their students.
“For example, before deciding to use synchronous face-to-face learning, consider the availability of Internet speed and data for all students.
“If synchronous learning is done, effort must be taken to reduce data usage by reducing the duration of face-toface instruction,” he said, adding that video sizes should be kept to the bare minimum.
He also said that using audio alone or conducting offline activities, which are less data intensive, should also be considered to give students more flexibility.
“Lecturers and academic administrators must ensure that no one is left behind. They must show special concern and care for the vulnerable student groups,” he continued.
These, Prof Omar said, include students who are less academically-inclined, have special needs and those who face difficulties with remote learning..
He added that lecturers and academic managers need to ensure that not only are teaching activities in place, but also the actual learning process is effective for all students.