Digital learning for all
MAXIS will now open its eKelas programme to include students from Year Six as well as Forms Four and Five.
Maxis chief executive officer Robert Nason says that this would allow more students to access eKelas beginning next year.
“This expansion means that the eKelas journey will begin from Year Six all the way to Form Five, which will make this a more sustainable programme, and reach out to more students and communities across Malaysia.
“This expansion also gives us the opportunity to leverage eKelas for the critical exam years of Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Form Three Assessment (PT3) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), to enable access to a wide range of content on the portal and live tutorials to help the students prepare for these exams,” he says during the closing of the eKelas Holiday Camp at Menara Maxis recently.
A big part of eKelas, he adds, is to build affinity and confidence among students through regular engagement activities and events.
“These include motivational sessions and classroom projects, student grants which are given to those who have shown the most progress in their studies, as well as the holiday camp,” he says.
Nason says the holiday camp takes place every two years and offers students an opportunity to meet their eKelas friends and teachers face-to-face for the first time.
English, Mathematics and Science are currently taught on eKelas for students in Forms One, Two and Three.
Maxis’ eKelas is an after school digital learning initiative that combines live tutorials, group learning and interactive digital content, which is in line with the Malaysian school syllabus.
The programme is held at 55 Community Broadband Centres (CBCs) across 10 states, with over 6,000 students taking part.
Deputy Multimedia and Communications Minister Eddin Syazlee Shith commended Maxis for its eKelas initiative, which was launched in 2016.
It is good that Maxis has been leveraging on the CBCsto bring digital learning to rural students through its eKelas programme, he says.
“This is in line with the Education Ministry’s emphasis on technology, focusing more on playbased learning with the aid of the Internet, which will also complement learning from the textbook,” he adds.
The CBCs, he says, which are run by telcos and owned by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), are helping to address the digital divide in rural areas by offering Internet access and ICT training to communities.
Eddin Syazlee also launched a new feature of eKelas - eCikgu - during the event.
Nason says eCikgu will connect students with teachers via a chat forum and engage in valuable discussions.
“The new feature is aimed at making digital learning even more vibrant and interactive to communities across Malaysia, and will encourage greater engagement and participation from the students during each lesson,” he adds.
eCikgu combines a live tutorial with a chat forum, where students can type questions related to the subject being taught in the chat forum.
Teachers can then provide answers immediately while the lesson is ongoing.
Also present at the event were MCMC Communications and Digital Ecosystem Sector chief officer Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus, Maxis chairman Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Community Transformation Centre director Prof Datuk Dr Rokiah Omar and Maxis chief operating officer Gokhan Ogut.