E-learning in Malaysian Educational Institutions
by: VETHA12@HOTMAIL.COM
Human beings love to interact with others; they love to be near, to touch, to feel, and to see other people. We are by nature social beings and that is something that is not about to change anytime soon. Almost 90% of our daily interaction, including the important process or learning, involves meeting, seeing, and communicating with another human being. However, in today’s world, the effect of technology, coupled with a hectic lifestyle and immense peer competition, is making students everywhere keener on the idea of e-learning.
E-learning is simply the modern process of education where part of the learning experience takes place without face to face communication between the teacher and his students. It is made possible by the advent of certain technologies like e-mail, the personal computer, the Internet, and multimedia. These technologies provide an effective, if not perfect, method of communication between two or more people. As first these technologies were used by the military for passing confidential information, but soon made it’s way into mainstream corporate use, and now in the hands of students.
The most common method of e-learning is where the tutor or lecturer places several course modules on the university intranet, and students have free access to these materials as and when needed, as well as bulletin boards to keep them updated. Certain institutions also offer additional support for students by allowing them to discuss with lecturers via online forums, discussion boards and even real-time chat. Some well known universities go one step further by offering the final step, which is to allow students to take online examinations. Therefore, it is now possible for a student to complete an entire degree program without ever physically attending a class.
There is no doubt that technology gives us effective communication alternatives, which in some cases, can be better than attending a boring lecture in a crowded hall, and having to travel to class every day. In spite of all the hype surrounding online degree programs and e-learning, it is important to see this phenomenon for both its pros and cons.
- Advantages of E-Learning
Effective Distribution of Information
In most modern universities, a ‘paperless’ environment is not just a myth. It is already being practiced on daily basis. It is certainly okay for the students to take notes while the professor is talking, and then later asking your seniors for their notes so that you can have enough study material. But it is seen to be less effective.
It is much better when the lecturer can upload the following day’s lecture notes in the course web page. Students can then access these materials, print them out, and be prepared for tomorrow’s lecture. This helps them to listen more effectively to the information that is being passed on from the professor, without having to scramble to jot down notes. Since students can access these materials at any time, there is also no issue if they need to get these materials again at a later date.
Save on Administration Costs
E-learning is favored by both public and private universities, as well as colleges because it helps them to reduce their administration costs. In fact, for every course offered by the college, there only need to be one master document, which is uploaded to the server or web page, and protected by a firewall or anti-virus software. That is the cost occurred for the administration to implement a new subject, aside from tutor fees and utilities.
The students do all printing, and the lecturer updates the course modules. With this system in place, the college can offer the course to thousands of new students without spending even one Ringgit more. They can even reduce the lecture hours since most of the materials are available anytime. Therefore, it makes sense for educational institutions to favor e-learning. Even though the initial cost or setting up the servers and software may be a lot, in time to come these costs can easily be recovered by increasing the intake of students.
Increase the reach of Educational Institutions
E-learning enables universities and colleges to go beyond big cities and towns when recruiting new students. With the Internet, any student, anywhere in the country, is a possible enrollee. As long as the student is able to pay for the course, and has the basic facilities such as a personal computer, a printer and an Internet connection, it does not even matter if he lives in an isolated island or mountain without regular transportation. Such is the power on communication technology (ICT), as it allows people from remote areas to get access to important information, and increasing their opportunity of getting a better education.
With e-learning, some institutions even go beyond the country, into other neighboring countries. It makes sense for both the student and the institution. For example, it a student in Cambodia wants to take a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, he may discover that a Malaysian college offers something that is attractive, and affordable to him. What is more, they even allow him to learn online, without having to pay for flight tickets and expensive accommodation. This is indeed a very good deal, which would not be so attractive without the flexibility offered by e-learning. While the advantages are obvious, the disadvantages need a little more scrutiny to be visible to us.
- Disadvantages of E-Learning
Lack of Human Interaction
Learning is traditionally a process of passing information from one human being to another, such as from teacher to student, from father to son or from one friend to another. Even though knowledge can be put in books, CD-ROMs, the Internet and e-books, the special part played by a human voice and face can never truly be replaced.
For example, we have all read instruction books on how to do many things. Even though these books or manuals may be easy to understand and gives every detail you need to know, almost everyone can testify that it makes more sense when a human being instructs them on how to do it. You can buy a book on how to cook, go through the details, and get a lot of information. However, you can only really understand when you attend a show or a cooking class by the author or another cooking expert. That is because not every type of knowledge can be written down and passed around. There is this thing called experience, which can only be passed on from one person to another through face-to-face interaction. Learning, at some point, involves getting a mentor or role model, and learning though their knowledge and experience.
Abuse and Misuse of Technology
When something is digital in format, it means that it operates on certain rules, codes and definitions. If these rules can be modified or changed, it will produce a completely different result. This is the perfect setting for con men and dishonest people who prefer to break the rules and cheat their way to success.
Throughout Malaysia, there have been many cases of students who manage to break though online or intranet securities set by the university, and actually change their results or get a preview of the final examination questions. As a result of this, students play a cat and mouse game with the administration, who are always working hard to outsmart students and cover any loopholes in their system. Due to the nature of anything digital, small mistakes can cause very big problems for the student body and the administration.
Lack of Motivation and Effort Among Students
One of the biggest arguments about e-learning is that it makes students lazy and ineffective, due to being spoon fed by the educational institutions. With e-learning, most educational task is done either by the tutor or some sophisticated software, leaving students with the simple task of just downloading notes and reading them. Although this may make the learning process easier and more effective, it also runs the risk of creating dependent and lazy students. When these students graduate and enter the working class, they tend to expect all the information to be delivered to them, too. This time around, they may find that they need to aggressively seek information for themselves or be left behind fast. Since these students are so used to being spoon fed, they become cripples in the working environment, unable to move forward without constant help from others.
- Is e-learning for everyone?
Not necessarily so. There are some types of students who are well suited for e-learning, and there are some who are not. Students that are tied up with other commitments in life such as raising kids, full time jobs, and hectic lifestyles are certainly suited to e-learning. They can always access the notes and materials at their convenience and set their own study times. It also helps that they will not need to travel to class and waste time getting from one place to another.
Students with physical disabilities will find e-learning very helpful. Their physical condition may prevent them from attending classes daily, but that does not mean that they should not be given the same opportunity to seek higher education. This also applies to students who are temporarily unable to attend classes due to critical illness.
On the other hand, students that have language problems will find it better to learn face to face with a tutor. Most motes are either in English or Bahasa Melayu, so any student that does not have a good command of these languages may find it difficult to understand and cope up. Students who are shy, or have communication problems should attend regular classes. Even though generally these types of students may prefer e-learning, it is important that they learn to overcome their fear of communicating with other people. It is an important skill that will play an important role in one’s life.
- Would I be interested in E-Learning?
Personally, I would be interested in taking an online class. It would provide me with a lot of flexibility with my time, and reduce the financial burden of my family. It also allows me to pursue other areas or interest and maybe get a part time job to get more income. It would be a great alternative, and would make my studying experience more enjoyable. However, while is okay to take online classes, I feel that students should not be allowed to take an entire four year college degree without ever attending a single class. This is because I feel there is a lot more to learning than just reading books and sitting for exams.
The higher education leaning process is where I will master new skills, meet new people who would forever be influential and helpful in my life, and learn to communicate effectively with other human beings. I feel that just scoring high grades in examinations is not enough, if do not have the people skill and the experience. Besides, actual campus life will provide me with important memories that will guide and shape my life for the betterment of future.
In closing, I would like to state again that e-learning is a good way of passing valuable information in a cost effective, timely manner to thousands of people. It is great alternative for people who want to obtain a degree but cant find the time to attend regular classes, and even better for students who have to overcome disabilities. However, while it is good to take a few online classes, we cannot simply substitute the whole learning process with sophisticated personal computers and phone wires.
Learning is a process, not a destination. Information is to be shared by one human being to another. The result from our college education is not what matters in the end, but what we learn in the process. To be complete human beings, we need to know how and where to get important information, and how to use that information to benefit others and ourselves. Only when we can master that, can we have true, long lasting success. Therefore it is too subjective to comment whether one can obtain a four-year degree without attending a single class on a college campus. It solely depends on the students themselves, depending on the above discussed pros and cons.
