KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Higher Education must review the online learning system to see if it has a positive impact on tertiary students.
Official speaker of the Students’ Union in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Yillson Yanggun said various aspects must be given serious attention especially the emotional and mental health of the students when adapting to the learning method.
“Maybe in the beginning, the lecturer was excited and the students were also excited to study at home, but when it goes into three months of the movement control order, it is a different story.
“For some, the facilities at home are not the same as on campus, and the distractions and home environment could cause stress, resulting in the student losing interest in his studies and affecting the quality of education,” he said.
Yillson was speaking in the `Suara Profesor Negara: Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Dalam Talian: Strategi Mengawal Kualiti’ on Bernama TV.
At the same time, Yillson who was also formerly a Member of the Malaysian Youth Parliament (Sabah) said, most lecturers were not prepared for the online teaching and learning (PdP) method.
The Ministry of Higher Education has announced that all PdP activities in campuses of higher learning must be conducted online until Dec 31.
Meanwhile, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) of the Albukhary International University, Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Rashid Mohamed said the Covid-19 pandemic was an opportunity for those in the field of education to move out of their comfort zones.
“The change towards online teaching and learning began since 2017. However, because of certain constraints, we returned to the comfort zone, teaching via conventional methods.
“So, when lecturers were asked to change their delivery, it would definitely require changes as previously, online teaching was only a teaching aid but now it has become the basis and main medium for teaching,” he said. – Bernama
