A discussion on E-learning offered in Malaysian universities: Pros and Cons from the students perspective
E-learning is distance learning, where learning is conducted via electronic media, especially via the Internet. The students are learning without face to face communication with the teachers. The most common method of e-learning is where the tutor or lecturer upload several course modules on the university intranet and students are able to access freely to these materials as and when needed. Nowadays, e-learning is becoming more and more popular in Malaysian universities, such as University Technology Malaysia (UTM), University of Malaya (UM), and other universities. So, I would like to discuss about the pros and cons of e-learning from a student's perspective.
Reduces family budget - because they can eliminate the traveling expenses and costs of living, especially for the students who stay far away from the universities. They can just sit at home and study online.
Time flexibility - E-learning enables students to access information anytime that suit their own needs.
Better understanding - for some students who take up part time job that is related to their course, they can apply the knowledge that they have learned in the current job.
Get the course resources easily - students can get the lecture notes, tutorial questions and additional notes, and also communicate with their lecturers as long as they can access the internet.
Up-to-date with computer technology - students are able to practice any new software application and update themselves with latest IT information during their online study.
Cons
No direct contact - if students post the queries to the site, it might take a lengthy time for the questions to be answered. It is because the lecturer may not be available all the time.
No supervision for assignment - the students might do the assignment without supervision fromtheir lecturer/tutor. They might have the tendency to get lower marks for their assignments.
Lack face to face interactions with other students or lecturer - the lecturer may not know the students' needs, interests, and motivation level. Therefore, if the student does not understand the their subjects, they will feel demotivated because there is lacking of emotional interaction between students and the lecturer.
High internet connection cost - it some areas, the internet connection might be un-stable and lag. The students are having a hard to access the internet and may pay more to get a high-speed internet connection.
Lastly, I would conclude that, e-learning have their advantages and disadvantage that we cannot avoid if this is implemented in Malaysian Universities. On the other hand, traditional learning also has their benefits. So, I suggest that the Malaysian Universities may implement a mix learning method, which mixes up e-learning and traditional learning.
So, what is your opinion??
Related References:
http://metalab.uniten.edu.my/~./elrg/file/E-Learning.ppt
http://asiapacific-odl2.oum.edu.my/C33/F243.pdf
4 comments:
now really many uni. start implement the e-learning. However, the uni. must set the high speed network connection first. if not, the server may down n sure complaint by the student. haha, this jz my opinion.
Get the course resources easily!!?
some uni. so late to post the course material to the web. haiz, i think is the lecturer need time to set the notes/question, cz the typing is need time.. ,(/_\).
agree, if uni. don't have the high speed network connection and many student login to the web. It may cause the server down and the result may same as snows saying...
for J, another reason maybe is some old lecturer do not know how to post the material to web. But u be patient la, cz may be is e-learning at ur uni. just implement, and those lecturer no habit with that situation yet. maybe u can say to your uni. admin department...
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