A discussion on E-learning offered in Malaysian universities: Pros and Cons from the students perspective
Posted by: gaikhoon88 on: July 9, 2009
E-learning defined as the online delivery of information for purpose of education, training, or knowledge management. It makes knowledge accessible to those who need it, when they need it, anytime, anywhere. In addition, it can be useful as an environment for facilitating learning at schools.
One of the universities in Malaysia which implement e-learning is Open University Malaysia (OUM), incorporated in August 2000. There is no campus, teach through email but have tutorials during certain Sunday.
The E-learning application in University Technology Malaysia (UTM) is the integration between network learning and conventional learning. The course content, lecture notes, communication tools, quizzes, tests as well as the assignments can be accessed through the university computer network by using this kind of system.
Furthermore, University Science Malaysia (USM), University of Malaya (UM) also have implement e-learning as well.
There are some pros of E-learning from the student perspective:
(1) Reduction of time and cost. Reduces travel time and cost for student.
(2) Flexibility. Students are able to adjust the time, location, content, and speed of learning in accordance with their own personal schedules. It convenient for student access anytime, anywhere.
(3) Preferences. Students are allowed to select learning materials which meet their interest, level of knowledge and what they need to know in order to perform more effectively in their particular activity.
(4) Updated and consistent material. Student can offer just-in-time access to timely information. Those materials are more consistent since variations between teachers are eliminated.
(5) Fear-free environment. It can facilitate learning for students who may not wish to join a face-to-face group discussion. It for whose reluctance to expose their lack of knowledge in public.
Nevertheless, there also have some cons of E-learning from student perspective:
(1) Lack of face-to-face interaction and campus life. Lack of human touch. Intellectual stimulation through instruction in class with “live” instructor cannot fully duplicate.
(2) Computer literacy. It cannot extend to students who are not computer literate.
(3) Student retention. There is difficult for students to study by themselves since there is no physical attendance. Students have to be self-motivated, responsible for their own learning and have good time management skills. Furthermore, without human feed back may difficult to keep student mentally engaged and enthusiastic over a long period of time.
Related link:
