COVID-19 pandemic has unquestionably affected the education sector. There is widespread disruption amongst the teachers and schoolchildren, and of course the universities worldwide.
About 1.5 billion students globally are affected, thus creating a vacuum and a time of uncertainty with respect to their learning processes.
The disruption exposes the "digital divide" between the developed countries and developing countries; hence, reflecting the gap between nations and even regions and communities within a nation with regards to access to information and telecommunication technologies such as personal computers and the Internet.
The pandemic quickens the journey toward online learning. University management has to re-examine existing organizational or faculty structures to support online learning, investments and allocations for technology, staff training, and establishing rules to support the urgency and requirement for online-based learning platforms.
University students are thus exposed to a newer paradigm. They are in an advantageous position to utilize Open Educational Resources (OERs) that are already in the public domain and thus guiding them in their courses and subjects that are of interest to them.
Besides OERs, students can also have access to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). For example, Malaysia MOOCs, started by the Ministry of Higher Education some years ago, is offering more than 450 courses by numerous local universities and has catered for nearly 400,000 students thus far.
While technology is a major ingredient in this paradigm shift, let us not forget the content development and learning analytics that every university should focus on.
In a new approach of being more student-centered, universities should be ready to prepare detailed and well-structured lesson plans at every faculty before furnishing their learning management system (LMS) with the appropriate content.
One may add that the LMS must be well-organised so as to stimulate self-learning amongst students.
Similarly the Deans of each faculty and the supporting staff especially the academics will have to play their role as well. Meticulous planning and implementation at the faculty level is the essence of ensuring success in this endeavour.
The content of every course must reflect the need for independent learning after which it will be uploaded into the LMS.
It is also for this reasoning that student learning activities must be engaging and encourage collaborative learning. Universities must not only be concerned about the students getting high grades but more importantly taking care of the weak students whose academic journey must be made equally rewarding.
One of the most important issues with respect to adopting this new mode of teaching and learning is the question of online assessment and examinations. This has to be done with meticulous planning and monitoring by the university's examination department with regard to concerns over efficiency and accountability.
These will include compliance with regulatory requirements and Quality Assurance at all times and ensuring that online examination is highly assessable and available, and technical issues such as Internet access and system failure must be minimized.
With respect to online teaching and learning, like most Malaysian universities embarking on this mode of learning, for example University of Cyberjaya has been adopting the various platforms and methods to ensure that online teaching and learning are functional and operational throughout this pandemic period and thereafter.
These include having interactive e-classes and comprehensive e-exams utilizing Microsoft Teams in addition to establishing extensive e-library resources and a flexible self-paced learning.
Many local universities are embarking on this while more enhancements are needed so as to ensure quality delivery of lectures and courses.
Equally significant for the university management and faculty team is to determine the proportion of face-to-face lectures or interaction and the part meant for online learning as we know the needs of each faculty for this exercise will be distinctly diverse from each other.
Looking at the bright side, Malaysian universities that are successful in this transition will certainly enhance their image as providers of quality education catering to the needs of their future graduates.
The increasing importance of open and distance learning as a feasible learning platform will allow universities to attract overseas students to enroll in Malaysian universities, either in situ or at their countries of origin.
There are three parties that are distinctly recognised as the major players in ensuring the successful transition to a more flexible and sustainable teaching and learning environment in our universities. The management team of each university must be able to determine the extent of the change needed and supported by the Faculty Deans and the academic.
This article is an extension of the writer's Webinar Talk at University of Cyberjaya on July 23, 2020
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times