LETTER: IT has been more than a year since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. It is evident that adoption of online teaching has changed the landscape of the education sector.
The question now is whether online learning will continue to persist post-Covid 19 pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the global education market.
The mindset of students has changed drastically over the last one year. A recent global student survey by Chegg.org indicated that 78 per cent of tertiary students in Malaysia prefer online learning if it means cheaper fees rather than conventional face-to-face sessions.
A similar trend is also observed in other countries. For example, the percentage of preference for online learning is 83 per cent in Canada and 78 per cent in China.
There is evidence that learning online can be more effective. On average, students retain 25 to 60 per cent more material when learning online compared with eight to 10 per cent in a classroom. Generally, e-learning requires 40 to 60 per cent less time to learn compared with a traditional classroom setting.
However, many challenges have to be overcome if online learning were to be sustained post-pandemic.
Two are worthy of mention.
FIRST, digital access relies on the availability of reliable Internet access. In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a club of mostly rich countries, a digital gap was predominantly seen across countries and between income brackets within countries. Last year, we saw a student in Sabah climbing a tree just to get Internet connection so that she could sit an online examination.
An Education Ministry survey last year revealed that 40 per cent of about 900,000 students affected by school closures could not follow lessons as they did not have cellphones and home Internet with unlimited data.
SECOND, many institutions are not equipped with adequate information technology (IT) facilities to conduct assessments. Additionally, there is a lack of IT knowledge and training among educators.
The following are three ways educational institutions can overcome the digital divide among students and educators so that they stay relevant in the new normal.
FIRST, academic institutions should invest in improving their IT facilities. Purchasing online software, upgrading hardware, and providing high-speed Internet are imperative for effective online teaching. In 2018, researchers found that after four and a half months of using an Indian app called Mindspark, which tests basic language and maths skills, children made more progress in these areas.
SECOND, academic and support staff should be trained to handle tech-savvy gadgets. Academic staff should be encouraged to obtain online pedagogical knowledge to improve academic quality. The IT department in educational institutions should ensure that online teaching proceeds without any problem.
THIRD, institutions need to redesign their curriculums with different teaching approaches. They should introduce online teaching on various online platforms. This will be in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, where online learning is an integral component of higher education.
Although the pandemic has caused major disruptions in the teaching and learning process, it has had a salutary effect. It has pushed educational institutions to provide better holistic education to students.
Research suggests that online learning increases information retention and takes less time. It looks like the changes wrought by the pandemic are here to stay.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR SUNDRAM M. KARUPIAH
Deputy dean (Postgraduate, Research and Administration), Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times