The Implementation of E-learning System in Tertiary Education Level

1.0  Introduction

1.1.   Background

          In this 21^st Century, many countries are very competitive in developing technologies and multimedia field in order to reduce the communication gap. In this regard, the government of Malaysia is making a lot of efforts to establish the Multi-media Super Corridor (MSC) in the area of 750 kilometres square, the covered area from Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and extended to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The implementation of this project is giving a lot of implication that seen from different view such as the aspect of education, economic, industrial, social and politic.

          Nowadays, the exponential growth of technologies in the global markets makes people easier to learn more effectively. Meeting this new approach in gathering knowledge, the Ministry of Education Malaysia are decided to look forward and doing a lot of research regarding the learning style and thus design the E-Learning system to motivated students to develop self-learning skill to achieve higher performance especially at higher education level.

1.2 Objectives

1.21 To investigate the effectiveness of E-Learning method to students.

1.22 To study the purpose of implementation of E-Learning in higher education level.

1.23 To compare between E-Learning and traditional learning.

1.3 Procedure

1.3.1 Questionnaire

The survey was conducted by distribution of 40 sets of questionnaire to the students of UiTM as the main respondents to this case of studies. They were 26 numbers of respondents are from female students and 14 numbers of respondents are from  male students. From the result that we found from the survey, there are several findings that can be obtained and  thus be the main elements to be taken into consideration in implementation of E-Learning based studies in tertiary education  level  in Malaysia. 

2.0 Findings

2.1 Learning Time

The amount of time spent learning (or time-on-task), the quality of learning time has a real influence on learning performance. Quality of time in online learning depends on students’ time availability and their willingness to devote quality cognitive time to learning activities (Margarida & Elena, 2011).

Learning quality and quantity of the time spent by students on e-Learning can be reduced by several factors which are social activities, internet access, and time constraint due to university activities.  Student’s lives especially in the university are quite busy due to a lot of assignment, quizzes and tests. So the time allocate to their learning is reduced (after doing all the activities).

Figure 1: Total time spends by students per week.

Based on the pie chart above, the highest total time spends by student for e-learning are 3 hours with 65% followed by 1 hour with 20%, followed by 5 hours with 12.5% and lastly 12 hours and above which is 2.5%.

Internet access is one the factors why student spend less time on e-Learning system. In UiTM Shah Alam, the internet connection is provided by the university. Student may online by connect with student’s Wi-Fi known as “uitmsalamstudent”. However the connection at UiTM Shah Alam, is quite poor and slow, maybe due to excessive user or the modem is not good enough to support users in this campus which have more than ten thousand people. Thus, the time spent by student on the internet is lesser.

2.1.2 Learning Time Quality

Time quality is depends on student lifestyle. Time quality is made up of attributes related to a certain kind of activity. In academic, the quality of students’ learning time is considered to be cognitive. Depending on the nature of the learning activities, different attributes of the students’ time are required. These attributes depend not only on the task difficulty (Belmont & Butterfield, 1971; Kobasigawa& Metcalf-Haggert, 1993). Quality of learning time also based on learner ability to understand and digest whatever information gathered.

2.1.3 Learning Time Flexibility

According to Margarida and Elena (2011) time flexibility as the students’ ability to regulate their time-on-task according to their learning time availability, the instructional time requirements, and the flexibility of the learning tasks. Learners’ time flexibility is determined by their capacity to allocate time to academic activities and the quantity and quality of time they can spend on these activities. Therefore, online learning time flexibility is in terms of both instructional time flexibility and student time flexibility.

On e-learning, time and location are flexible, learners can adjust their time when to study or do some revision on the internet. They also can save whatever information they want and can study whenever they free.

2.2 Learning Materials

The learning materials will be the important element of e-learning process. Without a good preparation and selection of the topics as well as the elaboration the contents may be useless to students. There are a lot of considerations to be taken into accounts when using the virtual mode of studies, they were the availability, the accessibility, and the scopes of those particular materials were being used as a main reference.

2.2.1 Availability

A survey was conducted by our group members by distribution of 40 sets of questionnaire to the students of MARA University of Technology (UiTM). It was found that 60% of the UiTM students preferred to gain knowledge via electronic media rather than printed media, 65% of the students are spending time online 3 hours per week, and 65% of the students agreed that they are satisfied with the information that they gathered from the Internet.

Figure 2: Learning Media

The Pie Chart above shows that the media that the students prefer the most to gain knowledge. It was found that 60% of the respondents choose an electronic media as the main reference whereas 40% of them are prefer to use printed media as the main materials in their studies.

This situation will encourage students to learn very quickly because the materials are available and easy to get compared to traditional classes whereas the text books have to be read page by page because the elaboration of a particular topic is very details and students take a long time to understand the whole ideas. Hence, the available of learning materials will contribute to the successful of the implementation of e-learning based studies in tertiary education level.

2.2.2 Accessibility

Typically in the university the system is developed by the experts, normally a Web Master. Once the system is standby and connected to the server the learning materialswill beuploaded and always keep up-to-date by the lecturers who have the responsibility to prepared the useful contains for students. Then, the students will freely access the system with their own username and password, and the system is known as I-Learn in UiTM Student Portal.

Based on the observation, 100 % of the UiTM students from Faculty of Civil Engineering are familiar with the blended learning system which is the combination of traditional classes and e-learning session. In virtual classes for example the students have to complete about an hour classes for the attendance and submit the tutorial within the timeframe that given by the lecturer. As a result,the adaptation of e-learning based studies is accepted in Malaysia educational system in according with the divergence of technology and the Internet.

2.3 Benefit of e-learning

There are several benefits of e-learning for UiTM students. These benefits that respondents can obtain includes easy to use,lower cost ,more effective learning and can develop knowledge of internet and computer skills.

Figure 3: Benefit of E-Learning

The chart shows the benefits of e-learning for UiTM students. It shows that the highest percentage of 40% is to develop knowledge and computer skills.Then followed by more effective learning and lower cost which are 30% and 20% respectively.The lowest percentage of benefits of e-learning is easy to use which only contributes 10% of the total percentage.

From the data,we can say that almost the student uitm get benefit to improve their own knowledge about to use internet and computer skill.For example during the student do their assignment by using e-learning program,they are have train their ownself to use internet to get the information and use the computer to complete their assignment. At the same time the student also can  improve their knowledge about using the internet and computer skills.Other than that,today many of student use the smart phone as a electronic media to get the information and do their assignment by the e-learning.That have proved by the result of questionaire gets almost 60% student more choose electronic media compare to printed media.This is because its maybe to easy to get and and fasters compare to other.The result shows from the data such as the chart at below in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Media preferred by students

The lower percentage of benefit of e-learning that are student uitm get are easy to use.Almost of the student said that e-learning is not simply use.This is because once want to use e-learning that people should know properly to use computer or internet.Other than that, e-learning most use the connection of internet data and sometime if the internet data have a problem will give the bad impact to student when use e-learning.That why some part the student uitm like to prefer use hard copy or doing class like usually.From the report that why benifit e-learning easy to use only 10%.Otherwise, student also always takes the old way to study in a classroom compare the other develop country.

            2.4 The Ways to Encourange the Attraction to Use E-Learning

2.4.1 Students’ Prefer to Use

There are several ways to encourage the students to use the e-learning. The most students' prefer includes post video / audio lecturer recording, group forum / chat, open licensed learning materials and create a pleasant look and feel notes.

Figure 5: Method of study prefered by students

The chart shows the students' prefer to use the e-learning. Most of the respondents surveyed are prefer to choose post video / audio lecturer recording which is 40%. Then followed by group forum / chat which is 30%. Only a small number of respondents implied that to use open licensed learning materials and create a pleasant look and feel notes which is both are 10% respectively.

From the data, we can say that most students are prefer to use e-learning based on post video / audio lecturer recording because the students can always refer when they have time or needed to know about the information. Otherwise, the students can repeat to watch the video or listen to the recorded to help them to remember about the important points that they have to remember. It also helps students when the final examination is around the corner. Then, the group forum / chat also are students chosen because lecturer likes to give an assessment to the students to interact them to communicate with the others. Other than that, lecturer can evaluate the students' potential such as soft skills, knowledge, writing skills, and others. However, not all students know about licensed learning materials so they are not prefer to use it. Lastly, not all the lecturer has enough time to spend to make the colourful and attach more picture as an example in their slides. Some of the students also doesn’t mind about look but most prefer about the contain that they can get from it.

  

3.0 Conclusions

3.1 Learning Time

Based on the data obtained, most of the respondents only spend about 3 hours per week on internet to study or to do their assignments. This indicates that students spend less time on e-learning compared with traditional learning system which is attend a lecture.

3.2 Learning Materials

The results of the investigation shows that majority of UiTM students are preferred to gain knowledge via electronic media and most of them are spending time online about 3 hours per week. Hence, they are satisfied with the knowledge and information that they gathered from the Internet.

3.3 Benefits of E-Learning

It means that,  most of student uitm get more benefit to develop knowledge internet and computer skill during e-learning compare to others.

4.0 Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, here are several recommendations to be considered:

4.1 Learning Time

 Students should have a proper timetable to divide between social activities and studies. Other than that, student should spend more time on e-learning because nowadays a lot of information can easily obtained from the internet. However, E-learning is just a tool to help students to gain more knowledge and get more understanding outside the classroom.

4.2 Learning Materials

The university should improve the contains of the learning materials and the Internet connectivity to encourage students to gain knowledge via electronic media so that they can select the best quality of materials provided online to be the references in order to enhance the ability of students to learn based on their own effort by using e-learning mode of studies .

4.3 Benefits of E-Learning

 Goverment or all institution should take action to expose about to study using e-learning all students and people.Goverment  make sure that all people especially student to know about e-learning because to create that student people know about internet and to use computer with the same time can improve skill to use it.That institution that use e-learning program such as uitm, it should introduce to their students about e-learning and to use it.By that ways, it will easy to study and understand to student use it.

References

Anuwar Ali (2007, May). Issues and Challenges In Implementing E-Learning in Malaysia. Open University Malaysia.

Belmont, J. M., & Butterfield, E. C. (1971).Learning strategies as determinants of memory deficiencies. Cognitive Psychology, 2(4), 411–420.

Margarida, R. & Elena, B. (2001, June). Quality of E-Learners’ Time and Learning Performance Beyond Quantitative Time-on-Task.The International Review of Research In Open And Distance Learning. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/999/1870

Jason. R & Maria, H. (2003,Oct). The Business Case for E-Learning.Advantages of E-Learning.

                Retrieved from http://www.home.teleport.com/elearning/advantages.html