Online Learning Awakens: This is the Way
It was about 20 years ago when I ventured into online learning by creating the first forum-based community for my school. Backed by only a 128Kbps-connection at that time, regular updates and discussions were held although not many were able to participate — in fact there were only like 50 of us out of hundreds. But the learning community thrived and we were able to even connect with other students from other parts of Malaysia and around the world. We benefitted, but only a handful of us.
That was the beginning of the mantra “Online learning is going to change the way we learn”. That was also the time when the government’s Multimedia Super Corridor master plan pushed for the establishment of Bestari Schools (Smart Schools), which was supposed to be the catalyst for 21st-century-like schools. But it never really lived up to its name and reputation. But at least, the initiatives that went together with Smart Education policies spurred our teachers to be more equipped with technological tools that enhance the way they teach.
20 years later, as we now enter the dawn of post-Vision 2020 Malaysia, the sleeping giant awakens, and in many other incarnatios from learning management systems (LMS) to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). And at a time when COVID19 pandemic starts to cause panic around the globe, no one is willing to leave education behind. It is perhaps the second most important focus after the economy. It takes a crisis like this to make us realise areas that we are still lacking at so much so that 20 years later, we are still bogged down by the same problem of connectivity coverage and consistency, let alone the socio-economic gap that reveals there are many B40 students who still cannot afford to own laptops or better devices to allow them to be part of the thriving online learning community.
But in all honesty, online learning is indeed the way, it is the only way to leverage technological advancement to make education more inclusive and equitable. But this will only happen if the fundamentals are solidly put in place. Taking some quotes from the famous Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, here are some areas of concern for all us to ponder.
I CAN BRING YOU IN WARM… OR I CAN BRING YOU IN COLD — The Mandalorian
Indeed, not all educators and even students are ready for online learning. Surprise! Surprise! Despite their familiarity with gadgets, you can still hear a lot of remarks about “I am not ready for this”, even from the Gen-Z and millennials whom we thought would be tech-savvy. It reflects the fact that the key to online learning is not about the familiarity with technological tools but the constant need for self-regulated learning, as well-reported by several studies including Hung et al. and what Nicole Buzzetto-Hollywood coined as “Grit in Online Education”.
We seem to forget that without the grooming of “self-regulated learning” from young, online learning can be as cold as it can be. Learners “pretending to be learning” by visiting LMS or any learning platforms, not in the quest for learning but for “rewards”. There is an alarming trend of carrots and sticks approach, whereby when there’s no reward, many would not be bothered to participate in the online learning community although they are constantly embracing the wonders of Internet via social media and the likes. So it’s about time, we “bring online learning in warm” by filling it with a greater sense of purpose, beyond rewards.
SUCH A LARGE BOUNTY FOR SUCH A SMALL PACKAGE — The Client
Just like “Baby Yoda” who triggered a large bounty for people to hunt him, many online learning usages are equally unconvincing. One aspect would be learners are told to spend their money on Internet data to access course pages in LMS to obtain learning content and participate in activities, but many of these pages were poorly structured with little considerations taken on the design of content and activities. A good example is putting all kinds of videos curated from YouTube, on the course page without proper linkage done to help learners identify why are they supposed to watch those videos. So they end up consuming a large chunk of their Internet data for a very “small package of learning”, which can be easily done using a text-based forum discussion. This would cause frustrations and they would then “think twice” to visit the course page again.
I think it’s high time for educators to relook at the way they create their e-learning content and perhaps take up suitable courses and refer to useful resources about how to effectively produce and organise them (such as Prof Dr Abd Karim’s Total Classroom Makeover MOOC via OpenLearning and his other very useful videos on YouTube). This would indeed help learners to be more interested. The obsession of putting more just for the sake of making the page looks “useful” is no longer relevant.
NONE WILL BE FREE UNTIL THE OLD WAYS ARE GONE FOREVER. — KUIIL
Enough said, online learning will continue to be a fad, for as long as the “old ways” are still around. The mindset change is pivotal to ensure educators and learners alike appreciate the relevance of online learning. Yes, to some, it may just be a change of “mode” from face-to-face to online, but in reality, online learning opens up many other opportunities (such as personalised learning, large-group learning analytics, targetted formative assessments, etc.) that could not be done conveniently or effectively via face-to-face learning.
A change of skillsets is important, but the mindset is the real key to unlock the full potential of online learning (strange that this was mentioned like more than three decades ago).
Like it or not, online learning is the way. And all of us should embrace it not only by accepting it as another “mode” but more of an embodied enculturation by making sense of its real purpose and develop strategic steps to make it a real learning force to be reckoned with.
I have spoken.
