A Case Study on Currents Issue Based on 4th SDG (Quality Education)
This entry will focus on the 4th SDG which discusses the quality of education and relate it with the pandemic situation that we are enduring now.
Covid-19 Pandemic had led to so many changes in many of our life aspects especially in terms of social, economy, and most obviously our education norms. According to Srivasta (2020), the largest mass disruption of education in history had been caused by Covid-19. The pandemic seems to be threatening the current achievement in education system all around the globe when it first struck out of nowhere without any warning. All the education centre like schools, universities, colleges, and many more were forcibly shut down due to the pandemic that seems to be worsen day by day. The statement had been supported by Srivasta (2020) where she stated that more than 190 countries enforced country-wide cessation ensuing in 90 percent of learners which is over 1.5 billion people being forced out of school and education institutions. This situation seems to have pushed away the 4th sustainable development goal which is prioritising on quality education for all beyond reach. Before Covid-19 swarmed us the progress towards achieving quality education was already slow where the projection on children who will still be out of school by the year 2030 is estimated around 200 million. Ever since we are living in this new norm where all education institutions were forced to be closed, 90% of all students are out of school which indirectly reverse the years of progress that had been achieved on education. Most of the institutions take an alternative teaching and learning method which is known as online learning. The main question that arises from implementing online learning for all level of education starting from primary education until tertiary education is the effectiveness of the implementation. The question here is how well the online learning will be in maintaining the quality of education that had been carved by normal physical class? Is it going to be better, worse, or equal? This paper will mainly discuss about the effectiveness of the online-learning implementation during Covid-19 pandemic and the ways to improve it.
First, we must look at the factors affecting the quality of online learning or can be known as E-learning that had been implemented widely since the first quarter of the year 2020 due to the pandemic. Based on the literature about e-learning and the factors proposed by Chapnick’s criteria for e-learning readiness (Chapnick, 2000), there are few factors that can influence the efficacy of online learning which are administrative support, course content, course design, instructor characteristic, learner characteristic, social support, and technical support in which all the respective key determinants of online learning’s quality are analysed thoroughly by different scholars according to their academic writing. The administrative support is proven to have constructive impact towards the quality of e-learning in higher education (Elumalai et al., 2020). Generally, administrative support plays an important role in academic by providing reception services and responsible in managing the curriculum development, evaluating syllabus quality and methods of implementation. This department also involves in suggesting valuable programs or revising existing programs for the development of graduate success attributes. In order to maintain the quality of education in the online-learning approach, the academic administration need to revise the implementation of study according to the current situation. Constituting a suitable course syllabus accordingly can be impactful to the implementation of effective online learning. The content of online learning includes learning materials and supporting materials that can be easily accessed by students during online session (Elumalai et al., 2020). All the assignments, quizzes and other methods of assessment must be implemented according to the situation that fits all students that were studying online. The university management need to have a proper discussion on planning the best method to evaluate the students’ performance in academic as some of the traditional assessment might not be suitable to be implemented online. This is because the traditional assessment possibly might not be up to standard to the evaluate students’ capability. If this matter is not taken seriously, the students probably will face problems adapting with the fast-paced working environment when they step their foot in the industry where mostly needs a practical-ready freshies working with them.
Next, the factor that can contribute to the effectiveness of online learning is the course content and design. It is undeniable that the course content and design play an important role in providing a better online learning for all students especially during the pandemic where the only option for the mode of learning is on the online platform. The course design needs to be much more interesting to attract and motivate the students to learn as they are studying at the comfort of their home which means they are in their comfort zone. There is higher possibility that they might get distracted if they are at home as they are less monitored by the educators. Thus, online learning can be the best opportunity for the educators to enhance the way they deliver the course content by utilizing the multimedia resources, which can attract learners to learn and understand the concepts more easily (Khamparia & Pandey, 2017). A well-structured and attractive online courses design with visual explanation enhances the students’ learning through the online classes (Oh et al., 2019). In conventional learning, the course design does not fully utilize the multimedia resources due to time constraints (Elumalai et al., 2020).
To further ensure the effectiveness of online learning and to improvise the flaws existed in the implementation of it we need to understand students’ perspective and view on online mode of learning and to adapt in teaching-learning process accordingly (Hasan and Khan, 2020). Talking about online learning, a good and stable access to the internet becomes the major concern. Bear in mind that not all students can reach a good internet connection at their respective home. Some are living in the rural areas where the development of telecommunication infrastructure is slow. There are some cases where students struggle to find the best spot to have a better connectivity during their online class and exam. This situation indirectly creates some unnecessary stress on them which will eventually affect their overall academic performance. Quoting a famous story of a Malaysian Marine Science undergraduate student, Veveonah Mosibin which was reported in The Star online by Stephanie Lee (2020), the young student shared her struggle going through her daily online learning through her social media where her act to record herself studying on top of a tree and stayed overnight there to get a better signal caught the attention of public. According to the post she made, she showed the reality of people especially student living in a rural area with limited access to the stable internet connection. The government always have the upper hand by providing a better telecommunication infrastructure for a better internet connection. This indicates that by acknowledging student’s perspective, the online learning can probably become a preferrable choice of study mode through the amendment of flaws existed in online learning implementation.
Apart from the internet connection issue encountered by students nowadays who are studying online, the college, school or universities need to consider students’ situation at home whether they are studying in a conducive environment or not. Some students especially in university level find it hard to study at home due to unconducive environment or family issues. University especially needs to put into account those condition to ensure quality education during pandemic. Since we have the upper hand in handling the Covid lately, this situation can be handled by allowing some of the students who have this problem to go back to their campus and undergo the online learning. Besides that, students who must undergo practical or hands-on training in laboratories and studios should also be allowed to be on campus so that their learning can be effective (Omar, 2021). There are some of the learning processes that require hands-on experience so that an accurate evaluation on students’ performance can be achieved as. Plus, most of the employers today are hunting for fresh graduates who are practical ready not only a book smart person.
To summarize all the points that had been discussed, online learning can be effective if a proper implementation is being implemented accordingly. It means that not all method used in conventional method can be applied to the online learning. There is a need in amendment and a restructure of the course content and design to suit the current mode of learning. The education institution plays an important role in planning and determining the best method to be applied. The factors affecting the online learning especially during the pandemic need to be studied thoroughly and further action need to be taken as all problems can be solved if we understand the root of the problem. The effectiveness of the online learning can also be increased by looking the situation from the students’ perspective. People can never understand someone else’s problem until they are in the same shoes as those who are facing the problem. Thus, it is vital to consider students’ opinion and perspectives.
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References
Chapnick, S. (2000). Are you ready for e-learning? Learning Circuits: ASTD’s Online Magazine All about E-Learning.
Elumalai, K. V., Sankar, J. P., R, K., John, J. A., Menon, N., Alqahtani, M. S. N., & Abumelha. M. A. (2020). Factors affecting the quality of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of higher education students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 19, 731-753. https://doi.org/10.28945/4628
Hasan, N., & Khan, N.H. (2020). Online teaching-learning during Covid-19 pandemic: Students’ perspective. The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, 8(4), 202-211. Retrieved from: https://tojdel.net/
Khamparia, A., & Pandey, B. (2017). Impact of interactive multimedia in E-learning technologies: Role of multimedia in E-learning. In D. S. Deshpande, n. Bhosale, & R. J. Bhosale, (Eds.), Enhancing Academic Research with Knowledge Management Principles (pp. 199–227). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2489- 2.ch007
Lee, S. (2020, June 16). Sabah student stays overnight in tree to get better internet connection for online university exams. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/
Omar, N. A. N. (2021, January 27). Ensuring a quality education during a pandemic. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/
Oh, E. G., Chang Y., & Park, S. W. (2019). Design review of MOOCs: Application of e-learning design principles. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-019-09243-w
Srivasta, P. (2020, October 23). The impact on education. Retrieved from https://www.sustainablegoals.org.uk/the-impact-on-education/