Learning institutions are called upon to embrace the curriculum change in education in preparing the learners to enter the relevant industry. They are supposed to prepare learners for jobs that have yet to exist today. These tasks have been carried out fairly well by academicians for a long time through traditional brick and mortar teaching style. With the impact of the unstoppable progression of technology and the digital revolution in this era, the brick and mortar teaching-learning is no longer relevant as the sole method. Classroom communication has been greatly affected by technology in a good way. There’s no boundary or restriction to discussions among tutors- students or students-students. We welcome these changes with open arms. The digital databases used by higher learning institutions have also made communication, learning-teaching, assignments, submissions, and sharing of information far easier compared to the old days.
The amount of money spent on the software and hardware is enormous but it can be a very good investment if utilised meticulously, but on whose expense? Private institutions that have not enough funding will put it on students and if it is put that way, is it really worth it? Higher learning institutions using databases to supplement the traditional teaching styles have yielded fruitful gains in terms of imparting knowledge and creating tech-savvy graduates. In the case of a total rebranding to fully embrace digital learning institutions, there are many factors an institution will have to look at, besides the basic software and hardware, but in terms of budget, trained academicians who can work on the software, IT team, and most importantly the Internet speed. Malaysia is still far behind other countries when it comes to Internet speed. Imagine waiting for ten minutes for a 5-minute video to download in class.
Most children below the age of 12 can use technological gadgets without any problem. Even a three-year-old can open apps in a smart phone without any hesitation. The appropriate age to when children should be exposed to the use of the Internet is debatable. This is a skill one must have but when it comes to education, why do online classrooms fail miserably in schools? Primary and secondary school kids are not interested in online discussion, online exercises, or online projects submission. There is no problem with the knowledge in the usage but there could be a problem in connectivity, interests, and other relevant factors. Every kid loves the Internet because they can do a lot like play games, find information, read e-books, watch movies or YouTube, and most importantly the use of social media in sharing statuses, posts, and more. A typical urban family will have their own chat groups; a group with grandparents and parents, a different group with parents only so we can keep things off grandparents’ knowledge, or just between siblings where parents are off-limits.
Many curriculum designers thought that since learners have already acquired this skill, why not use it as a platform to further enhance their learning? The issue is not in learning itself, but in responsibility. Higher learning students are mostly youths above the age of 18 and learning is one of their responsibilities. Inability to cope means they will get left behind and failure will cost time and money. Besides, they need to do so to support their learning, while primary and lower secondary students are still too young to be given such a responsibility. The probability, of straying elsewhere while doing online learning, is high. Every change in the curriculum has always started with good intentions but it is sad to acknowledge that not every good intention is practical. It is an excellent idea to have computer classes in school but to enforce online learning requires the management to look at many factors from both sides. It is true that students have already acquired the skills needed to find their way online, but interests will have to be implemented. It is easy to use online platform as a tool to give project-based assignments but if it is just used for the sake of using an online platform, then it won’t do anyone any good. Gamification is the new methodology in teaching-learning and it has so far been a successful way in imparting knowledge through games, but how many teachers are able to gamify their lessons?
Giving Internet access to teachers is great. Teachers should be able to incorporate online resources into their lesson plans to make it more interesting, but online resources should not be used to replace a teacher at primary and lower secondary levels. Students can be taught ICT subject separately to instil this skill, but bear in mind that some students do not have the privilege of Internet access or computers at home so before they are required to complete online exercises, this factor should be looked into aptly. No doubt that technology is a great tool in education but to enforce the use of online learning on primary and lower secondary students in the current state, thorough planning and studies are needed.
