A discussion on E-Learning offered in Malaysia universities: Pros and Cons from the student perspective

The advanced technologies nowadays can bring everything to our homes, everything that we need to use daily, such as books, clothes, news and even foods and "knowledge". We can learning at home, at any places, as long as there can online. That is what i want to discuss --Electronic Learning or Networked Learning. Electronic Learning (E-Learning) is a term for all types of technology-enchanced learning (TEL), where techonlogy is used to support the learning process. Often the medium of instruction is through computer technology, particularly involving digital technologies. E-Learning has been defined as pedagogy empowered by digital technology. (Wikipedia)

E-Learning has become more and more convenient and popular in Malaysia. Almost every universities in Malaysia has the E-Learning service. E-Learning has shown its great advantages through its accessibility to all student irrespective of their residence. E-Classes help students to communicate with their tutors and lecturers, get information regarding their subjects and access teaching materials through E-Liabilies, for example UTAR has a web based learning environment (WBLE), which students can get the latest lecture notes and tutorial question from it.

From a student perspective, it is very useful and helpful, because we can save the time to print out the softcopies, we can read it as long as we have a computer and online service is provided. We can have the teaching materials for a whole semester at one time instead of waiting for the hardcopies that photostated and distributed by our leader. The most interesting thing is we not need to attend the classes in the particular university or college which our courses are taking from. We can save a lot of money since we not need to pay the transportation fees, accommodation fees and the daily fees. We can save the high study fees as well.

E-Learning also provided student time flexibility, you can download the teaching materials whenever you want, or when you can online. It is not a matter and nobody will punish you because of attend the class without lecturer notes. A student can send his query at any time when he can get access to the internet. So, because of these, E-Learning is very popular among students that living in the developing countries.

However, everything has its good and bad sides, E-Learning as well. The cons of E-Learning obviously is the non-motivated or laziness of a student. Lack of face-to-face communication between a teacher and a student will lead to misunderstanding, it is because a teacer might not understand what the student need and interest for. Besides that, a student will be too free since nobody can control him and he can simply be lazy and demotivated. It might result a low scope of the student's knowledge. Hence, the final result might not so encouraging.

For some student who living in rural areas, such as Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia. The places might not have the onlie service and those students even do not have a computer and do not know how to use computer, E-Learning becomes an unreasonable service to them, so it is unfair to the student who living in the rural areas.

Reference:

1.) http://www.articlealley.com/article_78603_45.html

2.)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_learning