Interactive Way to Learn Risk Management
Muhammad Hilmi Samian1*, Diana Juniza Juanis1, Anas Fathul Ariffin2, Siti Nurasyikin Shamsuddin1
1 Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
2 Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University Teknologi MARA, Perlis, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 October 2022 | Published: 1 November 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ajress.2022.4.3.17
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: UFUTURE is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform provided by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for delivering learning contents online to any person who wants to take a course. Indeed, this MOOC is designed specifically for the course of Principles of Risk Management and Insurance. Contents for this MOOC have been prepared in attractive ways with the assistance of Powtoon, iSpring, flipbook and interactive activities such as crossword puzzles, multiple-choice questions and many more. The contents of each module are divided into subtopics so that students can easily choose which subtopic to view and review over and over without having to view the whole chapter. This online course is developed to make sure that it is practical and flexible to be used by students since it may be used at any convenient time, given that they have internet access. Furthermore, it is to date the only online course in Malaysia for this subject that offers interactive features to engage students in acquiring knowledge in this modern era. This MOOC also aims to provide enjoyable learning experience for students and to build a sustainable open knowledge network for its participants.
Keywords: Risk Management, Massive Open Online Courses, Online Distance Learning, Insurance
_________________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
In 2020, UiTM has witnessed the major shift from traditional face-to-face learning experience to virtual online learning mode due to pandemic Corona Virus (COVID 19). The move towards online and distance learning namely ODL is offered to UiTM’s students via the improved and enhanced platform named UFUTURE (Karim, 2020). This platform was previously known as i-LEARN and was used as online learning tools for both lecturers and students. UiTM has adapted Massive Open Online Course, MOOC in 2014 and has since then been continuously upgrading MOOCs together with its content, rigorously enhanced academic staff performance, actively adding suitable courses for conversion to MOOC (Aziz, 2018).
The development of MOOC has created an opportunity for open learning in higher education.
MOOCs allow a massive number of students to learn on an open learning platform. One of the benefits of the implementations of MOOC is the ability to access learning materials and tasks with minimal or zero fees. Aminu (2018) opined that MOOCs have transformed the idea of open and distance learning as students can access information outside the campuses which allows more students’ participation to learn.
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) introduced Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 and instructed MOOCs to be integrated into the higher educational system. This attribute by MOHE aims to increase the number of student enrolment, enhance the quality of teaching and learning, as well as globalize Malaysian higher education institutions (Moe, 2015).
Hence, the construction of MOOC for the course Principles of Risk Management and Insurance is expected to be the new approach of embracing knowledge on risk management and insurance.
2. Literature Review
Massive open online learning serves as a medium for distance learning. It acts as one of the learning pathways by schools and higher institutions. According to Moe (2015), MOOC was previously known as Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (CCK08). MOOC has represented open access, global, free, video-based instructional content, problem sets, and forums released through an online platform to a high volume of participants (Christensen, 2013). A finding made by the University of Illinois Springfield based on five MOOCs articles showed that MOOCs tended to be objectivist rather than constructivist, primarily teacher- centered, highly structured, and purely relying on learners’ feedback. Furthermore, MOOC tended to provide a mix of abstract and concrete content, put the focus individualistic learning, and focus on convergent answer. MOOC also has been identified as having a mixture of authentic and artificial assignments and set the user role in the middle between active and passive (Baturay, 2015).
3. Methodology
The Principles of Risk Management and Insurance MOOC was created on the UFUTURE online learning platform. UFUTURE is a platform by UiTM that offers online learning content to anyone who wishes to enroll in a course, with no attendance restrictions. This platform focuses on the creation of new communication technologies to ensure the quality and efficacy of web-based training as opposed to traditional methods of instruction. It is a unique approach to online learning for students in higher education of a younger generation (Kannadhasan et al., 2020).
Instructors have provided the materials and content for the MOOC that align with the course learning objectives. The lecture and explanation videos were recorded and created using Powtoon animated video and the iSpring Suite. Meanwhile, other content was developed using digital flipbooks, crossword puzzles (refer to Figure 1), and matching activities, to name a few.
Figure 1: Crossword activity
The template design was provided by the UFUTURE team, and the instructor uploaded all the contents and materials into the platform with some editing to smooth up the process. The course was launched after it passed the testing phase. Figure 2 summarizes the methodology steps for MOOC development of this course.
Figure 2: Flow chart summarizing the methodology for the MOOC development
The seven modules of the Principles of Risk Management and Insurance MOOC correspond to the seven chapters of the UiTM course Principles of Risk Management and Insurance. Each module's content is divided into a number of subtopics so that students can choose which subtopic to read and conveniently review the subtopic without having to view the entire chapter. Figure 3 shows an example of subtopics under Module 6 namely General Insurance.
Figure 3: Subtopics for module 6
The Principles of Risk Management and Insurance MOOC also includes online quizzes, exams, and assignments. In order to promote communication among students, the platform also features a course forum room for lively debates between students and instructors. In addition, instructors could monitor the progress and involvement of each student, such as the amount of time spent on this online course and the proportion of activities completed in each module, using the activity tracker seen in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Tracking activities
4. Discussion and Conclusion
For semester Mac 2022- July 2022, 162 students from across UiTM have enrolled in The Principles of Risk Management and Insurance MOOC. According to student feedback at the end of semester, the course delivered an engaging and interactive learning environment.
Because the course materials for Principles of Risk Management, Insurance, and Takaful are available for free in this MOOC, the participants considered it to be beneficial and educational.
Figure 5: Pie chart showing students feedback on interactive learning
and no students find The Principles of Risk Management, Insurance, and Takaful MOOC not interactive.
Figure 6: Pie chart showing students enjoy using the course MOOC interactive learning
The figure above indicates that 59% of students strongly agree and 40% agree that they are enjoying learning The Principles of Risk Management, Insurance, and Takaful MOOC using the UFUTURE platform. Only 1% of students are undecided, and none of the students do not find the MOOC course enjoyable. This shows that students viewed online learning as more flexible, efficient, and effective in terms of time, money, and energy, as evidenced by their positive response to its deployment (Firmansyah et al., 2021)
References
Aminu, D. A. (2018). Predictive Model of Students’ Continuance Intention in Massive Open Online Course among University Students (Doctoral dissertation, Thesis Master of Science. Universiti Putra Malaysia).
Aziz, A. (2018). Evaluating the design standard of UiTM massive open online courses. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 6(4), 138-151.
Baturay, M. H. (2015). An overview of the world of MOOCs. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 427-433
Christensen, G., Steinmetz, A., Alcorn, B., Bennett, A., Woods, D., & Emanuel, E. (2013). The MOOC phenomenon: Who takes massive open online courses and why? Available at SSRN 2350964.
Firmansyah, R., Putri, D., Wicaksono, M., Putri, S., Widianto, A. & Palil, M. (2021).
Educational Transformation: An Evaluation of Online Learning Due To COVID-19.
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 16(7), 61-76. Kassel, Germany: International Journal of Emerging Technology in Learning.
Kannadhasan, S., Shanmuganantham, M., Nagarajan, R., & Deepa, S. (2020). The role of future e-learning system and higher education. International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology (IJARSCT), 12(2).
Karim, M. A. (2020). UiTM moves to online learning mode. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/education/2020/04/586565/uitm-moves-online-learning mode
Moe, R. (2015). The brief & expansive history (and future) of the MOOC: Why two divergent models share the same name. Current issues in emerging elearning, 2(1), 2.
