The Students’ Perception on the Implementation of Online Distance Learning Among the Foundation Students of Universiti
Selangor
Fariha Diyana Awang Ali1*
1 Centre for Foundation and General Studies, University Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Accepted: 15 September 2021 | Published: 1 October 2021
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Abstract: This paper analyses students' views of the implementation of online distance learning for the ESL class by using the example of students at Universiti Selangor, the Center of Foundation and General Studies (CFGS). Due to the increase in the Covid 19 cases in Malaysia, online distance learning has been used by the Malaysia education system. It is thus essential to know the perspective of the students about the concept of online distance learning.
A total of 100 students received a closed questionnaire including 6 demographic items and 20 four - point likert questions constructed using the Davis Model for Technology Acceptance (TAM). The results from the questionnaire were statistically analysed by determining the average score for each question. Research shows that online distance learning has provided students with access to learning resources, flexible study time, self-discipline and improved ICT competencies. The ODL disadvantages that the students in this research experienced were ODL language barrier, difficult ODL task, internet problem, technical problem and improper interactions.
Keywords: perception, online distance learning, ESL writing, pandemic
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1. Introduction
A novel virus that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan causing an infectious disease named Coronavirus (COVID-19). It has spread rapidly throughout the world, wreaking havoc on health-care systems and intensifying as shelters are closed down. Global outbreaks of diseases such as Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) raise mortality rates. Covid-19 outbreaks across Movement Control Order (MCO) have been implemented where Malaysians have been required to stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus. This is due to the increased number of Covid-19 positive cases around the nations. Following government initiatives, Malaysian universities and colleges are quick to implement crisis management strategies to protect their staff and also the students. The MCO implementation eventually affected foundation students at the Center of Foundation and General Studies (CFGS) of Universiti Selangor who continue learning through the ODL process despite of having face-to-face learning.
Most of the previous research on ODL focused on the design of the ODL study or curriculum mode; it has to be engaging, organised, well-planned class activity; and cater the academic quality purposes. However, less research has been conducted on ODL for ESL Writing, particularly due to pandemic outbreaks that cause chaos globally, forcing students to participate in this ODL and forcing lecturers to use new teaching methods that are rarely used in a traditional face-to-face classroom. According to Warnock (2009), there are many advantages
to teaching ESL writing online; however, students face challenges in the new normal post- pandemic era because they are used to face-to-face ESL writing classes.
Most of the ESL writing syllabus at Unisel's Centre of Foundation and General Studies was taught face to face, with online learning as an option. During the pre-pandemic period, most students preferred face-to-face learning over e-Learning because of a few disadvantages that they might be facing. However, this was not the case in the ODL pandemic era mode, in which students conduct their home learning activities without face-to-face interaction with the lecturer and peers in order to conduct course evaluations. It is also expected that connection problems will have an impact on academic performance. When introducing distance education during this disease epidemic, a few issues arise.
Distance education defines a distance learner as one who has a planned and supervised learning experience physically separated from the teacher and participates in a two-way distance learning that is different from traditional classroom instruction (Rumble, 1986, Holmberg, 1986 & Keegan, 1988). Students complete their task, syllabus, assignment, tests and exam without going to any classroom such as a lecture class, examination hall, computer lab, library or other institution facilities. Dhawan (2020) states that most online learning now uses internet network and gives majority of the students a convenient access, whether in their own homes, via laptop or mobile phone (Hussin et al., 2017). The methods of instruction are usually taught via Google Meeting, Zoom, Social Media, WhatsApp, Telegram, Live Chat, video- conferencing and video recording. Students are required to have safe internet, computer, laptop, handset and a high degree of online training by using online teaching materials for a smooth teaching and learning process. High-level learning motivation, self-directed learning, computer or the Internet are the major considerations for ODL methods. (El-Seoud, 2016, Pemberton &
Cooker, 2012 & Gupta & Singh, 2019). Therefore, the goal of this research is to learn about students' perspectives on the implementation of Online Distance Learning for ESL Writing Class in the New Normal Pandemic Era.
2. Literature Review
The COVID-19 coronavirus attack stunned the world at the start of 2020, and the severity forced the Malaysian government to impose the Movement Control Order (MCO) (Ameer, Nor
& Mokhtar, 2020). The government's sudden action causes fear and confusion, which has a direct impact on the education system. All teaching and learning activities have been conducted online. Online distance learning serves to protect diverse groups of students from different backgrounds, different academic needs, financially affected or unable to attend formal education classes. In order to provide a good quality of education to everyone, a commitment is highly needed to ensure the whole process runs smoothly (Azhari & Ming, 2015). To thrive, both students and teachers must understand the value of how online education works and give full commitment throughout the whole process. Students must also feel immersed and engaged in a rewarding social and educational experience even though they can trust their teachers to use these media to inform and clarify whatever topic they are presenting (Muhammad &
Kainat, 2020). On the other hand, the failure of online education is dependent on the instructors’
planning, online courses planning and adequate online learning resources (Berita Harian Online, 2020). According to the literature, students can "use a healthy and active social life on campus to explain both high persistence and learning satisfaction" (Aiman, 2020). As a result, it is concluded that the lack of community and social interaction in an online learning environment contributes to the lower persistence rates of ODL. Because ODL work appears to be rigorous in reading and writing, some students with poor writing and reading abilities may
be discouraged. Another challenge that some students fail to overcome is the absence of a teacher in a given position and time for the remainder of the semester. Some online learners encounter a learning curve as they become accustomed to asking questions in various forums rather than in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting (Dhawan, 2020).
The national initiative to avoid face-to-face teaching has resulted in increased accessibility for students to access ODL. Many researchers studying online learning readiness reported that the computer internet literacy dimension has a significant impact on students' level of readiness (Anthonysamy, 2020). Many students can benefit from online learning technology, but they must be accompanied by a high level of computer and information literacy competence (Gordon, 2013). Poor basic computer skill hinders the students’ ability to use the e-learning platform smoothly even if the students have accepted ODL as an extra learning tool (Anthonysamy et al., 2020). Students are struggling to do their assignments since the research method does not seem to be known to them and work alone, completing an assessment list with or without face-to-face learning (Nurshahidah & Sufiean, 2020).
However, incorporating technology into the learning process has no positive effect on increasing student motivation (Mohammed, Sahbi & Arslan, 2012). Online teaching and e- learning have resulted in a high demand for Internet link speed, as well as effort, time and motivation. Furthermore, during a pandemic outbreak, ODL advises lecturers to change the classroom into an online environment (Onyema et al., 2020). Lecturers must take into account the motivations of their students, while students must move from (face-to-face) to online lessons. (QS, 2020). This research showed that ODL's success or failure was related to student motivation and told instructors how to improve student motivation. To stimulate students, lecturers must understand that encouragement must be given to students by explaining to them how to use the online environment, facilitating engagement and improving collaboration among their students. As a result, it is critical to understand the students' constraints in adapting ODL in this new normal post-pandemic era (Botturi, Rapanta & Goodyear, 2020).
Because of many issues such as family, environment, internet connection, and financial, ODL is a critical factor for students' focus on achieving high academic performance, particularly during the post-pandemic era (Hasnizawati Hashim, Fazreena Mansor, Hasnizawati Hashim &
Muhammad Zainuddin Mohamed Azudin, 2020). In comparison to existing online learning, ODL learning during the post-pandemic era influences emotional and mental health because the academic environment is inconvenient because all families are at home and there is little room for revision and evaluation work, both of which are factors that are likely to influence ODL (Zhang, Zhang, Ma & Di, 2020). Furthermore, technical issues such as computers that do not run smoothly, a lack of Internet data, and the use of a single device to carry out work by multiple family members are issues that affect ODL (Aras Bozkurt et al., 2020). Another factor that may have an impact on ODL is a lack of communication with the lecturer during the course evaluation task (Graham, Dziuban, Moskal, Norberg & Sicilia, 2018).
As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate students' perspectives on the implementation of Online Distance Learning, specifically for ESL writing classes, in the new normal pandemic era.
3. Methodology
The participants in this research were 100 students from Centre for Foundation and General Studies (CFGS), Universiti Selangor, Bestari Jaya Branch, Malaysia, which included four
study programme who are taking ESL Writing subject. The selection of students was based on a random sample. This research uses questionnaires to collect data. Based on the number of respondents (n = 100), the sample size is sufficiently high as the population of CFGS students is 240.
Research instruments
A questionnaire adapted from the Davis Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which include the two factors influenced technology acceptance: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use was used in this study. Perceived utility refers to the degree to which users believe that the technology benefits them by improving their performance, whereas perceived convenience refers to users' recognition that the technology is easily accessible.
The survey is divided into two sections, which serve as the basis for this analysis. Part A contains general demographic information such as programme, place of residence, and technology use. Part B includes a TAM-specific e-learning readiness scale (Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw, 1989). Because it has been used in previous studies, the scale for measuring online learning in this study has been well developed and is known to be accurate.
The questionnaire consists of 20 questions, each with a four-point Likert scale of strongly disagree (SD)=1, agree (D)=2, strongly disagree (A)=3, and strongly agree (SA)=4. The questionnaire consists of 20 questions. The questionnaire data was statistically analysed by calculating the mean score for each question.
Tables and Figures
1) Demographic details of the participants.
Table 1.0: Part A: Demographic details
Category Sub-category Frequency
1. Semester 1 53
2 47
2. Place of residence
Rural 40
Urban 60
3. Computer Yes 97
No 3
4. Smartphone Yes 100
No 0
5. Internet access Yes 98
No 2
6. Access Technologies
Cellular data (ex: celcom, digi, maxis,
umobile)
23
Digital subscriber line (Maxis, UNIFI)
22
Fibre Optics Cable 0
Hotspot 55
2) Students’ perceived usefulness
Table 1.1: Students’ perceived usefulness of the Online Distance Learning (ODL) module.
Items no Score Mean
SA A D SD
1. 1. The ODL module gives me wide learning sources.
44 35 9 12 3.11
2. 2. ODL offers me more time to explore sources of learning.
35 33 22 10 2.93
3. I am able to understand the topic. 16 29 29 26 2.35 4. My motivation to learn has improved. 5 14 39 42 1.82 5. I am more independent in learning. 34 41 19 6 3.03 6. My self-discipline has improved. 41 29 18 12 2.99 7. ODL improves my self-confidence in
expressing ideas and opinions.
5 14 39 42 1.82
8. My ICT skill has improved. 62 23 10 5 3.42
9. ODL makes learning more enjoyable. 4 11 23 62 1.57 10. My interactions with friends and the teacher
has improved.
0 1 20 79 1.22
3) ODL ease of use
Table 1.2: ODL ease of use
Items no Score Mean
SA A D SD
1. I have the technology to access ODL. 81 17 2 3.79
2. I have time to access the online materials. 35 30 19 16 2.84 3. I know how to access the materials provided
online by the teacher.
59 26 8 7 3.37
4. I know how to navigate through the ODL module.
55 20 10 15 3.15
5. The language of the module is easy to understand.
10 8 23 59 1.69
6. The teacher’s online instructions are easy to understand.
38 18 10 34 2.60
7. It is easy to do my tasks with the ODL module. 4 11 23 62 1.57 8. Internet connection is not a problem for me. 2 8 23 67 1.45 9. The online forums ease my interactions with
classmates and the teacher.
6 7 22 65 1.54
10. I often encounter technical problems with the ODL module.
60 28 6 6 3.42
According to Table 1.1, students have a positive perception of the effect of the ODL module on improving their ICT skills. Item no.8 was the most popular (mean = 3.42), and item no.10 was the least popular (mean = 1.22). This is not surprising given the students' difficulties communicating with their friends and teachers via the ODL module. The majority of students reported being able to access a variety of learning materials, having more time to explore learning resources, being able to be more independent in their own learning, being more disciplined, and being able to improve their ICT skills. However, the students were also having difficulty understanding the topic, as well as a lack of motivation, self-confidence, and social interaction.
Table 1.2 displays the students' perspectives on the ease of use of the ODL. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed with items 1–4, but only 18 agreed or strongly agreed with item 5. Item No. 1 (mean = 3.79) and item No. 10 (mean = 3.42) were the items on which the
majority of students strongly agreed. Table 1.2 shows that the students agreed that they have the technology to access the ODL module because they own a personal computer or a smart phone. However, the language of the ODL module was difficult for the students to understand, making it difficult for them to complete their task. 90 students agreed that their internet connection was a problem, which caused them to experience technical difficulties with the ODL module. This is similar to the response from the undergraduate dentistry study programme at Universitas Indonesia's Faculty of Dentistry regarding ODL (Amir, Tanti, Maharani, 2020). It made it difficult for the students to interact properly with their friends and instructors via online forums.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, the ODL module perceived by the study's participants aided them in accessing multiple sources of learning materials, having flexible learning time, and developing self- discipline. They also stated that their ICT abilities had improved. The students' prior experience with ICT undoubtedly aided their familiarisation with ODL in their daily lives. This finding suggests that in order for the system to grow effectively, ODL requires technology and a high- quality internet connection. Meanwhile, in this study, the students perceived the disadvantages of ODL as a language barrier, a difficult task, an internet problem, a technological problem, and inappropriate interactions. In this study, we addressed the issue of students' perceived usefulness and ease of use of the ODL at the Centre of Foundation and Graduate Studies, Universiti Selangor. For future research, we propose an investigation into the interests of ODL students in order to learn about the aspirations of ODL students.
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