Forum Title: Online Learning

Chairperson : Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the night forum of today. First of

all, I would like to thank to all of the audience in front of me. Thank you very much

for attending the forum for today. Our issue for tonight is “Online Learning”. First of

all, I would like to introduce our panels for tonight. Right on my left is Punitha, a

student from UPSI, next to her is our specially invited counselor Dr.Veerah..How are

you doing Dr.Veerah? “

Veerah :I’m good, and glad to be here this evening.

Chairperson : At the end of the corner is the very experience lecturer, Mdm Yokhanah. Welcome

to our forum for today…

Yokhanah . Thank you

Chairperson : Ladies and gentlemen, As we all know, online learning is also known as web

based learning. Online learning can also be define as a specific mode to attend a

course or program of study where the students rarely or never meet face-to-face,

nor access on-campus educational facilities, because they use to study online.

For further detail about this topic, I would like to seek an information from the first

panel next to me, Punitha.As one of the UPSIl student, when do u know

about online learning and why you choose online learning as one of your way to

study?

Student: Thank you miss chairperson. A very good evening to all the panelist and the audience.

I’m so glad to be one of the guests here. As what miss Gayathiri has said just now, I’m

a first year student at UPSI and I’m taking science education. I knew this kind of
 learning since i was in secondary school. However it is not widely used as we must

depends only on text book and teacher’s guide. The reason why I choose online

learning is firstly it is a flexible way. Why? It is because it work when it make sense for

me. I can use it whenever either at night, evening or morning. With the online learning I

am not tied to the class schedule. Sometimes, the class timetable is too pack that

make students feel so stressed about it. The pack and tight schedule can cause the

student cannot perform well in their study due to fatigue condition. So by using the

online website learning. Besides going to campus, I also used to surf internet to study. I

can go for it whenever I want to and at any place I like as long as there is internet

connection. Furthermore I can improve my time management. It is because I don’t have

to wait for a bus to go to the campus in order to see my lecturers. I also can

communicate directly with my lecturers through the webcam although at home. I can even

ask questions and opinions to them. It is really a convenient way to study as long as we

have good intention and passions to succeed. I also can save money because at

university I also get the wireless connections. So I don’t have to use broadband at my

hostel. A side from time management aspects, I become more control of my learning

process with some online courses. I can even learn on my own page and also choosing

the subjects that I want to learn. Other than that by having this kind of technologies, I can

make friends all over the world. I can share ideas and information with my friends from

other universities of other countries. By doing this my knowledge will be widen and get to

know their country too. From this, I also can learn more learning skills and improving my

communication skills.

Chairperson: Next we move to our counselor, Dr Veerah, may be she would like to
 share her precious experience with all of us. Based on your experienced, what are

the positive about online learning?

Counselor: Online learning or with other word is E-learning mean is a term that encompasses all

form of technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) or very specific types of TEL such as

online or web-based learning. In my opinion, online learning is the other ways of

student to study or to get the information if they can’t attend the class. From this,

student can attend a course at anytime from anyway. That mean, the student can

attend the class from anywhere inthe world that has internet access. So, they can still

get the information aboutcourses. Beside that, online classrooms also provide chat

rooms and news groups for meetings and joint work. From this, it helps the student to

share information and give opinion in certain topic. For example, when student have a

problem in study or misunderstands in some topic in the class, they can get the

information from this online group discussion. Student also fined the course material that

may not be available in the library or from their reading. So, at the same time students

can get more information and knowledge about the topic they found. Advantage of

online learning is the course material is accessible 24 hour a day 7 days a week. From

this material, students have the ability to read, discussion, explanation and comment.

Using the internet to attend class, research information and communication with other

students teaches skills in using technologies that will be critical to workers in the 21st

century business community that works with colleagues globally and across time zones.

Chairperson : We have listened to student and counselor opinion about online learning, now, I

would like to post next question to professor Yokhanah, may you share with all the

audience for tonight, why you strongly recommended your students to do online
 learning?

Lecturer :Thank you to miss chairperson. Online learning is other option for students to improve

their knowledge. As a lecturer, I also encourage my students to learn English by online.

For instance,I suggest them to surf MyLinE website. For your information, this website

provides additional resources for learning in English for academic and professional

purposes. Besides that, it does also provide a platform for self-access interactive

learning. The learning process will be more attractive andinteresting instead of learning

in class. There are many activities provided inthis website. The most attracted me is

the student forum site. This is a placefor sharing of experience and ideas as students in

a university. They canexpress their views and opinions on academic and non-academic

issues, seek assistance or they can communicate with other fellow students. The other

one is ‘Correct My English’ site. This is a platform where students can post a shorttext

that has written and other users could help correct the text. I believe thatthis is one of the

affective ways of learning but yes, there will be pro and cons.It depends on the students

to decide.

Chairperson : Well, from what Prof Yokhanah mentioned just now, for every good thing there

must be a bad thing on it. The same thing goes for online learning. What do you

think about the negative impact of Online Learning Dr.?

Counselor: The disadvantage of online learning is lack of interaction you will get with classmates

and instructor. For example, in the class, students have a change to speaking in

class presentation and discussion and give their own opinion clearly. But in online

learning, student just can sit at the front of the laptop, type their opinion and wait the

answer. The second disadvantage is missing out non-verbal communication. As we

 know, non-verbal communication is very important than verbal communication. Non-

verbal communication is also know as body language which refer to, among other

things, gestures people make while speaking, eye contacts and the way they stands.

In online learning students just can communicate as actual words. Lastly, In order to

succeed at online learning, you have to have some specific skills. You have to be self

motivated, responsible for your own learning and have good time management skills.

If you don't have those skills, traditional classes may be a better choice for you.

Chairperson: Prof Yokhanah, could you please tell us what is the different between student who

practice online learning and who are not?

Lecturer : There are different between the students who practice online learning and who are not.

For my students who are practice online learning, they have improved a lot. That’s why I

ask all of my students practice online learning. This is compulsory for them and extra

credits will be given. I would like to advise all of the students to take this opportunity to

improve their knowledge not only in English but in all fields of study. Please use the

technology for good purposes that will give benefits to you, especially in your study.

Chairperson: Back to Punitha, where do you heard about this online learning and how it give

impacts to your academic achievement?

Student: In the university I become more interested in online learning since i realized there are

plenty of advantages for me. I was introduced to online learning through my friends.

They shared with me all the online websites learning such as wikipedia, portal

pendidikan utusan, myline online resources for learning in English and many more.

Furthermore, my lecturers also advised us to find additional informations through the

websites that are linked to our subjects.Since the lecturers also are using technology
 so they give the links where we should refer to. The websites help us to gain more

knowledge by surfing internet. This additional information is important because the

contents I get from the reference books, lecture notes and text book are not enough.

There are too many assignments I have to do. However all of them are grouping

activities. Sometimes, my friends and I share the online web learning whenever and

wherever we want to. In this group discussion, we will discuss what wefind and we

gathered all together. We will make hard copy for each of us. Finally we can use it as our

references in our preparation towards final examination. My parent and family also

supported me in this way of learning. As I cannot access internet at home due to no

wireless connection, my parents bought a broadband for me. So from the sources, now I

can easily continue using online learning. That’s all from me. Thank you.

Chairperson : “Congratulation, Punitha. Now we know that online learning is proven to boost

everyone knowledge”. Finally we have come to the end of our forum for tonight

where we have shared a lot of knowledge which we don’t even know before.

Online learning is build up with the modern technology nowadays. Besides the

good things there is also bad thing. So it is everyone right to choose. For the last

word from me, I would like to thank again to all ladies and gentlemen for tonight and

also to our panels. A billion thank I dedicate to everyone for cheering up thisforum

for tonight.

See you again for next week on the other issue.