The covid pandemic caused the closure of the UOW Malaysia KDU campuses in Selangor and Penang for the greater part of 2021, with brief periods of practical lessons, external examinations, and limited face to face classes.
Even after the campuses reopened from 18th October in 2021, less than 20% of classes were conducted face to face due to the strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures mandated by the Ministry of Higher Education.
From their initial reactions of being startled and overwhelmed, teaching staff at UOW Malaysia KDU settled into the daily routine of the virtual classroom. The Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of this transition.
A total of 68 training workshops were conducted in 2021, recording an attendance of 1,800 participants. The impressive turnout for these workshops is testament of their value and usefulness to teaching staff. Notable among the workshops are - ‘Creating Engaging Instructional Videos’, ‘Digital Learning Tools’ and ‘Active Learning Strategies for Online Courses’ which were designed to improve staff competency and innovation in lesson delivery.
There are many factors attributable to the success of the TLC, of which the most apparent is the Champions of online teaching amongst the staff. In addition to the TLC staff and numerous volunteers, staff with mastery over specific skill sets readily shared their knowledge and expertise. Among them are:
- Aidora Binti Abdullah, Senior Lecturer at the Selangor campus School of Computing and Creative Media; the resident gamification guru who walks the talk on implementing gamification in her lessons.
- Leong Mi-chelle, Head of Department of Languages at the Penang campus, whose expertise in academic pedagogy, guides and inspires innovation in the staff.
- Tung An Gie, Program Leader at the Selangor campus School of Communication and Creative Media, who leads sessions on self-development and personal branding to hone skills and values of staff.
Secondly, the training workshops are catered to the specific needs of the staff. Gabriel Lau (pictured above), Head of the TLC, conducts a needs analysis with all Heads of Schools. The staff needs range from class delivery, online assessment, to usage of technological tools. Staff remarked that they found the workshops practical and illuminating in helping them to design their teaching materials to keep students engaged in the lessons, which was cited as the biggest challenge with online teaching.
Thirdly, Gabriel Lau believes that developing staff competency in online teaching by itself will not lead to successful online learning. According to him, “Also important are factors such as available technology and student readiness”. TLC staff have been assisting with the implementation and adaptation of the Learning Management System (LMS), the platform used by academics to upload their teaching materials and for students to readily access them. The LMS needs to be continuously updated to fulfil the evolving needs and demands of staff and students.
The TLC is now preparing for the competitive landscape in the blended learning revolution. They have their work cut out for 2022 with the launching of new online distance learning courses and for 30% of all courses to be delivered online. Future training workshops will focus on Outcome Based Education, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Micro Credentials.