Lesson Learnt from the Uses of Blog Multiply.com in Teaching Process at UPSI Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The use of variations of methods in teaching process is nowadays highly demanded in many parts of the world. UPSI, a university in education in Malaysia, has long applied an ICT system as part of teaching process alongside the traditional one. There, ICT system is known as term of MYGURU portal as a part of a website called www.upsi.edu.my. This website has given a good support to the University staff and students in their activities including teaching process. However, there exist limitations, namely the website does not have the facilities to enable users to have two-way communications. Since 2008, the author has developed teaching process using a blog www.multiply.com for several subjects in the departments of Living Skills (now Department of Technical and Vocational Education) Faculty of Art and Music (FSM) and that of Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) UPSI. This is an addition to face-to-face teaching system in classrooms. The blog is called www.suplirahim.multiply.com. A number of groups of interests namely AGRONOMIKHUPSI (for students of Agronomy), MESRALAMFSTUPSI (for students of environmental sciences), KELABPENYELIDIKAN (for students of scientific research), and KELABLABORATORY (for students having tasks in laboratories). Lecture notes, announcements from lecturer, links, videos, calendars of academic and other related things were exposed to everyone in the main home pages. As many as 300 students were served using the blog. Each student in accordingly was asked to make a similar blog and assigned to be a member for each relevant group. Apart from paying attention to any lecturer’s notes students also managed their own blog freely. A continual assessment was conducted towards this method of teaching. A number of lessons learned from this blog usages were widely realized. First, students and lecturer can communicate two-way-24 hourly regardless their places of residences. Second, students can have wider contacts not limited to the lecturer and other students but to the bloggers in the whole world. Third, this system of teaching is an environmentally sound system for it is paperless and thereafter save the environment. Fourth, lecturer can easily assess his or her students’

-------------------

Paper presented on Unesco-KERIS conference on ICT in education, 15-17th November 2009 in Hangzou China

performance academically and non-academically. Fifth, each student has their own website during and after the teaching processes which enable anybody to communicate each other in the future. Lastly, this system of teaching using this ICT (blog Multiply) has been proved to be the best method of teaching among other methods and highly recommended by students who have utilized the system since 2008.

INTRODUCTION

The last 20 years have seen some remarkable innovations in the delivery of education. Many would argue that, as remarkable as those innovations are, they are no more that a beginning. The technologies available today, and those about to emerge, have to transform the business of education. However, what may be happening that the potential is academic culture and traditions. Many centuries of organized education have generated strong views and deep-rooted beliefs about what is best and what is not (Pandey, 2005). The transformation in the business of education was earlier realized by scholars such as Fallows and Bhanot (2002). They stated that in 1980s the business world was beginning to explore the use of computers in staff training, and a number of courseware development tools became available for the production of computer based training (CBT) materials. The early courseware development tools were often highly restrictive, very expensive to license and limited in their educational utility.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a major factor in shaping the new global economy and producing rapid changes in society. Within the decade of 1990s, the new ICT tools have fundamentally altered the way people communicate and do business. They have produced significant transformations in industry, agriculture, medicine, business, engineering and other fields. They also have the potential to transform the nature of education, where and how learning take place, and the roles of students and teachers in the learning process.

The technologies challenge conventional conception of both teaching and learning methods and materials and, by reconfiguring how lecturers and students at universities gain access to knowledge, have radical implications for conventional teaching and learning processes. To meet these challenges, universities must embrace the new technologies and appropriate the new ICT tools for learning. They must also move towards transforming the traditional paradigm of learning (Pandey, 2005).

The role of ICTs in the context of the global opportunities and challenges confronting the design, delivery, and the administration of education to meet the diverse needs, clients, demands, goals, and objectives of nations and communities-particularly during the period of transition of societies and economies from an industrial base to one that is knowledge – and information – centered (Pandey, 2005). As a result, distance education has been practiced world-wide as emerging trends and alternative for those who either cannot take conventional, campus-based programs, or choose not to (Bates, 2005).

The functions of ICT in education are described by Moonen and Kommers (1995), Pilot (1998), as quoted by Jager and Lokman (1999) in ‘Impacts of ICT in education. The role of the teacher and teacher training.’ as follow: 1. ICT as object, refers to learning about ICT and preparing students for the use of ICT in education, future occupation and social life. 2. ICT as an ‘assisting tool’, for example while making assignments, collecting data and document, communicating and conducting research. 3. ICT as a medium for teaching and learning, refers to ICT as a tool for teaching and learning itself, the medium through which teachers can teach and learners can learn. It appears in many forms, such as drill and practice exercises, in simulations and educational networks. 4. ICT as a tool for organization and management in schools.

Bates (2005) has listed three generations of distance education, namely first generation, second generation and third generation. The first generation is characterized by the predominant use of a single technology, and lack of direct student interaction with the institution providing the teaching or awarding accreditation. The main form of this generation was print-based correspondence education. The second generation distance education is characterized by a deliberately integrated multiple-media ‘print + broadcasting’ approach, with learning materials specifically designed for study as a distance, but with communication with students mediated by a third person (a tutor, rather than the originator of the teaching material). This generation can serve very large numbers of students. Some workers describe this generation as industrial in nature and universities which run it as mega-universities (Peters, 1983; Daniel, 1996). The third generation distance education is based on two-way communications media such as internet or video-conferencing that enable interaction between the teacher who originates the interaction and the remote student. This generation technologies result in a much more equal distribution of communication between student and teacher (and also among students) (Bates, 2005). Apart from its use for teaching, Fuller (2002) has reported the use of internet for research purposes.

The university of education of Sultan Idris, so called UPSI in Tanjung Malim Perak Malaysia, has in many years developed an ICT system for wider uses in communicating not only for the staffs and students but also for their customers world wide. There they built a web called www.upsi.edu.my. Information management system was built not only to provide wide needs for management in general but also for teaching and learning processes in particular providing students information regarding RI (rancangan intruksional or curriculum in detail for each subject taught in the University). Each staff is provided a MY UPSI PORTAL through which he or she can access to various information regarding the university as a whole. Students can have their own MY GURU portal which is a facility to access information from the university regarding management in general and teaching and learning facilities for each subject taken. As taking place world wide ICTs, as it also happen at UPSI, nowadays change rapidly as described in the following figure (Figure 1).

Figure 1.Changes in information technology nowadays

At UPSI, thanks to the strong commitment of leaders at all levels, there have been possible for staffs, students and customers in general to have access world wide at their finger tips using internet or other means. As a result a lot of IP-based networks become possible and more and more applications of ICT are becoming easier and better than ever. Better facilities in wireless and cable systems of internet have enable the university to facilitate their staff and students for teaching processes. However, there have some limitation and problems when the existing ICT system used for teaching purposes. Are there possibilities for staff to develop a system of ICT in teaching processes apart from the existing website? This paper is aimed at describing what lessons that have been learned from an ICT using blog Multiply.com in teaching processes at UPSI Tanjung Malim Perak Malaysia.

USING ICT IN TEACHING PROCESSES

The use of ICT in education is enriching in many ways. Yet, there are voices arguing that this is time consuming, costly to implement, and with benefits that remain unclear or dubious. The way we understand the need of implementing the use of new technologies in educational process depends on many factors, such as: our overall understanding about quality teaching and learning, educational goals and values;the learning objectives we target; our motivation and opportunities; the methods and teaching style;the social context and personal issues (Anonymous, 2005).

When and how we integrate the new technologies in our teaching process is mediated by the particular configuration of the above mentioned factors. Yet, as the UNESCO World Educational Report (1998) notes, “the new technologies challenge traditional conceptions of both teaching and learning, and, by reconfiguring how teachers and learners gain access to knowledge , have the potential to transform teaching and learning processes”. ICTs provide an array of powerful tools that may induce the transformation of the present isolated, teacher-centered and text-bound classrooms into rich, student focused, interactive knowledge environments.

Realizing how difficult to handle a lot of students from different groups the author experimented to transform teaching and learning processes from traditional one to a system that is ICT-based teaching and learning processes. A blogwww.suplirahim.multiply.com was made and used as a base for teaching and learning processes alongside with classroom-based learning and teaching processes (Figure 2). Multiply is a social networking service with an emphasis on allowing users to share media - such as photos, videos and blog entries - with their "real-world" network. The website was launched in March 2004 and is privately held with backing by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Point Judith Capital, Transcosmos, and private investors. Nowadays Multiply has over 11 million registered users.

Since the blog was built to serve “everyone” in one side, it is also aimed to serve a number groups of students. In the main pages a reader was able to view photo, video, blog, personal message, links and others. A number of groups of interest were also formed. They are namely AGRONOMIKHUPSI (for students of Agronomy), MESRALAMFSTUPSI (for students of environmental sciences), KELABPENYELIDIKAN (for students of scientific research), and KELABLABORATORY (for students having tasks in laboratories). Lecture notes, announcements from lecturer, links, videos, calendars of academic and other related things were exposed to everyone in the main home pages. As many as 300 students were served using the blog. A continual assessment is conducted towards this method of teaching (see Figure 3).

Figure 2.Front page ofwww.suplirahim.multiply.com

Figure 3.Groups of interest based on lecture

Each student was asked to join the multiply.com that means that she/he will have her/his own blog multiply which is the same as a website. The blog waswww.abeyoe86.multiply.com. The student later applied to become a friend of the author through email. By confirming the request for each and every student enable the author and all the students to become contact to each other. Being contact to each other enable every body to see and share every one’s post or any alteration such writing, video, link, photos, notes and personal messages. This system of contact and communication will enable students to interact with the lecturer (author), with other students and with other bloggers outside the university and even the whole world. (see appendix 1).

HOW THE TEACHING PROCESS CARRIED OUT

Once they registered then the students can add a friend that was the author as their lecturer. In the author's blog it was formed several groups where students can join. After being accepted by the author then students can enjoy clicking any journal, home, video, music, link and even can send personal message to the author or among contacts. By forming contacts to each other or by becoming members of a group within the author's blog then it is just an easy system of interacting to each other positively and continously. Positively, because if in any case each contact posted a journal, video, photos etc then the other contact can easily see their posts by reading them in the inbox part. Continously, because multiply.com is operated 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

In this blog system the author can post any type of post such as notes of lectures, agenda/announcements for students, video, links, and personal messages to students or contacts. Up to the present time the author has around 458 contacts from around the world. Similarly, the contacts and the students can view any class set by their lecturer (the author) at certain time of the week by clicking to a post called "Kelas Maya" (distance class) (see Figures 4 and 5). Students which were asked to attend the "class" were normally recorded their names and when they joined the class. The records start from seconds, minutes, hours, day, month and year they have attended. Apart from clicking the post students can also stated their comments, questions, arguments and others. Students were often asked to make their own reflection of the lecture's note in their blog or they can as well post the reflection into the club or group in the author's blog.

Figure 4.Announcement by lecture of “kelas maya” (distance class)

This system is just very effective, efficient and well recorded. Good and diligent student were proved to have better marks than those who were not diligent. Blog management is thereafter is a very effective means of observing students' capability and performances.

Figure 5.Viewing history of students attending “kelas maya” or distance class

TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Year of 2008 was over. In the year 2009 the author was sent by the head of the Department of Biology at the faculty of Science and Technology of UPSI an email,Dr. Hasima Alimon. In that email, Dr. Hasima asked the author to teach students together with a young lecturer, Mrs. Nurul Bariyah.They were teaching around 6 classes, each consisted of 30s meaning around 190 students. The students came from departments of Physics, Biology, Chemistry and  Information Technology. The author then ask the students to have good ethics toward environment. How to do that? He then asked them to join a multiply.com. The reason he asked them to do so is that every student must spend less and use less. Spend less is carried out by creating and join a system that is not using more papers when submitting papers and when transferring knowledges through lecture's notes. Using blog of multiply.com  students are just spending money for electricity.

In classes the author was teaching that are classes of Monday evening 8-10 pm, Tuesday afternoon 4-6 pm, Wednesday afternoon 4-6 pm, Wednesday evening 8-10 pm, Thursday afternoon 2-4 pm and 5-7 pm he then asked students to make blog multiply.com. By using that system my targets were also set to save more money then the first semester. In this semester (January till April 2009) the number of students are around 300 students. Assuming that each student requires around RM 200 to spend for all lecturer notes, making reflections, making videos, writing reports for all laboratory work. That means for this semester all of the students must spend around RM 60,000 for assignments. By having a blog multiply system then the money was not spent at all.

MULTIPLIER EFFECTS OF BLOG SYSTEM

Apart from providing better system for teaching-learning blog multiply.com has a lot of good effects realized or not realized by users. Blog multiply.com as it were is used as a trading shop in a virtual world. One does not need a passport to go anywhere in the world provided in locality there is an internet system being used. Imagine that one day the author is out of station for one reason. He then set a virtual class in the air port using a wireless system in the KLIA airport. In the post he said that he was very sorry that he could not meet the students due to the fact that his members of family were ill and taken into hospital in Palembang Indonesia. The author asked the students to "attend" the class by clicking the post of "Kelas maya" (distance class). In Palembang the lecturer (the author) was seeing the students attending the class and was communicating with students. There the author was very happy to the facts that all students that attending the class were there in his house. None of the students was "crossing" the borders of Indonesia-Malaysia having their passport in their hand. In fact all students of his class have never been abroad before.

Other good effects of multiply.com are that most students who are diligent to go around contacts that are in inbox site. By doing so they are having the opportunities to get along widely. The world does not seem to have borders at all. Several students have wider contacts including America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. Using blog multiply students are also able to share their journals, photos, poems, videos, links and others.

Another effect of blog system in teaching is that it can save the environment. How? There is no exact amount of money can be saved, amount of paper can be avoided, and amount of VCD can also be used unnecessarily. In this opportunity he still used the assumption of the students that he was teaching that semester. One student can save an amount of RM 200. The fact that UPSI at that time (2009) having 20.000students meant that that year alone from their spendings if they apply this blog system could have saved around RM 4 millions. Imagine for the whole Malaysia if this blog multiply.com system applied how much money could have been saved, similarly for the whole world will then have an astonishing figures. Less money spent for that kind of usages will increase the budget for improving the welfare of the people everywhere now in other parts of the world. Workers and experts in the uses of ICT in teaching such as Pandey (2005), Bates (2005) and Fuller (2002) have been in line with lessons learnt from the uses of blog Multiply in teaching process at UPSI. So much has been learnt of the goodness of blog Multiply such as better communication and interaction between lecturer and students, among students and outsiders. Easy assessments and environmentally sound system were other benefits of blog Multiply uses in teaching. Most students agreed with this system of teaching.

CONCLUDING REMARK

Applying a blog multiply.com in teaching processes at UPSI Tanjung Malim Perak Malaysia has offered a lot of advantages and benefits. Apart from making the system of teaching effective, efficient and the uses of blog multiply.com system help save a lot of money by students. Saving money means that less paper and VCDs are used. Less papers and VCDs used means that less rubbish is thrown into the environment. Less rubbish thrown and less money spent mean that environment is also less polluted and damaged. It is thereafter that such system will be better if applied in widely not only within each department, faculty, university, nationally, but also internationally. Beside those, a number of lessons learned from this blog usages were widely realized. First, students and lecturer can communicate two way 24 hourly regardless their places of residences. Second, students can have wider contacts not limited to the lecturer and other students but to the bloggers in the whole world. Third, this system of teaching is an environmentally sound system for it is paperless and thereafter help save the environment. Fourth, lecturer can easily assess his or her students’ performance academically and non-academically. Fifth, each student has their own website during and after the teaching processes which enable any body to communicate each other in the future. Lastly, this system of teaching using this ICT (blog Multiply) has been proved to be the best method of teaching among other methods and highly recommended by students who have utilized the system since 2008.

REFERENCES

Aberton, Y., E. Guterman & R. Brickner.2009.Integrating ICT into teaching and learning at the Open University of Israel course coordinator’s perspective.

Anonymous.2005. FISTEA Future Way For In-Service Teacher Training Across Europe

INTEGRATING ICT IN TRADITIONAL TRAINING. ON-LINE COURSE. 31/05/2005.

Bates, A.W. (Tony). 2005. Technology, E-learning and distance education. Second edition. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Daniel, J. 1996. Mega-universities and knowledge media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education, London: Kogan Page.

Fallows, S and R. Bhanot. (2002). Eds. Educational development through information and communications technology. Staff and educational development series. Kogan Page. London. 224p.

Fuller, M.2002.ICT in support of projects and dissertations. In Fallows, S and R. Bhanot. (2002). Eds. Educational development through information and communications technology. Staff and educational development series. Kogan Page. London. 224p.

Grantham, D.2002.Step-by-step approach to pedagogically based web design. In Fallows, S and R. Bhanot. (2002). Eds. Educational development through information and communications technology. Staff and educational development series. Kogan Page. London. 224p.

Jager, A. K., & Lokman, A. H. 1999. Impacts of ICT in education. The role of the teacher and teacher training. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Lahti, Finland.

Moonen, J., & Kommers, P. 1995. Implementatie van Communicatie-en Infromatietechnologie in het onderwijs. Enschede: OCTO, University of Twente.

Pandey, V.C. 2005. Framework of information communication technology & teacher education. Isha Books. Delhi-110033.

Peters, O.1983. Distance teaching and industrial production: a comparative interpretation in outline, in Stewart, D., Keegan, D, and Holmberg, B. (eds) Distance Education: International Perspectives, London: Croom Helm.

Pilot, A. 1998. De student als junior medewerker. Utrecht: IVLOS, University of Utrecht.

Wikipedia.Multiply (website) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

APPENDICES

Appendix 1.The homepage of a student’s blog

Appendix 2.Stage of joining a group of interest by students

Appendix 3.Group members

Appendix4. Announcement of students’ marks