A discussion on E-Learning offered in Malaysian universities: Pros and Cons from the students perspective

According to Wikipedia, E-learning includes all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching, in other words, it is implemented for the learning process by using the computer and network to transfer the skills and knowledge. For instance, Web-based learning, computer-based learning, and virtual classrooms are some of the E-learning applications.

Some of our Malaysian universities offer E-learning. For example:
UTM (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)
USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and
OUM (Open University Malaysia)

OUM E-learning review

OUM was established on Aug 10, 2000 as the 7^th private university in Malaysia. Today, there are more than 24,000 students enrolled in OUM programs. Well, their learning styles comprise of self-managed learning, online learning, and face-to-face interaction.

OUM’s Learning Management System (LMS) is user-friendly, has a pleasant interface, and is integrated. It consists of 5 main components.

• myLMS includes myCourse such as course summary, announcement, course content, staff info, forum, etc, and myUniverisity serve   as the first interaction between the university and the student  such as user directory, calender, student online progress, etc.
• myMail includes student and staff e-mail component.
• myProfile includes profile, credit transfer, courses undertaken, course result, and payment.
• myLibrary  includes more than 36,000 titles from e-books and 50,000 titles from e-journal databases.
• Learner connections includes learning issues, FAQs, etc which provides useful guidelines and tips on education and life in OUM.

The pros and cons of E-learning from the student's perspective are:

The pros

• Travelling cost such as petrol bills can be reduced since students don’t have to go to the university as often as before anymore.
• Learning at students' preferred place and this helps them to feel more comfortable overall.
• Due to its flexibility, students can study,  anytime that they want to and whenever they have the mood. Besides, students can work in part-time jobs to earn extra money because the learning time is flexible.
• Students are not required to follow the university’s timetable; therefore it allows them to adapt their learning periods in line with their busy schedules.
•  E-learning can be very effective for some learners who are shy, the language challenged and those who need more time to study. 
• The side benefits are E-learning provides new technologies and technical skills for students that can be very useful in the future since technologies are improving drastically.

The cons

• E-learning system requires that students and learning providers  have the necessary equipment such as a computer with  Internet access in order to carry out this learning method.
• Lack of academic honesty of online students. For instance, students may simply ask other people to perform certain performance for them since there is no one to monitor them.
• Face to face interaction is reduced; students may find it uninteresting because they cannot talk physically with their friends anymore.
• E-learning requires full responsibilities from students themselves, they cannot depend on their lecturers to remind them.
• Students may have to go for training to learn new skills, this could be time-consuming.
• E-learning does not provide a true campus lifestyle for students. The social experience gained by students in this respect may be reduced.

Reference(s):

E- Learning. (Feb 21, 2011). Retrieved Feb 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning

E- Learning review. (Nov 18, 2007) Retrieved Feb 24, 2011, from http://o-u-m.blogspot.com/2007/11/oum-e-learning-review.html

What are the Pros and Cons of Online Education? (n.d.). Retrieved Feb 24, 2011, from http://www.justcolleges.com/elearn/proscons.htm