Abstract:

When the COVID -19 pandemic hit Malaysia in March 2020, and Malaysia went into a complete and total lockdown, the education system was tasked with a tremendous challenge: How do we convert our current teaching and learning methodologies into online classrooms to continue delivering quality education to our students? While some universities found themselves floundering under the tremendous pressure of these tasks and unprepared for online and remote teaching and learning strategies, some other universities kicked into high gear to implement virtual classrooms. Multimedia University (MMU), located in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, was one of the fortunate institutions better equipped to cope with this paradigm shift.

In preparation to transform classes into virtual learning environments, MMU’s Office of Academic Development for Excellence in Programmes and Teaching (ADEPT), developed the Virtual Classroom Learning Model (VCLM) that provided teaching staff with guidelines on preparing their classes before the trimester starts, and during the trimester. It also included blended learning and Web 2.0 Tools that would support the delivery of content and lectures of the teaching staff. This VCLM was underpinned by Siemen’s (2004) connectivist learning approaches for online learning and mapped to the design of the VCLM and the workshops.

Due to the urgency of the matter, a total of 25 online workshops and training were organised and conducted in 1 week in March by the MMU Teaching and Learning Agents (TALENTs), in preparation for the start of the new trimester in April. A total of 648 academics and 105 non-academics were trained during this time to use virtual learning tools such as Google Meet, Google Classrooms, and other Google Workspace tools as well as third party tools such as Padlet, EdPuzzle, Kahoot! And Quizziz, as per the VCLM provided. A post-training survey was administered to all participants to gauge their perceptions of the training and their confidence in conducting their class online during the coming trimester.

In addition to the training and workshops conducted, an info kit was also created for both lecturers and students, outlining the VCLM guidelines, and to acquaint MMU staff and students with the characteristics of virtual classrooms and online learning. A Google Classroom hub was also created by the TALENTs to provide further support to the teaching staff trained, where queries and questions that arose during the trimester could be posed, answered and shared by all from the workshops. These Google Classrooms were managed and facilitated by the TALENTs to support the teaching staff throughout the trimester. These Classrooms were also mapped to Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-constructivist elements of social collaboration, as well as to the scaffolding techniques akin to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

At the end of the trimester, a survey was administered to the teaching staff to gauge their readiness and perceptions of virtual learning environments. A total of 384 staff responded and provided their feedback and comments. Analysis of results showed that 73% of staff reported satisfaction with teaching online, and were positive across 5 factors of investigation: Platform, Content, Ease of Use, Usefulness and Attitude. These results showed strong positive encouragement for the move towards the new “norm” and paradigm shift towards virtual classrooms and online teaching.

Keywords:

COVID 19, Online Learning, Virtual Classroom, VCLM, Multimedia University, Malaysia.