Using Social Media to Maximize Students’ Learning Outcomes
With the emergence of various types of educational technologies the teachers’ role has become more of the facilitator instead of machine of delivering lectures. Today students have access to various sophisticated digital technologies and its use gets appreciation since businesses and other organizations expect graduates to be expert in new technologies.Since the use of social media has changed many things the manner people communicate and interact, this article highlights the scope and efforts to use social media to enhance learning experiences of undergraduates at Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST).Students’ responses to the new technologies have been incorporated to guide future course of actions. Since use of social media into a teaching assignment requires considerable time and effort by the teacher, nonetheless, experience of faculty in their efforts to use social media in the teaching of traditional courses has also been focused upon.
A new challenge for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) practitioners in all fields, especially for teachers to train students that involve hands-on skills training through online medium, due to a pandemic of the COVID-19
This study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching skills using online medium for solar site survey, as well as students perceived on learning site survey using online medium. A survey study was conducted that involved 30 students who enrolled in a solar PV installation and maintenance course. An online questionnaire consists of eight items using five points Likert Scale were adapted from previous study, gauging students perceived on learning site survey using online medium (i.e. online lecture, WhatsApp, chat, voice, picture, short video clips, and learning management system-LMS). An assignment was used to indicate students’ performance in site survey skills, including a short test to gauge students’ technical skills knowledge, consisting of a total of 10 Multiple Choices Questions (MCQ), were developed by referring to the syllabus, under subtopic of solar site survey. Technical knowledge questions were divided into two types namely, items for testing concept (i.e. tools), principles (i.e. relationship of sunlight and shading) and procedures (i.e. application of knowledge). The result: Student average achievement in technical knowledge test was 68.3% (M = 6.83, SD = 1.64); student average achievement mark in a solar site survey sketch is 62.8%; and students perceived on learning solar PV site survey was at high level (M = 3.99, SD = 0.69). It is concluded that solar PV site survey skills are possible to be implemented from distance through online medium, and it can be improved through a more video packaged in the form of live sessions. Technology in Electrical System Maintenance with honour, in the faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. This course is a five credit hours course, which requires two hours of lecture and three hours of practical session per week, along 14 weeks. The main goals for this course were to enable students to assess, install, and maintain solar PV system configuration for stand-alone and grid-connected according to standard requirements. Solar PV Installation and Maintenance was first implemented for the first cohort students in the last February 2020 in their second semester of year 1. This course had been implemented with four weeks for face-to-face meeting before the campus was affected by the recent pandemic situation, thus online teaching and learning has been implemented in the rest of the remaining weeks. One of the most important topics within the course; is a solar site survey, requiring students to be able to conduct a solar PV site survey and prepare a sketch for the next process before designing and installing of a solar PV system, especially for residential use. The main purpose of this exercise is that students would be able to decide the most suitable place for tilting the solar PV module by considering the sun path and angle to minimize shading by the vicinity objects. Solar site survey topic was taught in the fourth weeks during the movement restriction in force, using the online medium. Meeting time for all lecture sessions were prefixed based on the existing timetable (as in the face-to-face meeting). For this topic, all learning materials were given out before the class session through LMS, provided by the institution, including a copy of the PowerPoint slide, a short video clip, solar site survey example sheet, and a solar site survey checklist. Students were first given a short lecture on the theoretical part using power-point slides. The lecture was conducted synchronously using WhatsApp, with audio voice recording for each slide. In addition, a short video clip demonstrating procedures for preparing a sketch for site survey was shared on WhatsApp and uploaded to the LMS, to give a general view of the most important elements to be included in the sketch. Students were encouraged to have a two-way interaction in WhatsApp, especially those who might need some time to digest the information delivered during lecture. Specific learning outcomes and comparison between normal and pandemic situation are presented in Table I. An individual assignment was given at the end of the class session and a short quiz to be completed before the class session ended. Students were then answering a technical knowledge test after class ended within a stipulated time frame. Students were given a week to submit the solar site survey sketch report consisting of the front-page consisting of student information, a complete checklist, and the site sketch using paper and pencil. It is compulsory for technical students, the briefing on the general safety precautions during practical skills session was given in the first meeting. Then, before the session begun, students were given a specific briefing on the specific safety measures through lecture and a short video clip, for example students must be accompanied by someone during site survey. TABLE I: LEARNING OUTCOMES AND COMPARISON OF DELIVERY APPROACHES Session Learning outcomes Normal situation (Face to face) During pandemic (Online medium) Lecture to be able to grasp basic and procedural knowledge on solar site survey Should be using PowerPoint slides and face-to-face lecture session. using PowerPoint slides with audio on WhatsApp A video clip to be able to perform solar site survey procedures correctly Should be face to face demonstration in the field A short video clip demonstration and example of solar site survey sketch Assignment to be able to prepare a solar site survey sketch correctly Should be completing a solar site survey and submitting report bya group Completing a solar site survey and submitting an individual report III. RESEARCH METHODS
Apprehending the Future: Emerging Technologies, from Science Fiction to Campus Reality
Deciding which technologies to support for teaching and learning—and how to support them—depends, first, on our ability to learn about each emerging development. Selecting a platform without knowing what is coming right behind it can be risky. Similarly, it is folly to grasp onto a technology without seeing the variety of ways that the technology can actually be used. If William Gibson was right—"the street finds its own uses for things"—then academic computing needs to be sure of its "street smarts."