Seminar Nasional Pendidikan

Category: Career

  • Most students pleased with their digital learning

    Most students pleased with their digital learning

    Nearly seven in 10 students surveyed rate the quality of online and digital learning as either ‘best imaginable’, ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ (68% of both further and higher education students).

    But the snapshot findings of the Jisc survey of 27,069 higher and further education students in the United Kingdom also found that areas such as well-being, mental health and staff digital skills need more attention.

    Sarah Knight, Jisc’s head of data and digital capability, said: “We hope this data pulse helps universities and colleges see clearly where students are benefiting, and where they could be better supported.”

    Between October and December 2020, 21,697 higher education students and 5,372 further education students from 11 universities and four further education colleges took part in Jisc’s digital experience insights student survey.

    The surveys seek to support the sector in adapting and responding to the changing situation as a result of COVID-19 policies.

    The surveys will continue to run until 30 April 2021, but this first snapshot of results shows the swift work of colleges and universities in moving learning online has been predominantly well received by students.

    Among those surveyed, 81% were studying online, 72% of them from home.

    Both higher education and further education students surveyed noted the huge benefits of flexible learning, with lecture recordings proving helpful for note-taking and scheduling learning around other aspects of life. Some students enjoy the comfort and convenience of studying at home, as well as feeling more in control.

    Learning online (ironically) has made it easier to get support from staff. They’re more likely to encourage us to talk to them and it is a little easier than having to find them physically on campus.

    Students enjoyed a range of different online activities and were positive about being able to access lecture recordings and participate live online.

    Analysis of free text responses in the survey was particularly revealing and highlighted how being able to watch sessions again helped students to study in ways that better met their learning needs, improved their understanding and encouraged further independent study.

    For instance, recordings enabled them to catch up if they missed the live session, manage the pace and take notes. They also made it easier for students for whom English is not a first language to hear and understand the lecture.

    Some of the more engaging activities were less well used and there are opportunities to embed activities like the use of small group discussions for peer support and collaboration, quizzes or polls, and online research tasks into curriculum design, the survey found.

  • Higher education is part of the Agenda 2030 ecosystem

    Universities must convince governments and development agencies that higher education is not a luxury but an essential part of the education ecosystem needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to three international networks representing more than 2,000 institutions.

    Their call came during a webinar co-organised by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), L’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the International Association of Universities (IAU) on 23 March, which looked at the pivotal year for higher education and the Agenda 2030 SDGs.

    Opening the 90-minute debate between university representatives from Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, Joanna Newman, secretary general of the ACU, said most development agencies still believed their focus should be on primary education or up to Year 12, and many people saw higher education as part of an ivory tower.

    “But if you want to have good basic education you need universities to help with pedagogical material, you need to have good teacher training and good departments of education,” she said.

    She said her organisation has defined six priorities and has been contacted by partners from the Americas “to provide Caribbean practical solutions to the needs of our region”.

    The six priorities are:
    • Digital transformation.
    • Climate change and environmental justice.
    • Public health and chronic diseases.
    • Tourism and sustainable development.
    • Transportation and logistics.
    • And because we have post-colonial societies, issues like race and gender.

    Turning to the response to COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns and campus closures, Aduol said apart from the struggle to move to online teaching, African universities had tried to prove their relevance by making hand sanitisers, face masks and PPE.

    “We also came up with structures that would allow markets to keep on functioning while responding to issues of social distance,” he said, adding that universities had gained “some respect” for helping society directly during times of crisis.