Online Learning Archives - USJ - 91��ý

Rich student-student and lecturer-student interactions alleviate the feeling of isolation in online learning – FHSS research

Hiran Amarasekera — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 01:47:46 +0000

Like in other contexts in the world, the transition to online learning in 91��ýn universities during the pandemic was sudden and abrupt: both lecturers and students had a very limited time to prepare for the new mode of teaching and learning. A study was carried out to find out the student Satisfaction with Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic by , and from the International Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 91��ý in collaboration with Dr. D.M.S.L.B. Dissanayake and Dr. Manjula Ranagalage from the Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Rajarata University

“We found that Learner motivation; and teacher-student, student-student and student-content ��interactions had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning”, said Director of��International Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 91��ý.��A study to explore the determinants of student satisfaction in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic Online Learning was conducted among ��1376 undergraduates enrolled in various courses in Humanities and Social sciences at three state universities in 91��ý. .�� This study was initiated by the��of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 91��ý and results were published in ��,��a journal indexed in��Ի��.

Among the three variables, learner motivation was found to exert the strongest effect on students’ satisfaction, implying the crucial role self-regulated learning—characterized by motivation—plays in online learning environments. Authors write: “This finding is not surprising given that in online learning, unlike in face-to-face learning, learners are left with the additional responsibility of their learning. As a result, self-regulated learning plays an important role in its success. While motivation holds the key in self-regulated learning, self-regulated learners, in contrast to others, tend to develop an independent learning style, display self-directed behavior and have an internal locus of control of their learning. Thus, online learners are generally assumed to be self-motivated, and this makes them naturally become more satisfied with their learning.”

Furthermore, as expected, the study found that various challenges that students face in their online learning decrease their satisfaction. Nevertheless, the mere existence of challenges may not always hamper student motivation in online education as distance learners are naturally more self-resilient and motivated.

Finally, the study found that poor interaction (teacher-student; student-student; student-content) leads to decreased student satisfaction in online learning: “Even though interaction is a determinant of student success and satisfaction in any mode of learning, it seems to have extra significance in online learning. This may be because rich student-student and lecturer-student interaction can alleviate the feeling of isolation that many students are supposed to experience in online learning spaces”, said

The article can be accessed using the following link:

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Universities and schools should be reopened while maintaining proper precautions says FOT and FHSS researchers

Hiran Amarasekera — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 01:47:58 +0000

The impact of coronavirus has created the most significant collapse of global education in history. The closure of schools and other learning institutes has impacted the vast majority of the students, especially in low and lower-middle-income countries like 91��ý.

“Universities and schools should be reopened while maintaining proper precautions to avoid being a victim of the pandemic,” said ��; Department of Civil and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Technology, USJ based on their questioner research among 2000 school and university students during April 2021. This research was published in International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications in 2021.

The research was carried out by��; Department of Civil and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Technology, USJ, ; Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, USJ, Ms. Probodhi Preethika; Mr. K.A. Viraj Miyuranga; Mr. R.K.M.D Supun Harshana; Mr. M.B.D.K Siriwardena; Mr. Chiran D.M.O. Ranaraja; Miss. D. K. Dissanayaka; Department of Civil and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Technology, USJ and Miss. S.A.P.U.M Jayathilake; Department of English, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, USJ.

Dr. Udara said, reopening universities and schools should be taken to manage several steps while maintaining proper precautions to avoid being a victim of the pandemic.

Revising personal and attendance policies for universities, higher educational institutes or for the schools should be considered as home schooling completely proved that maintaining attendance for lectures is useless.
Redesigning of lecture rooms should be taken into account with the online facilities for anyone to join even for the people not willing to attend physically.
The financial allocations for the educational sector should be carefully handled as spending on education may be compromised in the coming years. The main reason will be public funds are directed for health and social welfare and minimized from the long-term public spending on education.
��The required technological support at the school level or university level should be considered for the institution as well as for the individual students.
��The lockdown has exacerbated inequality among students as distance learning for those with lower level of income families creates additional stress. Therefore, not just for the students from those low-income families, their family members economic stability should be carefully analyzed as many of them may lose their regular jobs.
It should be immediately improving the availability of proper technology for the students who need special care as most of the technological tools are developed for normal students.
Schools and universities should maintain a technology bank where students can lend technological tools to use during the pandemic when they are not the one on it or not having the financial stability to purchase it.
At most, parents should need to have the proper training to support their children for homeschooling during the pandemic.
There should be a proper communication system to maintain among parents, teachers and students to deliver the most important information regarding continuation of their education.

The link between students and teachers is vital for their personal development to face society outside the walls. Students will eventually know how to listen to others, how to respect each other, and how to manage co-working, group working activities only during schooling time. Many of those qualities are not mentioned in the book chapters to learn at home. Those will be learnt only with the physical interaction of each other.��Therefore, in the end, this will create unskillful graduates who doesn’t fit for the economic development of the country. Now it is time to implement the most important principles such as learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and to live together with it.

Read the full Article (PDF) : Immediate Actions to Minimize the Impact of Covid – 19 on Education

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