E-PEDAGOGY: STIMULATING THE PHYSICAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE USING EDTECH

Schools across the Asia Pacific were caught off guard and unprepared when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

- KHOO HUNG CHUAN

Director – Education Transform and Development, Lenovo Central Asia Pacific

The end result was a sudden haphazard migration to intermittent distance learning across the region, with over 100 million learners affected by school closures in early April when the pandemic first erupted globally, according to UNESCO.

But for students to experience the most stimulating learning experience during the pandemic, educators need to blend digital online and physical offline teaching with technology, to allow a seamless and integrated transition between the two worlds. A global survey of 36 markets by the Harvard Graduate School of Education showed more than 50 percent of schools see the value in implementing a hybrid or blended learning approach.

In Malaysia, the ongoing iterations of the Movement Control Order (MCO) has caused school closures nationwide. To support student’s remote and hybrid learning during this period, the Ministry of Education (MOE) saw the need to refresh its digital learning platform by launching new initiatives such the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (otherwise known as DELIMa), which is supposed to be one of the largest national deployments in the world, offering applications and services, including digital learning technologies and resources including Microsoft Office 365. It has directly benefited over 10,000 schools, 370,000 teachers, and 2.5 million students in Malaysia.

A smart, holistic approach, comprising multi-layered solutions, including a suite of security tools, integration with enterprise systems and new hardware, combined with technical competency and a can-do attitude is essential for tackling the challenges facing schools during this unprecedented time.