Abstract
over 190 countries with the United States topping the global COVID-19 statistics with over 6.41 million cases. Malaysia is currently in 94th place in the world with 9,559 cases. As of 31st August 2020, the number of active cases in Malaysia was 169. The decrease in the number of active cases in Malaysia was due to the introduction of social distancing. Throughout this period, all schools in Malaysia were closed resulting in the suspension of all face-to-face teaching and learning. Thus, teachers nationwide have turned to blended learning to ensure all students can learn. Generally, blended learning refers to an approach that combines learning and interaction via online platforms. This approach allows learning to take place without the need to physically be in a classroom. However, in rural schools in Sabah, Malaysia, the use of blended learning can be difficult. Thus, this quantitative research has twofold objectives: firstly, to explore teachers’ experience and challenges amidst COVID-19: and secondly, to investigate and compare the challenges in incorporating blended learning in urban and rural schools in Sabah. A total of 144 teachers were purposively selected as participants. The data were collected from a survey questionnaire which then were analysed descriptively using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 software. The findings of this research show that blended learning should further be explored in rural schools. However, teachers face challenges in incorporating blended learning in the lessons. This is due to the fact that students in urban and rural area have limited computer and technology literacy. If these problems could be solved, blended learning could be the new norm in the Malaysian education system.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 14 Nov 2020 |
| Event | The 3rd Conference for Higher Education Research - Hong Kong 2020: Innovations of Higher Education Amid the Pandemic: Institutional Management, Teaching, and Research Perspectives - Lingnan University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Duration: 13 Nov 2020 → 14 Nov 2020 https://www.ln.edu.hk/sgs/cher2020 |
Conference
| Conference | The 3rd Conference for Higher Education Research - Hong Kong 2020 |
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| Abbreviated title | CHER-Hong Kong 2020 |
| Country/Territory | Hong Kong |
| City | Hong Kong |
| Period | 13/11/20 → 14/11/20 |
| Other | Held at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, The Conference for Higher Education Research – Hong Kong is a multidisciplinary conference co-organised by Lingnan University (Hong Kong) and the Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership (APHERP), and in collaboration with University of Bath and Durham University. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in school or university closures all across the world, triggering unprecedented challenges for education systems. According to UNESCO, 1.5 billion learners are out of the classroom globally, from pre-primary to higher education. Of the 195 countries that had closed schools in April 2020, 128 have yet to announce plans for their reopening. It is clear that the future of higher education needs rethinking in many ways amid the pandemic. The International Association of Universities (IAU) Global Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education finds, among other things, that (i) COVID-19 has had an impact on international student mobility at 89% of HEIs; (ii) at almost all HEIs, the shift from face-to-face to distance teaching did not come without challenges; and (iii) 80% of HEIs reported that research has been affected by the pandemic at their institutions. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s higher education will be long lasting. We in higher education must accept the reality of a paradigm shift. The crisis situation created by the horrible pandemic has served to jolt us out of the trap of yesterday’s status quo and make necessary changes. The CHER – Hong Kong 2020 aims to foster dialogue on the staggering impact of COVID-19 on the future of higher education and the innovations required to meet the global challenges, with special focus on the following topics: - Institutional Management - Teaching and Learning Innovations - Emerging Higher Education Research Directions - Impact on Finance and University Governance |
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