Siti Zulaika

EDU456 - ED2412B

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My favourite application.

Nowadays, a lot of the major social media has started to look, or dare I say, copy each other too much that there's almost no difference between all of them. However, the one social media application that I genuinely believe to have stayed true to their own style is Tumblr.

Tumblr might not really seem like a frequently used app nowadays but it's only because people don't actually realize how big it is actually. In my opinion, because Tumblr is a blog-based application, it has a really good potential to become a platform to relay news. The built-in writing format that Tumblr prepared makes it easier to highlights the key points in our writing.

For example, I'll list out the good points of Tumblr.

The built-in writing format in making a post is easy to use and access.

The variety of functions such as embedding pictures, videos, audios, or links made it easier for readers to view something without switching tabs.

The "under the cut" function allows writers to divide their writings, whether to highlight the introduction (like what I did on this post) or just to minimize their post so it doesn't appear too long in others feed.

Personally, I use Tumblr as my main source of information about things that I follow. There are so many things that you can discover on Tumblr and I greatly recommend it if you want to use it as your personal blog!

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E-book and 360 Video

The first one that I'm going to share this week is the e-book from https://anyflip.com/ , a website where you can find and flip through books virtually. This is the book I find interesting, and I remember my English teacher in high school recommended this book for anyone that want to master the American accent.

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The second one is an interesting 360 video of a walking 360 tour of Kyoto's famous Kiyomizu-dera. This temple is my number one place I really want to go to if I ever go to Japan but being trapped in this pandemic, I supposed a virtual tour through 360 video is not a bad choice either. I hope you enjoy the virtual tour!

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Online Learning in the New Normal

The whole world is currently trapped under the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, or more known as Covid-19. We witness how this pandemic alters every aspect of our life, from our small daily routine to the organization of the health system itself. This pandemic has also proved to be a challenging test of endurance for each country in this world. The health system is almost at its breaking point for some countries. The education system is also one of the most affected, looking at the drastic changes that were made because of the restriction on physical meetings. Now, we have a “new normal” way to deliver education. Almost all capably countries have switched to online learning, hence why online learning is the “new normal”. However, the question now is, are there any challenges that rose up because of this transition? The challenges can be specifically seen before, during, and after this new normal is implemented. So, the challenges that can be listed out from this new normal are the delay of the important exams, the preparedness of the education system itself, and the unavoidable problems amongst the students and educators.

Before - The delay of the important exams During - The preparedness of the education system itself After - The unavoidable problems amongst the students and educators

The first problem that was encountered when the education system is preparing for the transition to online learning is the delay of all important examinations. Because of the sudden school closure, a lot of schools haven’t finished their syllabus yet. Added with the need to alter the syllabus and materials so that it is suitable to be delivered online, the academic schedule dragged on. As a result, the date of the examinations also needed to be moved. In Malaysia, the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) was postponed for a few months and Malaysia is not the only one that had to postpone its important examinations. The same issue happened in China too where they had to postpone their college entrance examination for a month. Furthermore, it doesn’t only affect the grade that’s supposed to graduate but also the lower grades. This situation also applies to tertiary education. At the times when the schools, including universities were forced to closed, most universities are in their last few weeks in the semester. However, students were forced to immediately return home and resume their semester classes online. It was a hectic time for educators in trying to balance all the works. Thus, this is the first issue that was encountered before the online classes started to take full effect.

After all the schools have transitioned into online classes, there are new challenges that arose. Specifically, problems occur within the preparedness of the education system itself to adapt to online classes. For most countries, the school chose to continue the lesson online, and that includes the delivery of the lessons materials such as practices, notes and much more. However, for schools whose students do not have the means to 100 percent produce necessary tools for complete online learning, they have to switch things a little bit. This is the case with schools in Philippines where 98 percent out of their 24 723 533 elementary and high schools that were affected by the new normal resorted to using printed modular distance learning. There are a lot of concerns and issues surrounding this method. Their biggest concern is how the schools and their stockholders are going to be able to continuously generate more resources to supply the bulk printing of the learning materials. Since they need to print out everything, the cost, time, and human resources of the school is really tested. There are also some problems with erroneous contents because of the rush in preparing the materials. In other words, while they are able to deliver the lessons online, the materials for practicing the lesson are not entirely as easy to deliver. Hence, this is another concern that occurs during the implementation of this new normal.

Last but not least, after a year has passed in the pandemic, teachers and students alike have slowly started to adapt to the new normal of online learning. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really go as smoothly as expected and there are unavoidable problems amongst the students and educators. The government had tried its best to ensure that all the students will be able to attend the online classes. For example, North Korea had tried to produce a high-tech education which is adaptive online learning software that is AI-assisted so that students can have their own personal learning experience and also reduce the burden on teachers. However, it can’t be denied that there is a gap for students that can’t afford the high-tech education software. Other than this, common problems such as Internet connection problems and inadequate gadgets are unavoidable because not every region in a country is fully developed. It is unfortunate to witness the struggle of students and teachers in rural areas who had to resort to extreme measures to even attend a class. Taking an example of a Malaysian student, Veveonah, who climbed, built a temporary shelter, and stayed overnight on top of a tree just to make sure she has a strong enough Internet connection to take her examination. Therefore, it is clear that after this new normal of online learning implemented, there are still problems that can’t be avoided.

In conclusion, we have to admit that the new normal of online learning is the best choice that we have in order to make sure the education system keeps running. However, this doesn’t mean that we should ignore the problems that have been discovered throughout the whole process of this online learning. Everyone needs to play their role because we cannot let our education system fall down. Education is the most important thing to continue the prosperity of each country. Especially during challenging times like this, with the hope that the generation that is to come will be thoroughly prepared if another devastating pandemic were to befall the humanities again. With the cooperation of everyone, we will try to make sure that students will be able to continue their education in peace and comfort.

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A Matrix for Online Education

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Week 5 - Making quiz using uQuiz!

I had just finished rewatching the High & Low movies so I decided to try using the uQuiz website to make a simple quiz about it.

You can make your own quiz HERE.

Now, take a look at my quiz!

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Week 4 - The place that I wish I can visit. (Powtoon)

I have always been a huge fan of Detective Conan, and this is my number one place I want to go if I ever reach Japan one day.

//The video was made from scratch, with no template. I think it turns out quite good?

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Week 3 - My Augmented Reality (AR) Experience

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Week 2 - Online Education: Pandemic-Driven Challenges and Opportunities

//The real devastating number of death by the time this post is out is 2,961,411. (source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/)

It has been nearly 2 years since the world faced and fought against the Covid-19 pandemic. People’s life has changed significantly, loss of lives, loss of jobs and many despairs befall on us. Of course, just like every other sector, the education sector is also affected greatly. However, the real question should be just how many challenges and opportunities that actually risen up in the past 2 years?

//An accurate representation of how students feel and look like during online classes.

If we’re talking about the challenges of online classes, then the problem with the most votes will be problems with the internet. Both teachers and students suffer from sudden no access to internet or a really unstable internet connection. It disrupts the class progress, and it can be really frustrating when it happens too. In some unfortunate cases, some students might not even have the necessary access to things needed for online classes.

However, since we are in the times of technology, online classes gives us more opportunities to expand learning method to truly resonate with 21st century learning. Multiple platforms such as Padlet and Microsoft Teams are discovered and actually used for classes. Students are able to explore new platforms and resources to do their assignments. Online classes actually helps students and teachers to be a bit more creative and independent when it comes to creating works.

//One of the countless videos on Youtube sharing tips on how to make creative presentations.

In conclusion, while the beginning of our online classes may be filled with multiple and seemingly endless hardship, it has become slightly better in the span of these 2 years. I’m sure we all miss our physical face-to-face classes so all we need to do is stays strong and safe until we can be declared free of this pandemic.