ERIC Number: ED511221
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Feb
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1548-6613
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Diversity in Education Using Blended Learning in Sarawak
Ling, Siew-Eng; Ariffin, Siti Rahayah Bt; Rahman, Saemah Bt; Lai, Kim-Leong
Online Submission, US-China Education Review v7 n2 p83-88 Feb 2010
One of the objectives of Malaysia Ministry of Education is to provide educational opportunities for all Malaysians. Are education opportunities given fairly to all Malaysians who come from two big regions and divided by the South China Sea? The web infancy era, where the World Wide Web (WWW) is blooming fast, has changed the new millennium teaching and learning process tremendously. Although the online learning can reach to students regardless of their location and backgrounds, human contact is still very important in traditional face-to-face learning. Blended learning course comprising online learning and traditional face-to-face learning components is an effective teaching and learning method, where it combines the best from both worlds. Blended learning courses only started a few years ago in Malaysia higher learning institutions to give everybody equal opportunities to study. The key acceptance of blended learning approach and continuing improvement is students' satisfaction. This study focused on students' satisfaction related to the nine components of blended learning (course content, technical, flexibility, community learning, motivation, sharing, feedback, complementary learning and personalized learning) from two locations: urban and rural areas. The study employed a mixed method consisting of a survey questionnaire distributed first to collect the quantitative data and followed by the interview to refine and explain the data. The population of the study consisted of students who enrolled in the Mathematics Blended Learning Course in Sarawak state in semester July-November, 2007. Census was used in the study. The survey instrument was developed and validated using Rasch model. The semi-structured questionnaire was used in qualitative data collection. The quantitative data was analyzed by using SPSS v14.0 whilst the qualitative data was coded by using NVivo software. Results from the quantitative data showed that students were satisfied in in all nine components regardless of the location. The grand mean of all components also indicated that respondents were satisfied with blended learning course. This result was supported by the qualitative data.
Descriptors: Electronic Learning, Online Courses, Course Content, Rural Areas, Foreign Countries, Internet, Satisfaction, Student Attitudes, Access to Education, Student Surveys, Interviews, Mathematics Instruction, Comparative Analysis, Urban Areas, Rural Urban Differences, College Students, Open Universities, College Instruction, Blended Learning
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A