>From: Brennan Jack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Distance Learning > >TECHNOLOGY > > >Wired to Learn >Malaysian students pioneer on-line education > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >By Murray Hiebert in Kuala Lumpur > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >June 3, 1999 > > >A university in Malaysia is taking virtual education to the outer fringes >of the information age. While many colleges around the world use the latest >multimedia innovations to deliver some of their courses or use the Internet >to announce assignments, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak--or Unitar--was set up >with the sole aim of offering education through cyberspace. > >All a student needs is a computer, a modem, a telephone line and a password >to access UNITARnet, the school's Web site. "You just click a button--you >don't have to leave your comfortable home and try to beat the traffic," >says 41-year-old Mariam Zakariah, an enthusiastic first-year student of >business administration, who previously spent most of her time looking >after several small children and teenagers. > >KUB, a holding company with interests in technology and hotels, opened the >university last September and named it after Malaysia's second prime >minister. Students get their basic course materials on a CD-ROM. But they >then download course updates, join class discussions, take part in quizzes >and get their grades via the Internet. They can also carry out research in >a virtual library that stocks about 2,000 on-line journals. Final >examinations, though, and some tutorials must be taken face-to-face with an >instructor. > >"This university allows me to study and still do my jobs around the house," >says Mariam. But as well as allowing students to study more or less when >they want, where they want, the university offers other advantages as well, >says Khairuddin Hashim, Unitar's chief technology officer. Students learn >to be more resourceful, ask more questions, and learn how to write and >communicate more effectively than students in traditional colleges, >according to Khairuddin, a veteran of the University of Malaya, who doubles >as Unitar's dean of the information technology faculty. He says that's >because students are less inhibited than in old-style classrooms, where >shyness may prevent them from speaking up or taking risks. On top of that, >virtual students become highly skilled users of information technology. > >"Unitar has fundamentally transformed the education landscape," says Rose >Rodd, education-industry manager at U.S. information-technology firm 3Com. >"This networking technology allows for an extremely rich, interactive, >anytime-anywhere learning environment." > >Some educators believe Unitar's independent-learning formula will work for >graduate students, but they have more questions about younger >undergraduates. "A 17- or 18-year-old still needs to be sitting on a >teacher's knee," jokes Mark Disney, editor of Education Quarterly, which >covers higher education in Malaysia. "Thrown into a virtual university, >some kids could get lost. You have to assume the students are independent >learners, otherwise they'll find it very difficult." > >Aware of the need to help students become comfortable with this new way of >learning, Unitar puts them all through a two-day, face-to-face orientation. >"We try to improve their use of the technology so it doesn't get in the way >of learning," Khairuddin explains. > >Government regulators, too, originally queried whether an on-line >university could match up to the real thing. "There were questions about >whether it would produce graduates who were mere robots," says Hassan >Harun, chief executive officer at KUB, Unitar's operator. "They requested >that students meet lecturers face to face." > >That request was actually a condition that Unitar agreed to before being >granted its operating licence. As a result, each student must attend at >least three two-hour tutorials every term with the course lecturer and >fellow students. For now, all of these face-to-face meetings take place in >a 15-million-ringgit ($3.9 million) study centre in a shopping mall in >Kelana Jaya, in the southern suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. Hassan says Unitar >plans to establish a network of 11 other study centres across Malaysia. The >feisty entrepreneur believes Unitar will help Malaysia continue its >progress on moving away from being a largely labour-intensive manufacturing >base for electronics multinationals. > >"We were looking for a way that would let us offer tertiary education to as >many people as possible at an affordable price," Hassan says of the virtual >school's origins. Before setting up Unitar, KUB brought in Science >Applications International Corp. from the U.S. to "help us conceptualize" >the new university. Next, Hassan hired a U.S. management consultant, to >"verify whether what we were planning was right and to fill in the blanks." > >The KUB chief won't divulge how much it cost to start the college. "If >setting up a traditional university would cost 2 billion ringgit, our cost >is only a fraction of that," is all Hassan will say. Education Quarterly >recently reported one estimate that put the cost at more than 400 million >ringgit over five years and forecast the break-even point at seven years. >One thing that makes a virtual university cheaper than traditional schools >is that it doesn't require giant buildings or an army of teachers, says >Unitar President Syed Othman Alhabshi. > >Without doubt, Unitar's model faces growing competition from many >universities that also offer on-line education, particularly in North >America. Unitar now offers degrees in information technology and business >management, and plans later to launch degrees in the arts, humanities, >sciences and education. When it opened for classes last September, almost >600 students, two-thirds of them undergraduates, enrolled. The students >range in age from 18-50 years and most have jobs. The cost of a four-year >undergraduate degree: about 30,000 ringgit, roughly the same tuition >charged by private colleges in Malaysia. > >Unitar officials see their new school as a virtual-education prototype and >are looking to export the model to other countries. Othman, the president, >says the university is attracting visitors from around the world, but he >predicts Unitar will set up its first foreign venture in a developing >country, possibly in the Middle East. > >Othman believes virtual education will gradually replace traditional >colleges. "We're the Malaysian Microsoft of education," he says, alluding >to the American software giant. But Disney of Education Quarterly is more >guarded in his prognosis. "It's so experimental, we've just seen the first >intake of students," the editor says. "The jury is still out--everyone is >waiting to see what happens." >Jack Brennan PhD >Short Term Consultant to SSEP >Departmen Pendidkan dan Kebudayaan, Direktorat Pendidikan Menengah Umum >Gedung PPPG IPA, Jl. Diponegoro No. 12, Bandung 41115 Indonesia >Tel/Fax 62(22)426-5182 >email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Professor of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL 32816 USA >Tel 1(407)823-2325, Fax 1(407)823-5112 >
