FTKEE lecturers develop digital content for T&L

PEKAN, 25 January 2021 - The role of universities today is more challenging. When the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) strives to produce quality graduates to meet the needs of the industry in line with the Industrial Revolution (IR4.0), they also face the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. 

This challenge is described as a paradigm shift for the university to review its role in setting new norms for facing the current technological advancement. 

According to the Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (FTKEE), Associate Professor Dr. Hamdan Daniyal, academic staff also faced with new norms in line with the current flexible education trend and digital transformation in teaching and learning (T&L).

“The use of digital tools in teaching and ways to develop digital content including the use of video and online platforms for interaction between students and lecturers are crucial. 

“To facilitate the lecturers, we have taken the initiative to produce an innovative studio in the faculty to ensure the online T&L can be implemented more interestingly and interactively. 

“The studio is equipped with various facilities such as a lightboard, green screen, tablet, high quality camera and HDMI converter,” he said. 

The study to develop this studio began during the first Movement Control Order (MCO) on 18 March 2020 involving several lecturers and technical staff.

He added that the hardware was carefully selected, the lightboard was specially designed according to the room’s size and the walls were painted with the appropriate colour.

“The problem to deliver technical contents especially the engineering program sparks the idea to use a lightboard as if the students present physically and to present more interactively,” he said. 

“The conventional process of producing high quality videos is difficult and requires expertise in video editing. 

“The studio in FTKEE UMP is specially designed so that the production process can be shortened and the studio can be used by anyone without any video editing skills. 

“The perfectly arranged hardware in the studio enables the lecturers to produce the materials easily,” he said. 

He added that most of the lecturers never read news or act. 

“It was awkward when we tried to record videos at the beginning of the MCO. 

“The presence of somebody else during the recording process made it even more awkward. 

“However we got used to it and to speed up the process of familiarising the lecturers to speak in front of a camera, the hardware in the studio was designed so that all can be handled easily. 

“A lecturer can operate all the hardware and record without anyone’s help,” he added.

Since May 2020 until November 2020, FTKEE had produced more than 800 videos for T&L.

He was delighted with the commitment given by the staff during MCO 2020. 

In fact, he admitted that the process was challenging. 

“The new norm in learning demands the lecturers to learn various knowledge and skills. 

“The knowledge and skills of video recording, creating animation, speaking in front of a camera while maintaining eye contact, and preparing questions in Moodle and Google Form are only a fraction in our journey since March 2020. 

“The 800 videos are a sign of the hard work of FTKEE academic staff,” he said. 

According to Associate Professor Dr. Hamdan, it is still a long way to go. 

“Despite the many videos created, all of them are still in the early stage. 

“UMP targets to provide a meaningful learning environment. 

“Videos play a big role and the learning process demands a greater commitment from the lecturers and most importantly from the students,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre of Instructional Resources & e-Learning (CIReL) has also organised various courses for lecturers as a preparation to expose them with the use of digital technology. 

To date, the university operates at limited capacity and the T&L activities are done online as a new norm and it has been adapted by the students for the past year.

By: Mimi Rabita Abdul Wahit, Corporate Communications Unit, The Office of The Vice-Chancellor

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology