ISYS2059: You will play a Role as a Business Analyst Team and your Task is to Design an online Learning Solution for an Educational Institution: Business Information System Essay, RMIT, Singapore

assignment 3,

you will play a role as a business analyst team and your task is to design an online learning solution for an educational institution of your choice, such as RMIT.

The aim of online learning is to provide satisfactory learning experience for the learners based on technological tools that you have learnt in the course such as learning management systems (Canvas, Google Classroom), communication tools (Microsoft Teams, Zoom), and presentation tools (Microsoft 365, YouTube).

You are expected to apply the design thinking approach, based on your own experience, to undertand the learners’ satisfactory online learning experience (empathise – demand analysis), then propose an online learning solution based on up to three technological tools/platforms (brainstorming – feasible business solution design), and explain how the tools work together to meet learners’ expectations.

TASK – Define what is satisfactory learning experience for online learning – Identify factors that influence the satisfactory learning experience of online learners (one solution, *my idea: about platform management, how the school platform can affect student’s engagement and productivity) I will include the sample for the assignment below

I. INTRODUCTION

The spread of Coronavirus has made various countries enforce national lockdown and led to school closures around the world. In this terrible pandemic from the COVID-19, technology turns out to be more and more essential as it has been incorporated in multiple aspects of everybody’s lives. Consequently, the needs for innovative solutions to optimize educational endeavours have accelerated, one of the prominent occurrences is online learning.

According to Dhull and Arora (2017), online learning comprises a variety of technologies provided over digital interconnections to impart education. Distance education offers several benefits to both institutions and learners such as cost-effectiveness, personalized timetable and self-regulated learning (Arkorful & Abaidoo 2014). In contrast, the lack of interpersonal interactions and external factors like weak connection or outdated technology are some problems that online learners could face (Dhull & Arora 2017). This report will suggest some procedures to support RMIT’s students with online courses’ arrangements that meet their demands based on technology tools.

After discussing the definition and some features that affect students’ learning experience, we will indicate several technology tools that might enhance online learning and students’ satisfaction and give out some suggestions for effective online learning based on these tools.

II. ANALYSIS

Definition of satisfactory learning experience for online learning

Owing to the increasing utilization of online learning, institutions should examine distinct aspects of such an approach, one of which is student satisfaction. According to Bailey and Pearson (1983), satisfaction is an individual’s feelings or attitude related to different elements which influences a specific situation. Whereas, Astin (1993) precisely explained student satisfaction as learners’ perception initiated from perceived values of education and experience obtained from educators.

Student satisfaction is a significant criterion to consider when implementing a course, as it directly impacts learner learning and success. As a crucial “intermediate outcome”, satisfaction affects the motivation level of learners and this has been contemplated as one of the most pivotal psychological elements in learning success. As stated by Puzziferro (2008), students are expected to be more successful in their learning when they are satisfied with their e-learning course. This success can be indicated by greater engagement in class activities and the possibility of entering a future online course. Besides,

2. Factors influence satisfactory learning experiences for online learning

Online learning, with its genuine characteristics, has changed how students experience their studying process. Therefore, much research has been done to answer the question “What makes online education successful in terms of student satisfaction?” and figure out several predictors affecting the experience. In this paper, we found that the most influential factors leading to satisfactory learning experience are self-regulated learning, instructional structure, and social interaction.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is considered as a pivotal element of academic achievement, which is defined as a student’s deliberate attempt toward learning subjects (Corno & Maninach 1983). Whereas, Zimmerman (1989) stated that SRL is the degree to which learners act metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviourally in their own learning. Particularly, metacognitive progress requires learners to make plans or goals to surveil and evaluate their study. In the motivational process, students are self-motivated and willing to be accountable for their own success or failure (Moller & Huett 2012).

And SRL behaviour involves seeking advice from others to optimize learning and the use of metacognitive approach (Kuo et. al 2014). Compared to traditional in-class learning, online learning is more learner-centred and learners are more responsible and autonomous, notably in asynchronous learning environments (Artino 2008). Accordingly, online learning’s versatility, challenging nature, and learner-centeredness demand students to engage more self-regulatory skills. The more self-regulated students are, the more possible they will be successful in online performance, thus, leading to learning satisfaction.

Besides, instructional structure refers to particular methods and approaches that offer the conditions under which studying targets is most possibly achieved (Driscoll 2006; cited in

3. Technological tools and their features that could be adopted for online learning

As mentioned above, the unparalleled outbreak of COVID-19 has triggered remarkable obstacles for the higher educational system around the world. To maintain the quality and ameliorate satisfactory learning experience, academic institutions must be cautious of providing adequate tools, which should be easy for academics to utilize and must facilitate.

III. RECOMMENDATION

1. An example of an educational institution that are facing problems related to satisfactory learning

The outbreak of COVID 19 started in early 2020 led to a quarantine being applied in educational institutions in Vietnam. Therefore, many academies have conducted online learning as an alternative method, one of which is RMIT University. However, it is evident that RMIT experienced a huge number of Leave of Absence in the first and second semesters of 2020 during the pandemic. This resulted from poor learning experience and the sudden transformation from face-to-face learning to online education. According to Hannum et al.

(2008), various e-learning courses provide content to students through the Internet, but are incompetent to offer appropriate support to their study. In particular, Hang &Tung (2020) state that studying online exhausts both Vietnamese teachers and learners, while the effectiveness of knowledge comprehension only reaches 60% compared to traditional learning.

RMIT University has been using Canvas as an LMS and the only technological tool for e-learning, because it provides students functional features that create a sufficient basis for pre-class, in-class and post-class activities, Collaborate Ultra is the feature that was utilised by instructors for holding live lessons. Nonetheless, RMIT has recorded some errors when using Collaborate Ultra since bandwidth issues led to interrupted classes and negatively affected the quality of lecture. Moreover, there were numerous complaints about the lack of excitement and insufficient interaction because students could not effectively exchange knowledge and discussion with instructors and classmates. Therefore, there are 2 recommendations to solve the problems.

First, to improve the quality of RMIT lessons, MS Teams should be applied to replace Collaborate Ultra with similar functions in building an online classroom. Besides, MS Teams also has outstanding features in terms of security, stable bandwidth, and many other features that help increase the interaction between teachers and students and between students and students.

Secondly, it is necessary to create activities to enhance cognition, to absorb lessons and create a competitive environment to foster student thinking through the GoConqr application. With this app, teachers can increase excitement, create a more vibrant atmosphere, and facilitate self-regulated learning.

2. A simple solution to the problem and howthe tools integrate to meet students’ expectations

To maximize the benefits of online learning, lecturers and students must exploit the essential function of the tools as well as combine them effectively to meet their needs and create excitement in learning. Typical tools for online lessons such as Canvas, Microsoft Teams, and GoConqr can make a course with sufficient elements including acquiring lessons, self-study, review, and assessment.

Initially, RMIT students can learn about pre-class preparation materials on Canvas such as pre-class material, preview teacher lecture slides, and look up test information such as due date, grades rating, and scale. With this function, learners can get an outline of the lesson

framework so that they can create for themselves a perfect study plan based on the knowledge learned and the time to prepare for the tests. In addition, students can look back on their learning results throughteachers’ comments to re-evaluate their abilities, re-arrannge learning methods, and set a more appropriate objective for their own study.

During classes, MS Teams can organize a live meeting through virtual space with the maximum capacity of up to 150 people accessing at the same time. Normally at RMIT, the number of students in a class ranges from 35 to 60 so MS Teams is the perfect tool to organize an online class without worrying about exceeding the participant limit.

During class sessions, the interaction between students and teachers can be improved through the function of using microphones and raising hands. This function enhances a sense of familiarity and avoids boredom during the class so that students can express their own opinions as well as receive feedback from teachers and classmates to make the lessons more comprehensible. This will spark deeper understanding, increase the ability of critical thinking, and create a more communicative environment during online learning.

Canvas also facilitates interaction between users with the people section, in which students can get the email addresses of classmates and lecturers, making it easier to find teammates and contact teachers for assistance. On the other hand, the tool allows submission of a test in many different forms from a doc file, pdf file to the studio. Thereby, testing is not restricted even when studying online.

Plagiarism check systems are one of the special functions in Canvas to prevent points deduction due to identical ideas, vocals, and timely modification. Besides, Canvas is like a school report that saves all results of students so they can look back and set personal learning goals. Not only learners but also teachers benefit from this application in terms of marking tests, leaving comments, and evaluating individuals’ ability through their results to have appropriate teaching methods.