UUM’S FIRST VIRTUAL CLASSROOM LAUNCHED

UUM ONLINE: The development of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic today have forced people to change by adapting technology into their daily life. Such predicament has also brought countless challenges in the field of education, not to mention to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) as well.

In this regard, under the Connected Campus agenda, an important agenda of the university aimed at ensuring that the University’s technological development does not lag behind other developed states, UUM launched its first virtual classroom - a facility in the teaching and learning (TnL) process at the Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy (TISSA-UUM).

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani said the virtual classroom was made available to support virtual TnL process that can be accessed from various locations either on-campus or off-campus. According to him, the virtual classroom would afford both lecturer and students interactive two -way communication.

He further reiterated that with such facilities, learning atmosphere can be made more conducive. The class would still have the ambience of a face-to-face session even though it was conducted online. Students can interact virtually with their lecturers thus reducing the frequency of lecturers leaving campus to conduct TnL sessions for Distance Programmes (PJJ) or postgraduate programme.

He said the use of the virtual classroom was open to all campus denizens and those interested would need to make advance online booking.

He added that with the virtual classrooms allocated under the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK-11) and also TISSA-UUM, it can help launch more online learning and teaching modes (e-learning).

"Apart from this virtual classroom, UUM through UUMIT has also developed several applications to improve the quality of university’s delivery services to students and their parents, namely the UUM Student and UUM Parent applications which are initiatives of UUM towards making UUM a 'Connected Campus' in line with current needs.

“Among the facilities available in this application are Digital ID, Class Schedule, Exam Results, Financial Information, Class Attendance Information, QR Code to enter the Library, Student Lounge and Graduate Rooms, Campus Alert, Merit Information and Hotline which have been made available since last September and can be downloaded in the AppStore, Google Play and Huawei AppGallery since November 2020," he said at the Opening Ceremony of 'Virtual Classroom', Promotion System and Financial System (FIMS) at TISSA-UUM.

In addition, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bashawir said that starting 3 January, the Bursary began adopting the more modern Financial Management System (FIMS) that was also more integrated with other application systems in UUM.

According to him, with the new financial system, the University's financial and accounting affairs would become more efficient and more robust.

As for the academic staff, the KPA system had been developed to facilitate applications for promotion. Through the system, academic staff can monitor their achievements according to the set criteria and those who qualify can apply online.

"I congratulate UUMIT for working hard to develop systems and applications that can help the TnL process, management and administration of the university and ultimately improve the information delivery service to campus denizens," he said.

Meanwhile, the Director of UUMIT, Prof. Dr. Abdul Malek Abdul Karim expressed his gratitude for the support and cooperation rendered by the Vice-Chancellor, all denizens of the University and particularly to staff at UUMIT for their efforts to develop technological facilities at this university.

According to him, UUMIT was determined to provide the best and latest IT facilities to campus denizens and all UUM students to ensure that the aspiration of becoming a connected campus can be realized.