Digitising our campuses

Shameem Mahmud argues the web can give new meaning to university learning rather than just being a communication tool

The Daily Star
Thursday, April 23, 2009

By Shameem Mahmud

NOT surprisingly, the country's two highest seats of learning -- University of Dhaka and BUET -- have been ranked 4922 and 3801 respectively in webometrics ranking of world universities. Such a performance is not unexpected when the Spain-based survey measured "academic activities of the universities, which were reflected on the web." Thanks to much ignorance to digital media in our academia that brought such a shocking news to the nation at a time when it bears a vision to build a digital Bangladesh by the year 2021.

In any policy dialogue or public discourse in general campus violence tops the agenda as reasons behind poor academic environment. Recent intra-party and inter-party clashes of students organisations followed by closure of a number of universities exhibit certainty of such contention. But at the same time, we have either overlooked or failed to grasp the importance of other factors that have been affecting positions and value of our higher education in global and regional competitiveness.

Debates are less on faculty pedagogical approach at our academia to the design of learning objects. In many considerations, we are lagging much behind to pace with the global changes brought by digital technologies in knowledge acquisition. We are a mere spectator in the whole range of changes. Lack of access to digital technologies may be an excuse, but not a convincing argument. Fund crisis to buy computers and provide high-speed Internet connections can be an explanation, but not satisfying. The problem is less related to money, and more to the attitude.

Since the mid-1990s when Internet first came to Bangladesh, public universities have taken a number of projects mainly to create IT-literate human resources and to increase access to the Internet for their students and teachers. Some of these universities have created a digital catalogue of library entries and made available e-journals for faculty, apart from confirming virtual presence through own websites.

The concept of classroom teaching is still predominant even at the world's top universities. Old library buildings and hundreds of thousands of volumes are not an alternative to digital libraries in computer hard disc. Books and journals are not replaced by e-journals and e-books. But, these have brought significant changes in the scholarly arena. Higher educational institutions are increasingly integrating their teaching methods with the sophisticated use of new communication technologies where Internet plays the leading role.

E-learning doesn't necessarily mean electronic learning or online learning, but "extended learning" when the course teacher integrates Internet applications in teaching methods. Here digital technologies are not replacing teacher's role in the classroom, but aiding the lectures in multiples ways. Online reading texts and discussion forums are a few examples that made it possible for both teachers and students to engage in more effective dialogues on course contents beyond the classrooms and hours. Access to the university's own digital library, open digital libraries (e.g. google scholar, google books, world digital library of the Unesco), e-journals, you tube or google video, podcasts are all potentials of the web that are being used by educational institutions extensively.

But, policymakers of our universities have considered web as a mere communication tool and built individual websites with necessary (!) contents. Most of these contents are hardly updated. At best, these websites can be labelled as electronic versions of university brochures or prospectus. We have failed to consider the university website as a platform for multiple functions -- be it academic or administrative. Policy makers of our higher academia should think to integrate digital technologies from classrooms to libraries to administrative works.

The process can start with true digitalisation of library and open it to students and faculties so that they can have access to search, borrow and renew books, journals and other materials online from any workstation using their secure username and password. A well-planned effort is necessary to update university websites and introduce online platform of learning that teachers and students can use for academic and administrative purposes. This will provide faculty and students with exciting tools, templates, and electronic discussions (or forums) for scholarly communication. Using the online learning platform (which is commonly called blackboard in many universities and colleges) teachers can make available course outlines and reading texts to class schedules, class projects and assignments, and so on. The Web can give new meaning to the word "learning."

Shameem Mahmud is a Lecturer at Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka, and post-graduate student at the University of Amsterdam.

Date Posted: 4/23/2009