Researchers have theorized that cultural emphasis on education plays a major role in explaining Asian students' achievement. While Asian parents often view education as the main vehicle for upward social mobility, the social and cultural make-up of Asian societies and the context within which education is conducted in Asia often clash with the modern approaches and methodologies adopted into Asian classrooms. Contemporary approaches to education especially in relation to autonomous, learner-centred and online philosophies though theoretically supported and statistically proven successful in the west have been slow to capture Asian learners' interest and engagement. This paper discusses some of the reasons for the problems and challenges that need to be confronted prior to the introduction and effective implementation of autonomous online learning programmes. It further describes an attempt at confronting the above issues through a research project conducted by group of academics from the National University of Malaysia. The paper concludes by featuring some of the principles and strategies employed in the online programme developed for the research and the implication of their use on learner engagement to online autonomous learning programmes.
The 21st century education is to provide students with digital learning experiences alongside creating a path to independent and collaborative learning. In this regard, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is receiving great attention in the field of education. Using a case study mixed methods approach, this paper examines the communication strategies used by postgraduate students, who are also in-service teachers, using the asynchronous WeChat mobile app for academic problem-solving purposes. It also explores their opinions on the practicality of using the oral asynchronous communication programme for problem-solving activities. It is found that the asynchronous spoken medium triggers ‘presentation speech' patterns that reflect both spoken and written features. The problem-solving process in the asynchronous spoken medium also is mediated via a low frequency of the use of communication strategies. The findings shed light on teaching and learning via oral-based asynchronous medium pertaining to the types of tasks and learning objectives to be achieved.
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