with Associate Prof. Dr. Wan Zuhainis Saad

Director of Academic Excellence Division, Department of Higher Education, Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education.

SYNOPSIS

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for change, by fast-tracking automation and digitization, shifting from traditional face-to-face instruction to virtual classrooms.  The shift to online classes not only changed students’ perspective toward e-learning as an accepted alternate way of learning but has also made professional educators rethink and reassess their virtual learning environments. Malaysian higher education had responded in redefining their training processes and transforming them from face to face to virtual, identified issues and spaces for reflection regarding digital competence and innovation in education. There is intense demand for technology-based solutions, with digital learning remaining as a fundamental part of the education and skills system, as well as a long-standing need to drive improvement in student outcomes. In the face of the current pandemic and with the digital challenges, it also offers opportunities for growth and innovation. Malaysian higher education needs to devise strategies to adapt to an extraordinarily uncertain environment not just to address the immediate crisis, but the longer term as higher education are the agents driving innovation and fostering economic development.