Learning @ WOU GETTING STARTED by
Zoraini Wati Abas
Project Director & Lead Learning Designer Prof. Dr. Zoraini Wati Abas Creative Technologist & Lead Learning Designer Fauziyah Md Aris (Ms. Qash) Creative Team & Learning Designers Norliza Mhd Rodzi & Nurain Mohd Hassan Cover Design & Content Layout Nurain Mohd Hassan Produced by Online Digital Learning Lab (ODL Lab) Office of Instructional Design for Engaging Experiences (IDeX)
2019 Wawasan Open University All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from Wawasan Open University. Wawasan Open University Wholly owned by Wawasan Open University Sdn. Bhd. (700364-W) 54 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, 10050 Penang, Malaysia Fax: 04 226 9323 Email: enquiry@wou.edu.my
Version 1.0 July 2019
Learning @ WOU : Key to success
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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve - Napoleon Hill -
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Table of Contents 1
Welcome to WOU Our History
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The ODL Learning Experience Self-Directed Learning Digital Literacy
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How to Overcome Challenges Time Management
How to Become A Successful Distance Learner
Stress Management
Set Your Goals Get Started Build your confidence Stay Motivated
4 The WOU Learning Environment Learning Support Services Learning Assessment
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It all starts with
YOU Learning @ WOU : Getting Started
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Welcome to WOU
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Our History Wawasan Open University (WOU) is one of Malaysia’s foremost, private institutions of higher education. It was founded in 2006 by a group of passionate educators.
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How to Become a Successful Distance Learner
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Introduction Now that you have enrolled, it’s time to get you started as a student at WOU .What do you do next? You may be asking questions such as: What is learning like at WOU? How do I get good results for my assignments and exams? How do I succeed in my academic journey? Imagine, a few years from now, you could be on the stage at the convocation ceremony to receive your scroll. Your success is important to us. However, one thing you need to know is this. Success starts with YOU. Now let’s begin. First of all, understand and do the following four things:
Set your goals
Build your confidence
Get started
Stay motivated
These will help you go a long way to help you succeed in your studies.
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Set your Goals We all know how important it is to set goals. It is like when you are planning to travel, you need to know where you are going, when and how. Now that you’re a student, you will need to know when you can expect to graduate and how to get there. Hence, your goal would be: “I will do what it takes to graduate by ----- (the year).” Or, if you wish to be more specific, learn how to set SMART Goals. SMART stands for:
S M ART
IME-BOUND
MEASURABLE REASONABLE ATTAINABLE SPECIFIC You could create a more specific goal by saying that you would like to graduate with a certain CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average). For example, the specific goal could be, ‘I will do what it takes to graduate by ---- (the year) with a minimum CGPA of ---- .” When you are ready, find out what CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) is from your Student Handbook. The handbook is available in the Student Portal or in Wawasan Learn.
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Remember this. Setting a goal will help you focus on the efforts you need to make. It also means that you will need to do these within a particular time frame. It is like planning for a holiday destination. Before we start, we need to know where we are going, how best to get there and when we ought to reach our destination. I hope this makes sense. However, there may be moments when you feel lost or meet a hurdle. The next two posters will remind you about the little sacrifice(s) you need to make. Learn how to endure short-term pain for long-term gain. As they say, “No pain, no gain.� For example, parents, siblings or children may fall ill just around the time that your assignment is due. You may lose some precious time taking care of them. However, hopefully you can burn the midnight oil, that is to stay up late to complete your assignment. Losing some sleep is a little sacrifice, But, hopefully, you can make it up on another day. Another example is when your office sends you off on a work assignment out of town or out of the country. Hopefully, you can try to manage your time during your travel to submit your assignment on time or ask if you can extend the deadline for submission. Ask your tutor or your course coordinator.
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If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want will be the sacrifice.
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When you’re really committed to your goals you’re willing to endure short-term pain for long-term gain
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Get Started One of the first things to do is to look at the Academic Calendar. Note the important dates such as your tutorial dates, deadlines for assignment submission and the exam period. Next, is to attend the tutorials. We have found that students who attend all tutorials tend to get higher grades. As such, mark all the tutorial dates in your personal schedule or calendar. Another important thing to do is to jot down the due dates of your assignments. Did you know how most of us wait until the last minute to start our assignments or study for exams? One word of advice. Just get started. Once you start, there’s a great chance you will finish it. If you don’t chances are that you may miss deadlines. You will lose precious time, lose some marks, and may have to repeat the course again if you fail.
Let’s listen to what Ashwini Tehboral has to say about her reason for becoming and coping as a student at WOU (5:29). She received the Dean’s List Award in July 2019.
If you wish to know about how to be the Dean’s List, find out how from your Student handbook, in the section on Assessment & Examinations. Learning @ WOU : Getting Started
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Build Your Confidence Too often, we fear or question ourselves whether we have what it takes to complete all the requirements of the courses. Or, whether you can make it through another semester. You know what? we all feel that sometimes. Do you know that you can remove this fear or overcome your lack of confidence? Have you heard of a famous quote as shown below? Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achive In other words, if you think you can do it, you can achieve! These are powerful words. Say this to yourself every time you need to complete a new task, master a new concept, and so on. Tell yourself over and over again that you can do whatever you need to do. Whatever it takes to succeed, I can do! Of course, once you believe you can, you will find out the steps you need to take and how you will do them. You will complete each step one after another until you reach the final step. Get help if you must. Talk to your course mate, tutor, or your course coordinator. Again “if you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.�Try it. You might amaze yourself.
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Stay Motivated You know what? There are times when we feel down. We start to ask ourselves whether we can stay committed. You’re not alone. We need to motivate ourselves so that we don’t lose sight of our goals. Otherwise, we will miss the chance of reaching our destination, which in this case, is to complete our studies. Staying motivated is key to our success. How? Use the following six steps to help us stay motivated:
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Remind yourself of your goals
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Make weekly checkpoints to track your progress
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Make sure to reward yourself every time you achieve your weekly goals
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Give yourself breaks
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Don’t be too hard on yourself
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Watch and read motivational stories or speeches
Please find out more about each of the above steps by reading the full article at: https://m.wikihow.com/Stay-Motivated
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Watch the following TED Talk on “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (6:13)” by Angela Ducksworth. It will be worth your time.
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The ODL Learning Experience
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What do you need to know about life as a student at WOU? What will classes be like? When will they be conducted? Who can I approach if I have questions? First things first. WOU is an ODL (Open and Distance Learning) institution. It is one of a few hundred similar institutions around the world that caters to people like you. People who want to study at an ODL institution usually work full-time, are full-time home makers , retired from their jobs, or are their own boss. They seek new knowledge or skills. Or, they wish to improve their paper qualifications so that they may change jobs, go for a promotion, or build their self-esteem. If you like some tips, watch the following video, “Tips for ODL Success (0.45). Get the three tips from the video.
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It is important to note that being an ODL student requires more self-discipline and better time management. It is about knowing how to become self-directed learners. Let’s learn about this next.
ODL student requires more self-discipline and better time
management.
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Self-Directed Learning Self-directed learning is about taking the initiative during your learning journey, with or without the help of others, finding out what your learning needs are, setting up your own learning goals, identifying the resources that will help you during the learning process, and taking the responsibility of learning in your own hands. Remember, no pain no gain. And, it’s up to you to make the difference.
Set Goal Plan
Reflect
Show
Learn
Self-Directed Learning Cycle The Self-Directed Learning starts with setting new goals, developing a plan to achive your goals, learn from your courses, show evidence of what you’ve learn in your courses and reflect on the learning.
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Digital Literacy Apart from being able to be self-directed learners, we also need to have digital literacy. Being digitally literate means we are comfortable using technologies, e.g. computers, smartphones, library databases, and student portal. It is about being able to try, use and adopt the technology to help us towards our goals. At WOU, you would need to be able to use the Student Portal, Wawasan Learn, My Digital Library, OAS (Online Assignment System), Turnitin and others. Let’s watch a few videos on the portals every WOU student needs during his or her studies. Start logging into the portals as as you can. Get familiar with the features and all. If you need help, ask your course mate, tutor, your senior, or someone at the RC.
Student account activation
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WOU Student Portal
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I’m sure you have heard about Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ). There now exists Digital Quotient (DQ). It exists for a reason and it starts by being digitally literate. The framework for Digital Quotient is shown below. If you want to know more, click on the link below.
Framework for Digital Quotient Source: https://www.dqinstitute.org/dq-framework/
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The WOU Learning Environment
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Learning Support Services WOU has established several learning support services for you as a student. Each of these are listed and briefly described below. You are encouraged to refer to the Student Handbook (section on Learning Support Services and Facilities) that has been uploaded in the Student Portal and Wawasan Learn.
Provide administrative and academic support and serve as contact points between you and WOU & where you can meet formally for counselling and tutorials, or informally for peer support in self-help groups
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Regional Centres
A tutor allocated to you who will guide and advise you on your courses and is available via: 1) Scheduled face-to-face tutorials 2) Online communication 3) Telephone
02 Tutors
Course materials are provided in the Wawasan Learn, these course materials have been specially prepared. You may download and print them.
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RCs
Course Materials
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Lorem Ipsum Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim
Access your course materials, TMAs and participate in online discussions/forum with your peers, tutors and course coordinators
04 Wawasan Learn
Learning Management System
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WOU’s digital library where you can access books, journals, databases and other publications and servicesat anytime, night or day
05 My Digital Library
Submit your assignment via OAS from home, work or wherever you are
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OAS
Online Assignment Submission System
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Learning Assessment WOU has its own set of assessments and examinations. Please refer to the Student Handbook (section on Assessment and Examinations) that has been uploaded in the Student Portal and Wawasan Learn for detailed explanations on each of the following:
TMA (Tutor-Marked Assignment)
CMA (Computer-Marked Assessment)
Projects
Examinations
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How to Overcome Challenges
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Time Management Many people complain about not having enough time. Are you one of them? How many hours are there in a day? 24 hours? Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. No more. No less. So, why is it that some people manage to do more in their lives than others? It boils down to effective management of time. Like stress, recognise that time is also something that we can try to control and manage. Granted, we cannot control the passage of time but we can try to manage the time we have. It all depends on our attitude and what we want to accomplish. Recognise that we need to make choices with how to use time. It is thinking about what needs to be done, in terms of priority, during the time available to you. Starting out as a student, again, will require you to to better manage your time. Find out in advance, what is required of you to graduate. Note every semester’s requirements and highlight the tasks that need to be completed by when. Planning is key to effective time management. It is recommended that to schedule your priorities, you use some tools to help plan and manage your time. An effective way for many people is to plan the year, the month and then to further break it down into weeks and days. Planning tools such as: diaries, calendars and planners.
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also help us to enter what needs to be done and when. This way we free our minds for other more important things. As we make daily and weekly plans, we are contributing to the achievement of our monthly or yearly goals. Let’s watch this video about “Time Management 15 Secrets Successful People Know” (05:41) by Kevin Kruse.
You know what? The biggest time saver is to start NOW. This will end up saving many hours of work and stress for last minute preparation. Getting on with the action is what it takes to gain the time we would have lost. Start, finish and continue with what must be done. There is no time to waste. Do your readings on time, schedule your online discussions, and complete the assignments by the due date. Manage your studying/revision for examinations properly by scheduling it in your planner.
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Also, there are pockets of time that we can use to our benefit. Use commuting time, waiting time (while waiting to be served at a restaurant or while waiting for someone or when waiting in line) or time that you normally don’t do anything while waiting for something to happen. You can use these pockets of time to read your notes, think of a solution to an assignment or to prepare an outline of papers you have to submit. Be creative!
Again, time is only as good as we make them to be. Avoid procrastination and time wasters such as unnecessary conversations and take advantage of pockets of time that would have, otherwise, been wasted.
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Stress Management Stress is a condition experienced by every person, irrespective of age. There are two reactions to stress: 1) To recognise and manage the stress 2) To ignore and succumb to the stress Which one do you prefer? Do you think it makes more sense to recognise the symptoms of stress and manage them? Let’s view the figures below on the four types of stress:
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Physical
Emotional
Cognitive
Behavioral
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PHYSICAL signs and symptoms of stress are, but not limited to:
Elevated blood pressure
Nausea, fatigues, stuttering and other speech difficulties
Sweaty palms, cold hands
Tightness in the neck, chest, jaw Increased heart rate
Tightness at the back muscles
Easily startled
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EMOTIONAL Signs & Symptoms of Stress include but not limited to:
DEPRESSION
JEALOUSY
IRRITABILITY
ANGRY OUTBURSTS
DIMINISHED INITIATIVE
WITHDRAWAL
LACK OF INTEREST
TENDENCY TO CRY
BEING CRITICAL OF OTHERS
IMPATIENCE
NIGHTMARES
REDUCED SELF-ESTEEM
CHANGES IN EATING HABITS
REDUCED PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT WITH OTHERS
INSOMNIA
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COGNITIVE or Perceptual Signs & Symptoms of Stress include but not limited to: Decreased psychomotor reactivity
Lack of control/ need for too much control
Diminished sense of meaning in life
Disorganization of thoughts
Negative self-statement
Lack of concentration
Orientation to the past
Forgetfulness
Diminished productivity
Lack of attention to detail
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Negative self-esteem
Blurred vision
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BEHAVIORAL Signs & Symptoms of Stress include but not limited to: - Aggressive behaviors (such as during driving) - Increased smoking - Under-eating - Over-eating - Withdrawal
- Hostility - Accident proneness - Nervous laughter - Compulsive behavior - Impatience
-Listlessness
What do you do when you are stressed? Your first line of defense may be to reduce your symptoms of stress. I am sure you have seen people who felt the need to take a walk, do yoga, meditate or have someone to talk to about their “problems�. These actions will help relieve the more common symptoms of stress. Usually, once your symptoms are relieved a little, you will be ready to identify or confirm the source(s) of your stress. To manage your stress effectively you need to know where your stress is coming from. Could it be time pressures, making the adjustment to a new situation or could it be something related to finances or relationships? If you know the source of your stress, you should take some time out to deal with your stressors early before they add more complications to your already stressed condition. You will need to know how to solve your problem. Learning @ WOU : Getting Started
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Please note however, that a little stress is good for you. It may improve your ability to perform certain tasks. On the other hand, too much stress can aggravate negative situations in your life. They could leave you feeling anxious, overwhelmed, burnt-out or even depressed. Also, note that both positive and negative events can be equally stressful. A wedding, assuming that this a happy event, can contribute to stress. Similarly, the birth of a new baby can add to stress. So is moving to a nicer house, changing to a better job or meeting a favourite relative. In short, happy events can also contribute to stress. In contrast, the death of a loved ones, losing a job, losing the maid and being assigned a task that you have no knowledge of handling will add to stress. These are negative events. You are encouraged, where possible, to “let it out�. Talk to someone you can trust during times of high stress. Or, form a support group of classmates who share similar anxieties to help get you through difficult tasks or difficult periods. If your stress gets out of control, then consider speaking with a professional counselor. To help manage your stress, you could learn to adapt to life’s unavoidable realities. There are some events you cannot change. Learning to accept and cope with these realities will help you to deal more effectively with the stresses that come with it. Also, it is important to make sure that you are managing the stress well. Find out how to best deal with the various stressors in your life. Do what is effective or change the way you manage the stress until you can deal with the stressors. Your attitude will be the primary factor in these stressful situations.
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And, one of the other key areas in your life that will help manage stress is effective time management. You will learn, that being organised and being able to plan ahead will go a long way to help you deal with stress. Knowing yourself and knowing what you want and what your priorities in life are will also help you deal with stressors more effectively. Lastly, remember, that good health and being fit are essential. have enough sleep, a good diet and exercise. As a student, develop good study habits to ensure that you keep up with your course work, meet the course requirements and not go beyond dead lines.
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Online Poll Your feedback is important to us! https://forms.gle/WSgBVEWK6HjhR7sb7
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About the Author Professor Dr. Zoraini Wati Abas is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Educational Technology) at the Wawasan Open University in Penang, Malaysia. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, Master of Education, and a Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University. Zoraini is Malaysia’s eLearning pioneer and has been an advocate for online learning. A leader in open and distance learning (ODL) since the last 20 years, she has since trained tutors, designed learning materials, developed and taught Malaysia's first 100 percent online postgraduate program, and written course modules for ODL learners. Prior to WOU, she had served a few universities: University of Malaya, International Medical University, Open University Malaysia and Sampoerna University (Jakarta). She introduced the Master of Education program (Computers in Education) in 1991, the first of its kind in Malaysia. She was consultant to the Malaysian Ministry of Education, National Center for e-Learning and Distance Education in Saudi Arabia and Telekom Malaysia. She has developed learning portals such as TM School Online in 1996, OLIS (Online Learning Interactive System) for IMU in 1999 and VeNUS (Virtual Education for Nursing Sciences) for IMU in 2002. She is Malaysia’s first MOOC contributor to an international audience in 2011. She was a columnist in The Star, New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia with about 800 articles published. She was top two educators among 14 influential higher education leaders in Southeast Asia and received an Education Leadership Award from the World Corporate Universities Congress in 2014. In early 2019, she was appointed Honorary COL Advisor by the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada.
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About the Book
Learning @ WOU: Getting Started
is the first in the series by WOU. This first guidebook is designed to help you get started as a student and manage your way to success. It is accessible through the WawasanLearn, your Learning Management System (LMS). Students may download a copy for reference. More titles will follow.