Using Data-Driven for Improved Educational Experience During Covid19

Abstract

The Covid19 pandemic shifted the higher education institutions learning ecosystem, from face-to-face teaching to online learning. In the era of data-driven, decisions made must be supported by data. While many studies focused on data analytics' learning potential, this research embark on the practical aspect of data analytics application to support decision making of the university’s management for improved education experience among the students. The efficiency of online learning depends on students' internet accessibility. This research aims to gauge the students’ internet accessibility and propose suitable approaches for teaching and learning. A three-phase data analytics process flow are employed, namely the data preparation, data transformation and data analysis. Data are gathered from two secondary sources, the university databases, consisting of students’ records and telecommunication towers for network profiles. The findings of this research show about 1.3% of the students are without internet access. The fraction is small, however it made up to about 1958 students. The higher-end network type (4G) is best for online sessions, however about 2235 students (1.5%) have limited access to only 3G network. The diploma and degree students are the majority of students having access to lower-end network technology. Students using lower-end technology, such as 2G, may experience interruptions even if an asynchronous approach to online instruction is adopted. In line with the university’s effort of ‘no students left out’ the numbers are a concern. This study contributed towards giving insights on the students’ internet accessibility and developing a data-driven teaching and learning approaches based on network types. In terms of practical contribution, two applications are developed, a dashboard for the top management to refer for decision-making, the second one is the system for the lecturers to use to plan their teaching approaches taking into consideration of their students’ internet accessibility.