THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SYNCHRONOUS E– LEARNING SESSIONS IN THE TEACHING OF FRACTIONS USING VIDEO CONFERENCING

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students were not able to attend school so as to ensure their safety and health, and as a result, an alternative way of teaching and learning would have to be through e-Learning. Lessons were mainly conducted through digital devices such as computers, laptops, mobiles, and tablets in the form of audio or text and images. Online learning allows students to be present via the use of e-Learning application without being in a physical classroom setting. This study explores how the students sampled in this study discern the effectiveness of synchronous e–Learning sessions in the teaching of addition and subtraction on fractions conducted through video conferencing. There were a total of 51 Year 7 students from one of the secondary schools in Brunei Darussalam involved in this study. The instruments used were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. From the eleven questions asked from the questionnaire, it was found that 38% of the students enjoyed Mathematics lessons through videoconferencing with majority able to follow the instructions provided without any problem. Additionally, 60% of the students disagree to the fact that they faced technical difficulties throughout the videoconferencing. Although the students’ perceptions towards e-Learning was quite positive, majority of the students still prefer face to-face class compared to videoconferencing. In other words, majority of the students still have stronger preferences for face-to-face learning. It is recommended that more research should be done on this topic because by incorporating online learning in the face of a global pandemic, it is not only a useful and convenient skill that teachers can add into their pedagogical toolbox; but it will also prepare educators to start adapting and assimilating into a new and inevitable era of advanced technology.