E-learning in Malaysian Universities: Its Pros and Cons from Students' Perspectives

E-learning, or electronic learning is a process that uses digital tools and electronic media like the Internet, CD-ROMs, Software Programs, video conferences and many more which the contents and instructions of the syllabus are transferred digitally. E-learning has been introduced in Malaysia since 1996, by our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, in align with the launching of the Multimedia Super Corridor and the Vision 2020. Now, almost all universities in Malaysia has implemented e-learning besides the formal, usual way of lectures and tutorials. Students can learn and grab their knowledge online, without even attending the classes. Lecturers and students interact with each other online, and the students can get their assignments done online.

What is so different of e-learning from the traditional learning process?

Traditional learning is merely going through books, papers, reading and writing but e-learning makes these processes more interesting by having a more attractive learning website and a 3-D based presentation. With these, I believe that learning is no more a boring task for most of the students.

University students found out that e-learning has a lot of benefits compared to traditional learning.

1. E-learning promotes Individualization—students can learn in their own pace and do not need to worry that they cannot follow up with the whole class. This cannot be done when lectures are carried on in lecture halls. In traditional lectures, the lecturers will need to complete the syllabus within the given time frame and this will be a disadvantage for students who are slower than others.

2. E-learning also helps to save costs—the learning process can be done online, thus help to save money on transport, accommodation fees. Students can just learn at home and stay at home. All they need is to have an Internet service. Besides, they can save time from traveling to the university too.

3. Improved access and flexibility—E-learning is available anytime, anywhere as long as internet services are available. Information can be transferred faster and accessible 24/7. Students will not need to worry on getting their notes late from their lecturers. All they need is to download the notes from the source provided.

4. Improved control and standardization—Besides flexibility, students and lecturers can have better control and standardization on the information shared. All the information will be shared online and the related students and lecturers are able to access it immediately. Students will not need to worry that they will get different information from others.

5. Encourage communication and collaboration—Learning online also improve students’ communicating skills. This will help students who tend to be passive or shy to voice out in class to participate actively in the virtual learning space. They can share their ideas for discussion online rather than keep quiet in class.

6. Demonstrate concepts that are difficult to convey in other medium—Sometimes, an idea can be conveyed more effectively using E-learning instead of using verbal explanations. For example, mind-maps or drawings are more effective to be presented online.

However, there are also certain drawbacks from e-Learning. When the internet connection is slow, students will be unable to download the notes they need immediately. Broadband or internet services are still unavailable in all areas today especially the rural areas. Students who cannot afford to have internet services will have no opportunity to enjoy e-Learning. The transfer of data may also be exposed to potential harms like viruses or hackers. Besides, students’ abilities to interact with people face-to-face will be discouraged.

Those students who are introvert may be more passive when they are facing with people if they rely too much on learning themselves, individually without mixing with other people. Besides, students need to be highly self-disciplined when learning by themselves online.

Although there are disadvantages from e-Learning, it is still a need in the booming electronic advancement today. If this e-Learning is carried out systematically, it is always an effective and efficient study medium. Students should utilize its benefits in order to achieve a more effective result from learning online. I believe our university is still developing and improving its e-learning facilities which will gradually be an essential part for our future education.

References:
1. Wong, D., (2006) Fulltime Students' and Working Adults' Perceptions of E-Learning in Malaysia, Asian Journal of Distance Education, Retrieved 20 June 2009 from http://www.AsianJDE.org

2. Puteh, M.,(2007) E-learning In Malaysian Public Universities:Case Studies of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Retrieved 20 June 2009 from eprints.utm.my/4505/

Applications of Prepaid Cash Cards

Pre-paid cash cards are getting more and more popular nowadays in aligned with the development of e-commerce. With the use of prepaid cash cards, we do not need to bring along too much cash with us, which is an extra security factor that lowers our risks for being robbed in a certain extent. The prepaid cards are quite convenient for use and it is acceptable worldwide. Even students in UTAR now use the debit card to pay for their fees. There are a few prepaid cash cards which are applicable in our daily life, such as debit cards, prepaid mobile phone cards, kiosk cash cards and many others.

‘Prepaid’ means pay in advance, which can be further explained as paying a certain amount of money earlier and the money can be deducted from the card when it is in use.

The most widely used prepaid cash card is the debit cards. These debit cards are normally issued by banks or the debit card companies. Debit cards have money preloaded in the cards and the consumers can use these cards to purchase goods or services either in shopping malls or through online transactions. For example, when consumers are buying goods in shopping malls, they just need to swipe their cards using the card scanner and the money will be transferred straight away to the seller. As for online business or Internet Banking, consumers will need to key in their debit card number and other details in order for the transaction to take place. However, some of the consumers are still concerned with the security of the confidential details when the online transactions take place. This is because the confidential information has the potential to be hacked by hackers.

Another type of common cash card is the mobile prepaid cards. This type of card is to enable consumers to contact with their family and friends when they use the mobile phone services. All we need to do is to purchase the mobile phone cards from the communications services centers and reload it with our mobile ‘SIM’ card. Then, we can use it straight away.

To increase the efficiency of public transport service, Malaysia has introduced the ‘Touch n Go’ prepaid cash card. This card also works the similar way as other prepaid cash cards mentioned above. With this card, consumers will not need to queue for tolls or buying tickets for public transport. It is quicker and more convenient for transport users. This is also applicable in many other countries like Singapore where they use the similar ‘EzLink’ card.

Besides, certain kiosk companies in the United States also use the prepaid kiosk cards to pay for kiosks or fuel. With the use of the kiosk card, consumers can have their self-service on loading fuel. For cyber gamers, the prepaid cards are used to purchase cyber game equipments online. This is also the main attraction for the cyber gamers now. When they need to play games online, they will need to purchase the prepaid game card in order to play the online games with their friends.

Prepaid cash cards are indeed a very convenient and useful item for our daily transactions. With this prepaid card, we can have an immediate transaction and we do not need to worry when we have insufficient cash. Prepaid cash cards also help to plan our finances and avoid us to over-spend. However, one must be much disciplined because some of the consumers may tend to over-spend by swiping their cards uncontrollably. In terms of security, most of the consumers today still prefer the credit cards, which are the cards that are used by charging the consumers with a certain amount of interest after transactions are taken place. This is because debit cards will directly transfer the consumers’ money from the bank to the sellers and this could be risky when the card is lost or fallen into the hands of the robbers. The robbers can use the cards for transactions if the transfer of money is not terminated immediately.

Links:

http://coloradoindependent.com/25154/prepaid-%E2%80%98cash-cards%E2%80%99-a-pricey-way-to-swipe

http://kioskmarketplace.com/article.php?id=16002

http://prepaidcreditcardapplication.info/

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/07/prepaid-card-allows-consumers-to.html

Applications of 3rd Party Certifications in Malaysia

E-commerce is gradually becoming an essential part of our life. Internet users achieved to a number of 1.57 Billion users worldwide in 2009 and the total e-commerce sales in the U.S. has reached 145.6 billion US dollars in 2008. However, when it comes to internet safety, we are still concerned and worried on security problems. This is because e-commerce involves transaction processes with no boundaries and the transfer of data is highly exposed to potential attacks like phishing, hacking and virus attacks. Therefore, having a good security system is not enough for an online business to take place. We need an additional security feature which is the 3^rd party certification programme.

The 3^rd party certification programme or commonly known as the digital certification programme is an additional attachment on a website or an electronic message for security purposes. So how does the certification process work? When a person wanted to send a confidential message, he needs to obtain a digital certificate from the certified authorities. The programme will help to encrypt the message then send it to the receiver. The encrypted message can only be accessed by using a private key given to the sender and the 3^rd party certification programme will also have a public key that is like a ‘spare key’ for the private key to encrypt and decrypt information. Popular certification programmes in Malaysia include Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Digicert, MSC Trustgate, VeriSign and MyCert. These certification programmes help to enhance the security of data transfer by providing a certificate instead of requesting only a user name or password.

APPLICATIONS OF 3^RD PARTY CERTIFICATION:

Online business and Server Securtiy

When customers purchase products online, they would like to visit the websites they trusted

for. Digital certificates will help to ensure stronger security by providing better encryptions and more secured, instant verification that the websites are free from worries. For example, MSC Trustgate Malaysia provided services on Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates for Internet, Intranet and Server security. The SSL provides two kinds of IDs, which are the Global Server ID and Secure Server ID. The Global Server ID enables 128 to 256 bits of encryption to secure the communication of business sites with its visitors. Customers can conduct business purchases with this service because it comes with a VeriSign Secured Seal that proves the website has been verified. The Secure Server ID protects transfers of sensitive data on the websites. With this SSL server IDs, online businesses can obtain purchase orders and volume discounts conveniently with easy set up steps and efficient security management because this certificate helps to manage the domain with multiple servers. Besides, the certificate will have flexible bundles according to business needs and wider compatibility with all types of web servers. DigiCert Malaysia also provides the DIGISIGN ID that is widely used in E-business applications like online banking, stock trading and insurance.

Enterprise Trust Services

Enterprises need to have quick and cost-effective web services in order to conduct their businesses with top security. Therefore, enterprises need to have an effective Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and certificate authority system in order to have a more established security policy and certificate lifecycle management. In this case, Trustgate provides the Enterprise Managed PKI service that provides faster deployment and lower operating costs. These services help the enterprises to manage in designing, provisioning , staffing and maintaining its own system.

Transfer of Documents & E-mails

Everyday we have millions or billions of documents and emails transferred through the Internet. Some of the files transferred contain confidential information. Digital Certificates help to ensure information remains private during transit. It uses the private and public key to facilitate the authentication, privacy, authorization, integrity and non-repudiation of the information transferred online. This is in accordance to the Digital Signature Act 1997. MSC Trustgate Malaysia provides the CryptoSuite and Secured E-mail that enable security of confidential files and emails. The digital certificate encrypts the file and let the recipient with the public key to decrypt the contents. Confidential emails are substituted from handwritten signature and sealed envelopes using the Digital ID. DigiCert Malaysia, another certificate authority also provides the DigiSign File Manager that supports digital signature and asymmetrical key encryption and decryption of files with online or offline digital signing with multiple file formats.

Mobile Commerce

The advancement of M-commerce enables mobile banking and other financial services to take place. Besides, mobile phones can be used to transfer documents online. Therefore, an effective security feature should be added for mobile commerce. Trustgate advances their service by turning the SIM card into a Mobile Digital Identity to secure mobile banking transactions just like the encryption features in CryptoSuite. The only difference is this mobile feature runs on a wireless PKI platform and Mobile Operator Infrastructure. DigiCert Malaysia also offers DigiCert Mobile applications to attach the digital certificates that are able to store in the phone for application access. Mobile users can transact securely over the internet through GPRS, Bluetooth or 3G with these smart applications.

MyKad Applications

Malaysians now can use their own identification card to process transactions through the ATM machine. All we need to have is a microchip on our IC. This is a special feature brought by MSC Trustgate by providing this special MyKey PKI that works with the physical MyKad. This enables Malaysians to digitally sign documents or transactions online. This MyKey PKI provides a few types of modules for businesses to develop the applications of the MyKad. The modules include MyKey Application Programming Interface, Signing and Verification Module and the MyKad Client Kit.

From the information provided above, we can observe that the 3^rd party certification is in more priority for this ever developing e-commerce world. Nevertheless, this digital certificate authorities play a very important role by ensuring online security and enhancing customer confidence to use more online services.

Sources: http://www.msctrustgate.com

http://www.digicert.com.my/

http://www.verisign.com

Review on Real-World Case: Google is Changing Everything

Google nowadays has indeed evolved to become an essential part of our life. It is the most popular search engine in the world of World Wide Web. I believe that most of us have a default web browser and the default web page will be Google Search. This proves that Google Search Engine is widely used nowadays. Students and researchers especially, will need to access to Google Search Engine to search for any information they want. Most of us are satisfied with Google Search because it provides efficient and effective search technology which gives a convenient and user-friendly environment for its users.

Past studies has proven that Google is now expanding on its services. From a search engine, it is now developing its own user-friendly application software. Its goal is to develop technologies in order to organize the information from all around the world and make it easily accessible and useful. Besides providing a useful space for advertising, Google is now inventing in web-based application spreadsheet software to help users organize their information. This program helps users to organize information easily and also overcome the limitations in Microsoft Excel.

Apart from software businesses, Google also offers a range of Web services including Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Mini, Froogle and many other services. They also partner with other enterprises in order to improve their services and performance. For example, America’s largest nonprofit health maintenance organization, Kaiser Permanente.org has used Google to share information with its members and has a wide, established network to enable its members to connect and share information with each other.

From all the services offered by Google today, we can see that one day in future, Google will be offering more and more services that are needed for us users, which will become an important service we can obtain online. This is indeed a good idea for other search engines to follow because expanding services will increase revenues for these online services companies.

Sources: Turban, E., King, D., McKay, J., Marshall, P., Lee, J., & Viehland, D., (2008).

Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective 2008 (International Edition).

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Education International, pg 38

Comparison of The Revenue Models of Google, Amazon.com and eBay

The Revenue Model, according to Turban(2006), is a description on the way a company or an E-commerce project will earn its revenue. Revenue models include sales revenue model, transaction fees, subscription fees, advertising fees, affiliate fees, online donations and other revenue sources. It is a way businesses earn revenue mainly through advertising and charging to its customers.



In Google, the revenue model used is focused on advertising and search solutions. The types of revenue models used are Google Adwords, Google Adsense, Google Answers, Froogle and the latest revenue model, Google-as-per-email.


Now, let me share with you what are all these revenue models are about. When advertisers want to advertise on the Google website, Google allows them to do so by using the Google Adwords revenue model. It is a pay-per-click advertising program that enables users to view the advertisements on the Google web page when they search through the Google search engine.
The relevant advertisements will be shown on the ‘sponsored links’ column located at the right side of the search results and some of the other advertisements can be found on top of the search results. The advertisers will have to pay every time their advertisements receive a click from the users. When they advertise, they have to decide on the keywords used or the advertisement and the rate of payment they are willing to pay for a click on their advertisement.


Google Adsense, on the other hand is a more advanced advertisement tool offered by Google. It is a web serving program whereby the advertisers can use the program to edit text, graphics or videos for their advertisements rather than just a keyword in Google Adwords. The rates charged are on a per-click or per-thousand-ads-displayed basis.

Besides advertising, Google also offers Google Answers, an Internet search and research based service offered with a fee charged. The customers will ask the questions they want and offer a price for the answers. Then, Google, as an intermediary will help to look for researchers to answer those questions posted, and earn some money partially from the customers.

If customers want to buy or survey about goods or services offered online, Google launches the ‘Froogle’ service, which is a price engine website that makes it easy for the users to look for products and services for sale online. It does not charge sales commissions but will earn on the advertisements of the products.

Lastly, the latest revenue model of Google is the Cost-per-Action basis revenue model. It is different from the Google Adsense model because this model is more flexible in promoting. The advertiser will only need to pay if the users click on the advertisement and take some actions on the products offered like purchasing the product.




Founded since 1994 and launched online in 1995, Amazon.com started by selling books online. It caters to a revenue model of direct selling or e-tailing by selling specific products to customers like retailers online. From books, it now ranges from selling all types of products, including music, videos, electronic and household products. It has the largest supplies of products online. Not just selling products online, Amazon.com also offers excellent services on delivery, with combinations of lower price products and shipping promotions. It is certainly focused on retailing business by having good supplier and customer relationships.

Later on, Amazon.com shifted from direct retailing to the affiliate revenue model when it discovered that many small e-businesses would like to be an affiliate of Amazon.com. This model is also known as the ‘Click-through’ model whereby small online merchants will be an affiliate partner with Amazon.com and they will contribute a commission to Amazon.com when the customers clicked through the affiliate to the merchant and generated sales. By having affiliates like content-based websites, web Portals and small e-businesses will help to generate new traffic on the website in order to increase revenues. Today, Amazon.com is still using this method because it is effective in generating revenues for them.



If you like something new rather than fixed price goods, eBay will be a good choice for you because it is a popular online auction site which provides buyers and sellers worldwide to trade on goods and services. The auction is done ‘silently’ whereby the buyers will bid for the price in order to purchase the product from the seller. The highest bidder will be able to obtain the desired goods. eBay charges its sellers a small amount of listing fees in order to let the sellers to list the products to be sold online. From there, the sellers can start to bid their prices with the buyers. This is also known as the ‘Fees-per-transaction’ revenue model. Sellers who have good selling in their products can enjoy extra benefits from eBay by having its PowerSeller program, which will cost them lower fees for listing. Buyers too are guaranteed on their service by having goods delivered on time.

The types of selling fees that eBay will charge on its sellers are Insertion Fees and Final Value Fee. Insertion fees are charged if the sellers want to list an item for sale on eBay. The final value fee will take place if a transaction is being made, which includes Auction Listing Fees, Fixed Price Listing Fees and other optional feature fees in order for a sale to take place.

For buyers, they can pay for their goods using the credit card or bank transfer through the eBay Pay-pal system. This system will help the customers to track their payments made to eBay.

For more information, feel free to explore:
www.google.com
www.amazon.com
www.ebay.com