Case study of e-learning experts in Malaysia : impact of social capital and social networks

This paper examines the experiences of selected academics pioneering e-learning in Malaysian tertiary institutions. It begins with an overview of the broad factors shaping the Malaysian educational environment and then proceeds to examine the experience of individual teachers and e-learning programs. It takes an in-depth qualitative approach to engaging with this case study material drawing heavily on semi-structured interviews with key actors.
Conversations with several respondents suggested that the social networks of mentor relations found in the Malaysian case studies might be aptly described as ‘bamboo networks’. Bamboo, which happens to be plentiful in the Malaysian peninsula where these case studies are based, spreads from clump to clump through a series of underground connections involving a mature clump of bamboo sending out a subterranean runner, often over very long distances that then emerge into the open as a new bamboo clump.
All of those interviewed reported that they have found it difficult to find a support base in their first years of pioneering online developments. Consequently, they tended to fall back on their peer networks linked to the institutions at which they had studied. Prominent individuals championing e-learning in the institutions where they teach tend to form small groups for information sharing and networking. They do look to their management for tacit ‘permission’ rather than direct encouragement. Consequently, the active promotion of e-learning in Malaysia can be described as being ‘middle-down’ rather than ‘top-down’ in nature. That is to say, it is mid-level teachers that inspire those below them to join in the development of e-learning programs. They are internally driven and strongly motivated. In time, their activity should produce new generations of locally developed e-learning experts but this has yet to take place in a substantial fashion. This study shows that both men and women ‘academic guanxi’, or peer networks, play a key role in the adoption of online technologies. Key early adopters become change-agents by inspiring a small network of their peers and via their guanxi networks. It was also discovered that motivation is not simply an individual matter but is also about groups and peer networks or communities of exchange and encouragement. In the development of e-learning in Malaysia, there is very little activity that is not linked to small clusters of developers who are tied into wider networks through personal contacts.
Like clumping bamboo, whilst the local clusters tend to be easily seen, the longer-range ‘subterranean’ personal connections are generally not nearly so immediately obvious. These connections are often the product of previous mentoring relationships, including the relationships between influential teachers and their former postgraduate students. These relationships tend to work like bamboo runners: they run off in multiple directions, subterranean and unseen and then throw up new clumps that then send out fresh runners of their own.

Random Subspace Two-Dimensional PCA for face recognition

The two-dimensional Principal Component Analysis (2DPCA) is a robust method in face recognition. Much recent research shows that the 2DPCA is more reliable than the well-known PCA method in recognising human face. However, in many cases, this method tends to be overfitted to sample data. In this paper, we proposed a novel method named random subspace two-dimensional PCA (RS-2DPCA), which combines the 2DPCA method with the random subspace (RS) technique. The RS-2DPCA inherits the advantages of both the 2DPCA and RS technique, thus it can avoid the overfitting problem and achieve high recognition accuracy. Experimental results in three benchmark face data sets -the ORL database, the Yale face database and the extended Yale face database B - confirm our hypothesis that the RS-2DPCA is superior to the 2DPCA itself.

Marine protected areas of the Otway bioregion

Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state’s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria’s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria’s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.

This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Otway bioregion on the west coast of Victoria and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.

Marine protected areas of the central Victoria bioregion

Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state’s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria’s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria’s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.

This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Central Victoria bioregion on the central coast of Victoria and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.

Marine protected areas of the Victorian embayments bioregion part 1 : Port Phillip Bay

Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state’s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria’s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria’s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.

This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Port Phillip Bay area of the Victorian Embayments bioregion and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.

Marine protected areas of the Victorian embayments bioregion part 2 : Western Port Bay and Corner inlet

Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state’s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria’s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria’s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.

This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MNPs in the Western Port Bay (WP) and Corner Inlet (CI) areas of the Victorian Embayments bioregion. It covers Yaringa, French Island, Churchill Island and Corner Inlet MNPs. This report is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP.

Marine protected areas of the Flinders and Twofold Shelf bioregions

Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state’s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria’s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria’s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.

This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Flinders and Twofold Shelf bioregions on the east coast of Victoria and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.

Space-for-time substitution to assess likely response of aquatic ecosystems to future climate-related change

Predicting and managing ecological response to a changing climate is often limited by an incomplete understanding of response thresholds and biogeographic differences. For example, step changes in rainfall and runoff, and threshold dynamics and hysteresis in ecological response make projection of future conditions difficult. To combat these constraints we propose that biophysical data across exiting climatic gradients can be used in a space-for-time substitution to predict climate-related ecological response elsewhere. This method builds on previous attempts at space-for-time substitution by using patterns in physical and physicochemical data to explain biological differences across the spatial gradient, then using those patterns to formulate hypotheses of temporal ecological response and finally testing those hypotheses on temporal data available in a second, similar region of interest. 

Facilitating learning by going online : modernising Islamic teaching and learning in Indonesia

This chapter examines the impact of eLearning and Web 2.0 social media in a socially conservative environment in Indonesia that has nevertheless proven surprisingly adroit at change management. Web 2.0 social media has proven enormously popular in Indonesia but traditional Islamic schools (which are known in Java as pesantren but elsewhere in the Muslim world as madrasah) the focus of this study is often unable to access Web 2.0 or the Internet in general. Progressive non-national government organizations (NGOs) seek to remedy this situation by providing satellite broadband links to remote schools and this chapter examines one particular project. Despite the impoverished and conservative nature of their community, the leaders of this school have led their students in a surprisingly enthusiastic reception of eLearning technology, recognizing its great capacity to produce and enhance social networks and provide new opportunities for learning. Particular attention in this case study is given to factors relating to social capital, attitudes, and patterns of behavior in leadership and change management. A case study approach was chosen to enable a richer and more finely-grained analysis of the issues. The case study is based on semi-structured interviews and observations conducted over several years. This research shows that whilst the adoption and uptake of eLearning with emerging technologies is strongly shaped by cultural and social factors, it plays out in very different ways than might first have been expected.

Social capital framework in the adoption of e-learning

This is a study of the influence of social and cultural factors on the adoption of e-­learning in higher education in Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Singapore and Australia. Particular attention in each case was given to factors relating to social capital, attitudes and patterns of behavior in leadership, entrepreneurialism, and teaching and to broader sets of attitudes that shape general outlook. A case study approach was chosen in order to enable a richer and more finely grained analysis of the issues. The case studies are based on semi-­structured interviews and observations conducted over several years. This research shows that previously known factors that affect the adoption of e-­learning in higher education, namely, policy, guidelines, paradigm shifts and pedagogical change, are also significant in the contexts of each of the case studies in this research. However, this research shows that the adoption and uptake of e-­learning technologies is also strongly shaped by cultural and social factors but not in ways that might first have been expected. It is not so much that there are specific cultural and social factors relating to specific e-­learning technologies, but rather, that the degree of uptake of these technologies depends on teachers being encouraged, guided and assisted to innovate and adopt new technology. This can only occur when there is sufficient social capital, mediated through appropriate social networks, to build trust, overcome objections and anxieties, and generally motivate staff to engage in challenging, time-­consuming initiatives in e-­learning that generally do not promise immediate rewards.

Certain culture-­based issues emerged as important. These included staff mentoring, clustering through ‘bamboo networking’, trust-­building and overcoming fear of ‘losing face’ (kiasu), facilitating women to take the initiative and lead, developing sensitivity to cultural differences, encouraging entrepreneurialism and rewarding pioneering endeavours, all of which were present in varying degrees across all five case studies. There were subtle variations on a central theme, which was clearly that of the impact of social capital as a driver. It was social capital played out through personal relationships and social networks that most strongly influenced individual teachers to be sufficiently motivated to add to an already busy schedule by taking on the additional burdens of pioneering e-­learning technology and it was those social relationships that provided guidance and ongoing encouragement. As a consequence of these findings, this study offers a social capital model of e-­learning adoption, which suggests that the adoption and uptake of e-­learning technologies is strongly shaped by cultural and social factors.

Managing panic disorder in general practice

BACKGROUND: Panic disorder (PD) is common in the community and contributes to significant distress and decreased quality of life for people who suffer from it. Most people with PD will present in the first instance to their general practitioner or hospital emergency department for assistance, often with a focus on somatic symptoms and concerns.

OBJECTIVE: This article aims to assist the GP to manage this group of patients by providing an outline of aetiology, approaches to assessment, and common management strategies.

DISCUSSION Although GPs have an important role to play in ruling out any causal organic basis for panic symptoms, the diagnosis of PD can usually be made as a positive diagnosis on the basis of careful history taking. Thorough and empathic education is a vital step in management. The prognosis for PD can be improved by lifestyle changes, specific psychological techniques, and the judicious use of pharmacotherapy.