EDNA JOAN SINIDOL | BA07110164 1 Section 25 | Group 7

TRUANCY CAUSES AND HOW IT CAN BE REDUCED BY VIDEO CONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY.

If you are a parent and have children which should be in school, do you wonder, is it true that they attending school? And as often read and heard about truancy, how sure are we that they would not be involved? Do they attend all classes in one day? How is their behavior in school? Are they good or not? These are questions that should be considered by parents in dealing with modern life along with globalization and rising technologies. But if yes, our children are one of the truants or in potential of being truant, have we thought about the solution? Have you heard about Video Conferencing which can be the alternative to reduce it? Let me explain you. Truancy is one of the biggest problems faced by educational institutions in any country in the world. Every year, the rate of increase is very significant. According to Reid (2005), Truancy is similar to absenteeism, but truancy is an

excused absence from school or class without parental knowledge or consent (Hocking,
2008, p.15). The latest statistics of truancy in Malaysia so far has reached the figure of 34,628 (Shahrunizam, 2011). Among the factors that contribute to truancy is the lack of budget to school because of insufficient parents income, the distance between college and home which is quit far, and lack of respect or fairness in relationship with teachers. All these factors can be easily solved using video conferencing technology in the classroom because it can help reduce the cost of travel to classes, to save time for those who live far from the college and enhance students' interest towards learning sessions. Video Conference is defined as a discussion between two or more groups of people

who are in different places but can see and hear each other using electronic communications. Pictures and sound are carried by the telecommunication network and such conferences can take place across the world (The Free-online-dictionary of Computing,

EDNA JOAN SINIDOL | BA07110164 2 Section 25 | Group 7 2010). To use this technology, one must have at list an internet network, webcam and a personal computer or laptop (Picture Phone, 2008). Now let us go through the causes of truancy. One of the main reasons contributes to according to Scheff (2007) is lack of respect or fairness in relationship with teachers. School or educational institution should be a place where all students want to go. But, sometimes it will occur where teachers are unfair in educating students and only paying attention to his favorite student. To overcome choose learning using video this, conferencing students because should it "can be allowed to

increase students'

interest towards learning sessions" (Gage, Nickson, & Beardon, 2002). Through video
conferencing, a student must not be afraid ignored by his teacher for a class video conferencing communications equally promising him where everyone can give their opinion and received without any deductions. Second causes contributes to truancy is poverty or lack of budget to go to class due to insufficient parents income. This is a common problem among all countries. Some student did not go to school just because of this matter. Just imagine, today, parent has to spend around RM 5.00 to RM 10.00 for one child. What if they have three to five schooling children? But, by using video conferencing to access modules and video for learning session, it will help to reduce the travel costs (Polycom, 2010) to classes. So by studying at home an just use the video conferencing technology, student can access modules and interact with instructor or lecturer independently while parent can supervise children without worries. Final factors contributes to truancy is the distance between education institution and home. Usually, student who stay far from education institution having trouble to go to class, waiting for the bus or have to walk to reach classes especially for those who have class at 8 a.m. Sometimes, they decided to skip class because they think its not a big thing if skipping class once or twice. Well, this can be change by using video conferencing technology

EDNA JOAN SINIDOL | BA07110164 3 Section 25 | Group 7 because according to Sea-net (2011, it can help to save travel time especially for those who stay far from college. This is a good opportunity for students because they can reduce time to go to class plus student can use video to communicate, engage and interact with

others across distance at any time from wherever they are (Polycom, 2011).
Conclusion, the lack of budget to school because of insufficient parents income, the distance between college and home which is quit far, and lack of respect or fairness in relationship with teachers can be easily solved using video conferencing technology in the classroom because it can help reduce the cost of travel to classes, to save time for those who live far from the college and enhance students' interest towards learning sessions. All of education institution should use this technology to change the learning session to be more effective.

EDNA JOAN SINIDOL | BA07110164 4 Section 25 | Group 7 REFERENCES Dictionary

Definition: Video Conference. (2010, October 21). The Free On-Line Dictionary of
Computing. Retrieved December 13, 2011 from http://dictionary.die.net/video%20conferencing

Websites Gage, J., NIckson, M., & Beardon, T. (2002) Can Videoconferencing Contribute to teaching and learning? The experience of the motivate project. Annual Conference of the British

Educational Research Association. Retrieved date December 12, 2011, from

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002264.htm. Hocking, C. (2008, January 5). The Contributing Factors to student Absenteeism/Truancy and the Effectiveness of Social Services and Interventions. Social Work Student Papers. P.15. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://digitalcommons.providence.edu/socialwrk_students/18 Scheff, S., (2007) Youth Truancy in America. Retrieved date: 4 December 2011 from http://www.susanscheff.net/truancy-causes/ Sharunizam Abdul Mutalib (2011) Mengesan Ciri-ciri Pelajar Ponteng Sekolah.Retrieved December 3rd, 2011 from http://www.mypendidik.net/portal/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4 Picture Phone. (2008). System components. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://picturephone.com/learn/components.html The Top Five Benefits of video Conferencing. (n.d.). A Polycom Fact Sheet. Retrieved December 15, 2011, from http://www.polycom.com/global/documents/products/resources/video_education_center/top _benefits_of_video_conferencing.pdf

EDNA JOAN SINIDOL | BA07110164 5 Section 25 | Group 7