Development of Lightboard Studio for Interactive Online Teaching: FKTM UniMAP Experiences

When the COVID-19 pandemic strikes the world in 2020, no one expects how this new virus will affect our lives. Unfortunately, this deadly new virus has drastically transformed our way of life, and educators have been particularly affected. Conventional face-to-face classroom lectures are not allowed during the pandemic. The nature of teaching core engineering subjects, or STEM subjects, requires in-depth explanation using equations and/or diagrams in a conventional teaching approach. Students and educational institutions were struggling to conduct effective online lectures in learning institutions. Thus, an interactive and innovative online teaching approach is highly needed. This paper provides an explanation of the development of the custom-made DyCoS Lightboard Studio and the experience of teaching numerical subjects at Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Teknologi Mekanikal (FKTM) UniMAP. The requirements to set up a simple and practical highly interactive lightboard studio are provided and explained. This study also shares the experiences of both university students and lecturers who have undergone live streaming of online lectures using DyCoS Lightboard, highlighting how knowledge transfer activities were conducted in replicating the actual in-class environment.