Usrah in Action exposes students to community engagement, sharpens soft skills

By Muammar Hadi

GOMBAK, 24 June 2022: Usrah in Action (UIA) course is an ideal medium for students to involve in a community engagement activity and sharpen soft skills.

The view was shared by the Siber Sejahtera Flagship leader, Dr. Nurul Nuha Abdul Molok, in an interview with IIUMToday who further explained that despite having to sacrifice time to engage with the community, the outcome is rewarding for students.

She, who is an academic at Kuliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT), mentioned that through presentation to a large audience as part of the Usrah In Action activities, students can improve their soft skills and prepare them for real industry expectations.

In the interview, Dr. Nurul Nuha also shared a survey result that was conducted in Shah Alam under her flagship which reported that B40 children spent more than nine hours a day on online games and do not take their education seriously.

“Our data showed that children being cyberbullied, having back pain and vision problems due to Internet use, while also suffered from hearing issues, depression and anxiety,” she said.

The Siber Sejahtera leader also stressed that it happened to children who have no self-regulation when playing online games. This, according to her, is not only a cyber safety issue, but physical and mental health issues

In addressing the problems, the sections under Siber Sejahtera Flagship managed to organise a cyber parenting talk with Prof. Ts. Dr. Mira Kartiwi from KICT as the speaker.

Previously, the Siber Sejahtera Flagship (sections 31 and 32) under Dr. Nuha and Mdm. Azian’s supervision received a Silver award in the Usrah in Action Symposium held last Friday at IIUM Gallery.

Dr. Nuha believed that her students deserved the award by looking at all the criteria considered such as presentation skills, creativity, and sustainability.

She expressed, “If we win it’s a bonus and it’s not about winning or losing but about sharing with the IIUM community what the students have accomplished in UIA1.”

Section 31 and Section 32 were under the care of Madam Noor Azian Mohamad Ali and Ts. Dr. Noor Hayani Abd Rahim respectively. However, both sections were combined for all online and face-to-face activities.

In her final remark, she hoped that students can see the impact of what they have done in Usrah in Action beyond the one hour credit given.

As she stressed, “we are doing something for the community not just for achieving good grades”.

The interview with Dr. Nuha took place through an online Microsoft teams meeting ***

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