Revealing the Positive Sides of Online Learning During Pandemic
According to the covid.go.id page, until February 24, 2021, there have been more than 1.3 million Covid-19 cases in Indonesia. The number that is increasing every day will make the government tighten its policies to reduce the number of Covid-19 victims in Indonesia. One of the ways that the government is still implementing in preventing the spread of this virus is the application of online learning which is followed by almost all schools and universities in Indonesia. The implementation of distance learning or online on a large scale in Indonesia is relatively new, therefore in its implementation of course there are many problems experienced by students and educators throughout Indonesia. However, we cannot 100 percent think online learning is a problem. In fact, behind these obstacles, there are several advantages that we can get from studying online during this pandemic for both students and teachers.
The first advantage of online learning is that students can save on their living costs. Most university students take online lectures at their home, so they can save on living costs such as no need to pay boarding fees, no need to spend money on daily meals, no need to pay for transportation costs and costs to buy clothes, considering that in university students can wear any clothes so that most of them are willing to spend a lot of clothes for college. Students in elementary until high school can also feel these advantages, such as reducing transportation costs and student pocket money. For that, with online learning they can save on the costs of living necessities.
Second, online learning gives students plenty of free time. In terms of time, online and offline learning are different, where in the online learning, teaching and learning time is cut and shorter than face-to-face classes. The advantage that can be taken from this is that the time to rest, gather with family, finish assignment is increasing. So, this online learning gives students free time which can be used for various positive things.
The third advantage, learning online during a pandemic has taught students to become more proficient in technology. We are in the 4.0 era, where knowledge and skills of technology are very important to be mastered in order to keep up with the flow of globalization. As we know, today's learning is very dependent on technology. Implementation of teaching activities, providing material, attending classes, giving, creating and collecting assignments are done digitally. Reported in BBC News Indonesia, research conducted by Cambridge International found that in 2018 Indonesian students became one of the highest technology users in the world, one of the findings is that 67% of Indonesian students use smartphones in the classroom and 81% are used for homework. For this reason, during the Covid-19 pandemic, students can continue to develop skills and increase their knowledge of technology as provisions for future life.
The last advantage is increasing the creativity of teachers in providing education. Learning online from home does have many obstacles, including students becoming unfocused, bored and ultimately the knowledge provided cannot be absorbed by students. To deal with this problem, teachers should make learning interesting and exciting. The Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture on the kemenkopmk.go.id page said that learning in this pandemic, teacher creativity and innovation were the main factors in order to provide teaching that was easy to understand and not boring. Therefore, teachers are challenged to use their creativity in order to attract the attention and focus of their students. There are many technologies that teachers can use as interesting learning media, one example is that teachers can make learning materials in the form of power points with beautiful templates, various animations, as well as short but clear content. So, in online learning not only students but teachers can also improve their skills and creativity through technology.
Online learning is one of the challenges for education in Indonesia. Its implementation which is fairly new, of course, will cause various problems for students and educators. However, we cannot underestimate this system. In fact, without realizing it, there are advantages to online learning policies that we feel, such as saving living costs, having lots of free time and being able to develop technological skills in students and teachers.
Sources:
- Komite Penanganan Covid-19 dan Pemulihan Ekonomi Nasional. (2021). Data Sebaran Covid-19. Retrieved on February 24, 2021 from: https://covid19.go.id/
- Pelajar Indonesia Jadi Salah Satu Pengguna Teknologi Tertinggi di Dunia. (2018). Retrieved on February 24, 2021 from: https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah-46500293
- Kreativitas Guru Kunci Keberhasilan Pembelajaran Selama PSBB. (2020). Retrieved on February 25, 2021 from: https://www.kemenkopmk.go.id/kreativitas-guru-kunci-keberhasilan-pembelajaran-selama-psbb
