Challenges and Opportunities of Online Learning - Final Exam

Since the Indonesian Covid-19 pandemic, the Government officially announced the first COVID-19 case in Indonesia on March 2, 2020. Two positive Indonesian citizens said that they had direct contact with Japanese citizens who were visiting Indonesia. On March 11, 2020, for the first time, there was a case of death caused by the corona virus. The victim who died was a 59-year-old man from Solo (Sukur, 2020). Since then, all policies have begun to minimize the spread of the Covid-19 Virus, starting with Social Distancing, Physical Distancing, and online learning. The terms online and offline learning emerged as a form of learning pattern in the information technology era as it is today. Daring is an abbreviation of 'in the network' as a substitute for the word online that we often use in relation to internet technology. Daring is a translation of the term online which means being connected to the internet network. Online learning is using the internet to create interaction in learning (Sadikin et al., 2020). Online learning is learning that is done face-to-face but through an available platform. All forms of subject matter are distributed online, communication is also carried out online, and tests are also carried out online. This online learning system is assisted by several applications, such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, Edmodo, and Zoom.

Learning from home online is still very foreign to families in Indonesia. Learning from home is a new thing for families in Indonesia, especially for parents of students who have jobs and require them to be outside the home. Students who usually do face-to-face learning will also experience psychological problems. This learning from home activity has never happened and is carried out so that the effectiveness of online learning has not been measured and has not been tested. In villages where the information and technology infrastructure is not adequate for online learning, there is confusion so obstacles and challenges emerge at the beginning of learning, but the main obstacle is the unavailability of infrastructure for online learning, starting from the unstable network, not many students have Mobile phones and minimal knowledge in operating these supporting technologies. Apart from obstacles, there are also several opportunities that occur as a result of online learning. Challenges are the conditions faced by children in carrying out online learning (Suni Astini, 2020) as Ningsih said that online learning can expand the learning community and educators/teaching staff can more easily find and determine the right learning rhythm for students. Time and cost efficiency in online learning is also a distinct advantage, where educators and students can conduct distance learning anywhere and anytime. Students do not need to spend hours studying in class. 

- Challenges Since the Covid 19 pandemic in Indonesia forced every element of education to carry out distance education or better known as online learning, the elementary school in Mamahak Besar Village has become one of the areas that have difficulty implementing online learning policies for various reasons, for example,

- Signal Limitation. Signal conditions in areas that depend entirely on diesel as the main fuel make the signal in the area often out of order for a long time.

- The lack of knowledge about applications The online learning process forces every teacher and student to use applications as learning media such as Whatsapp Grub, Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom Meeting, or other supporting applications.

- The lack of infrastructure (mobile phones and laptops) As a 3T area (underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost) makes some students in the area have obstacles in terms of education, especially supporting online education for cellphones and laptops. Because these two objects are mandatory in online learning, to access learning materials, you need a cellphone with an Android type or a laptop. 

Opportunities Online learning provides opportunities for all levels from teachers, students, and parents. Opportunities also occur in Mamahak Besar Village with online learning, for example,

- The involvement of parents as teachers Parental involvement initially played a role in guiding basic attitudes and skills, such as religious education to obey the rules, and for good habituation, but its role has expanded to become a companion for academic education. Mega stated that the implementation of education is the responsibility of parents and the surrounding community, not only the responsibility of educational institutions.

- Knowledge of technology is increasing There is an opportunity to learn technology as a learning medium. Knowledge of increasingly developing technology starting from a pandemic condition makes students more creative and easier to adapt to the environment, especially digital transformation which is currently developing.

- Materials that can be accessed again. Materials that have been uploaded into online learning applications are still possible to be accessed again. Material that can be accessed at any time makes the learning process easier to understand because it can be repeated.

- Materials can be accessed anytime. Unstable signal conditions cause the online learning process to be disrupted, with online learning using applications, be it Google Classroom, WhatsApp Group, and others, allowing children to access material at any time, especially when signal conditions are stable. 

thank u ! stay safe :) 

name : Arisya Putri 

class : 4 A

NIM : 2223200027