REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Education digitization is getting relevant, not only during distant learning but also when the government announced that schools in regions under certain levels of public activity restrictions would be allowed to hold in-person classes. Digitization is seen as being able to help improve the quality of education in the country.
"Mastery of information technology is the key that helps the teaching aspect," said Director of Elementary Schools of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Sri Wahyuningsih, last weekend.
School digitization, said Wahyuningsih, makes it easier for students and educators in the teaching and learning process. Teachers and students can access teaching materials and exam materials in one network.
"This is the advantage of this system. On the other hand, this also sharpens new learning to face the Industrial Revolution 4.0. To make this happen, ICT assistance is needed. Therefore, it is the basic foundation towards digitizing schools," she explained.
The Ministry provides information and communication technology (ICT) assistance to thousands of schools throughout Indonesia. The assistance provided is in laptops, access points, connectors, projector screens, active speakers, and internet routers. Furthermore, the Ministry also provides technical guidance to teachers.
According to Wahyuningsih, ICT assistance remains relevant during e-learning and in-class learning.
"What's interesting is that during these limited in-person classes, schools can use Classroom and Meet, making it easier for students and teachers. Moreover, school administration management is also getting better with e-report innovations," she said.
Students are also given a belajar.id account that makes it easier for them to access services for distance learning. Users can access various applications that support teaching and learning activities with one account.
"For example, teachers can access the Merdeka Mengajar platform and use the inspirational video feature, as well as for self-training to student assessments. All data has been collected in one network and can be accessed anywhere," she explained.
In addition, there are also SIMPKB applications, TanyaBOS, and Rumah Belajar. "This Home Learning portal allows interaction between communities. Learning can be done anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. All content can be accessed and used for free," she said.
For this reason, the Ministry remains committed to continuing ICT assistance to schools to realize school digitization. This commitment is accompanied by technical guidance and training for educators.
"The priority (of training) is still for those who have received ICT assistance. We also conduct a series of webinars and make tutorials through YouTube and social media on the topic of the use of ICT to support learning transformation," explained Wahyuningtias.
This year, the Ministry will also continue the Information and Communication Technology-Based Learning (PembaTIK) program. This program is considered necessary to increase teachers' capacity and mastery of ICT.
Through the PembaTIK program, teachers can synergize all the policies of the Ministry about Merdeka Belajar, such as Guru Penggerak.
Separately, teachers in several regions claimed to benefit from ICT assistance and technical guidance from the Ministry, both during distance learning and in-class learning. Now, they are more proficient in operating ICT assistance that supports teaching and learning activities.
"We, teachers, are greatly helped by this ICT assistance because it helps many things, especially working using a belajar.id account that is very synchronous. The tools provided are very supportive for various applications in the learning process," said Adoniram Benmeten (32), a teacher at SMPN 1 Mollo Utara, South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara.
Eva Candra Dewi Sukmawati, a teacher at SDN Muncul 1 and SDN Muncul 3, Tangerang City, is in agreement with Benmeten. She said she could prepare teaching materials by collaborating with various applications provided by the government.
"These applications help us a lot. They enable us to make learning videos and edit them by using this device too," she said.
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