The EFL Rural Students’ Experiences in Coping with Online Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

<p>This study aims to explore the learning experiences of the Indonesian rural students during the Covid-19 pandemic which had transitioned to online learning and solutions. A phenomenological approach was used as a research methodology using semi-structured interviews for the data collection. This study was conducted in one Islamic higher education with seven participants. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis by comparing each participant's interview result in the form of research themes. The five themes that emerged in this study are: adapting to online learning, internet access, learning environment, and learning autonomy. The findings of the study indicate that online learning is a problem for the participants who live in rural areas. These problems were caused by unfamiliarity with the online learning method, unstable internet connection, lack of parents’ support, and learning autonomy. However, all challenges can be solved by students. The findings of the study have implications for government and higher education stakeholders to provide enough facilities for online learning for rural students to participate in the learning process smoothly</p><p class="abstrak"><em>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi pengalaman belajar siswa daerah terpencil Indonesia selama Covid-19 yang berfokus pada tantangan dan solusi pembelajaran online dari siswa. Pendekatan fenomenologi digunakan sebagai metodologi penelitian dengan menggunakan wawancara semi terstruktur untuk pengumpulan data. Penelitian ini dilakukan di salah satu Perguruan Tinggi Islam dengan jumlah peserta tujuh orang. Data dianalisis menggunakan analisis tematik dengan membandingkan hasil wawancara masing-masing partisipan dalam bentuk tema penelitian. Lima tema yang muncul dalam penelitian ini adalah adaptasi pembelajaran online, akses internet, lingkungan belajar, dan kemandirian belajar. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pembelajaran online merupakan masalah bagi peserta yang tinggal di daerah terpencil. Permasalahan tersebut disebabkan oleh ketidaktahuan terhadap metode pembelajaran online, koneksi internet yang tidak stabil, kurangnya dukungan orang tua, dan kemandirian belajar. Namun, semua tantangan dapat diselesaikan oleh siswa. Temuan penelitian ini berimplikasi kepada pemerintah dan pemangku kepentingan pendidikan tinggi untuk menyediakan fasilitas pembelajaran online yang cukup bagi siswa daerah terpencil untuk berpartisipasi dalam proses pembelajaran dengan lancar.</em></p>

Opportunities and Challenges of the Online Learning in West Sumatera: What Students Say About It?

“…Especially in remote areas, online learning is a problem for students because of their ignorance of online learning methods, unstable internet connections, lack of parental support, and independent learning. (Indrayadi et al, 2022). This often happens because online learning is done suddenly and not well planned.…”

“…In order for online learning to run well, educational institutions need to develop online learning that suits the needs of students and online learning systems (Paudel, 2020). The government and higher education stakeholders need to provide adequate online learning facilities for students who live in remote areas so that they can follow their studies well (Indrayadi et al, 2022).…”

The Concept of Education Personnel Management in Educational Institutions

“…This is also due to the fact that there are many aspects of the educational process, especially the role of the instructor in student learning, which cannot be fully replaced by technology. (Indrayadi et al, 2022) While technology can be used as an aid to accelerate the learning process, the role of the instructor remains of irreplaceable value (Sesmiarni et al, 2021) Similarly, education personnel play an important role in providing technical, managerial, developmental and administrative services that support the smooth running of the educational process in educational institutions.…”

Student Educational Resilience While Online Studying During the Covid-19 Period

“…Pedagogical challenges include a lack of teacher and student skills in using technology (technology stuttering), lack of interactivity, lack of student motivation, lack of teacher social and cognitive presence (capacity to build that means thru intense conversation in learning), students' lack of understanding of lessons, teachers have difficulty making valid judgments and reliable, learning objectives are not achieved. Social demanding situations are includes less teacher-student interaction, less students and students interaction, less of physical space at house when online learning, and less of encouragement from father and mother because at the same time, they are also working from home in the same room and parents who do no longer recognize the nature of online mastering at domestic (Bestiantono et al, 2020;Mahyoob, 2020;Adnan, 2020;Fernando et al, 2020;Korkmaz & Toraman, 2020;Indrayadi et al, 2022;Alawamleh et al, 2022;Churiyah et al, 2020). Even though parental support when studying online during the Covid-19 era is much needed (Prayogo et al, 2022).…”

“…Educational resilience is a pattern of positive adjustment to various kinds of difficulties encountered when participating in the learning process (Masten & Powell, 2003). Continue to feel fine when conditions are difficult (Snyder et al, 2011) in the learning process so that they can behave positively when studying online during the Covid-19 period such as staying focused, optimistic, having self-efficacy, being able to manage themselves (Hendriani, 2018). Instructional resilience is needed by students when participating in online learning to maintain developmental poperly-being.…”