Introduction
The issues
of online learning discussed by educational practitioners
throughout the world become an interesting point to be analyzed
at the current time as most, if not all, educational
institutions in the world are offering various worldwide online
studies and degree programs. Some educational practitioners
claim that self-paced learning through online study is the best
panacea for the people having limited time to go to weekly
classes (Bates & Khasawneh, 2007). Some others contend that
self-paced learning through online study with online degree
programs is a drawback in the higher education era, as it may
bring a deleterious tendency toward academic dishonesty (Lanier,
2006).
Proponents
of online study approaches have persuasively proposed various
benefits of this teaching-learning paradigm. They attempt to
reform education systems to make them accessible to all people
throughout the world. In order to enable learners to participate
easily in this new study paradigm, comfortable internet access,
updated computer programs, continuous online communication and
mentoring are among the promises of convenience they offer (Dabbagh
& Bannan, 2005; Shih et al. 2003). Through this
flexibility, education has the potential to reach everyone in
every corner of the globe. A student who has access to and is
supported by technical devices from a different nation, for
instance, can sit at home to study and attain a high quality
education from a well-known university in the world without
having to spend his valuable time in the country where the
university is located.
Opponents
of this study format, in contrast, harshly criticize the idea of
educational institutions offering online learning, as this
learning system merely supports the middle-class society (Brockett,
1994). Brockett adds that some people believe that such study
offers a very limited access for learners who have traditionally
been marginalized or disempowered, such as women, the poor, and
minorities. The access difficulty will profoundly be encountered
by students living in the third world countries as the
technological supports are still sparse.
Many other
criticisms of online education, especially online degree
programs, have been addressed by educational experts who
disagree with online study. The promise of online education to
be the next generation in empowering higher education has been
regarded as a hoax. This is due to the degradation of quality
inherent in this study approach (Carr-Chellman, 2005). In some
other studies, in addition, there is also an indication that as
many as one-third of students have technophobia or fear of
technologies such as computers or other online learning
equipment (Bates & Khasawneh, 2007). All these concerns have
been debated seriously by both the pros and cons of this study.
Each of them attempts to provide various analyses about the
benefits and weaknesses of the study in order that stakeholders
of both study approaches have a free choice. Then they may
freely decide which study approach matches their times and
circumstances.
Building a better individual
As a
matter of fact, the notion of autonomy is the key perpetual
element that can be traced back from this online study.
Autonomous learners are characterized as independent, able to
make choices based on rational reflection and having a strong
sense of personal values and beliefs. All these qualifications
are the core skills that should be owned by the individuals
seeking a job in the future as the employers will not “hold the
employees’ hands” to show them how to do some things (Vaughan,
2005). According to Tait and Knight (1996), the skills of value
that an independent or autonomous learner can develop and
enhance include:
1. The
ability to identify problems and work creatively towards
solutions;
2. The
ability to reflect and build on knowledge as it is accumulated;
3. Skill
in working with others and appreciation of the benefits of
collaboration;
4. A
willingness to see and benefit from a learning opportunity
wherever it presents itself;
5. The
ability to take risk and do, not just to plan, and;
6. An
ability to continue to learn from learning.
These
salient characteristics not only serve them well on a personal
level but it will also contribute to their future or current
employment. Research undertaken through the Quality in Higher
Education (QHE) suggests that the above skills are of major
importance to employers when considering employment of
applicants (Tait & Knight, 1996).
These
characteristics, in deed, should be shaped since the time
students study at primary schools. They need to be actively
trained and guided how to work independently. Problem solving
skills should be introduced to students in order that they are
able to form their mind working on this issue. As soon as they
have learned all these skills, they will be the people who have
strong personality and adequate proficiency to be involved in
any work atmosphere.
There is
also no doubt that self-paced learning through online study
evidently cultivates lifelong learning. This added value is
looked on favorably by organizations that prize individuals who
are able potentially to transform organizations and bring about
fundamental change in some part of their activities. It is
believed that a tangible illiterate in the future will not be
the people who cannot read and write, but it will be the people
who cannot learn and utilize technology for shaping a better
life both for themselves and for the whole community at large.
According
to Vaughan (2005), the key areas for improvement in terms of
education include leadership skills, coaching skills, learning
skills and human resource networking. These improvements should
be considered as the critical aspects of learning outcomes. It
is highly expected that students should possess strategic and
analytical thinking, as well as the capacity to become more
entrepreneurial and accepting of a diverse workforce when they
graduate. All these values can more likely be obtained from the
self paced-learning from which the learners can develop their
independent thinking and creativity without having to be guided
by their teachers. It is not exaggerated to say that the culture
of classroom oriented study tends to spoon up learners to
perform their job as they always need to be guided what they
should do to work on their tasks.
Prospect for Aceh
The
success of applying technologies to support online study in Aceh
is affected by four fundamental elements: inadequacy of
telecommunication infrastructure, high cost of technological
devices, lack of qualified technicians, and high maintenance
costs. At the current time, Aceh is facing a serious economic
difficulty to work with all the above factors. In the
implementation of the technological based education, the
government still needs to provide electrical power to all
schools, provide adequate computers, internet connections, and
enough information and communication technology experts at least
to all schools at the district level.
There was
a high expectation when reconstruction after tsunami started in
mid 2005. No less than Kuntoro Mangkusubroto himself, the BRR
chairman, gave a very positive hope on this issue. The first
project he signed, supposedly, was an IT project promising fiber
optic connections to Aceh. Many optimists said that Banda Aceh
would be the biggest hot-spot, the entire city, for wireless
internet technology, the first in the world. There is indeed a
great leap in internet technology and services after the tsunami
in Aceh. To be the first internet hot spot city in the world,
however, Banda Aceh will need much more investment.
It is
undeniable that in Aceh, internet and telephone connections are
still expensive and they become a luxury commodity and not all
people can afford them. Most internet users can only be found in
big cities. This condition is tragic, but this is the reality.
While most people are discussing the use of sophisticated
devices such as cellular phones, email, and internet to
accelerate their business transactions and activities, there are
uncountable people living in a very miserable condition. They
are still people in Aceh with malnutrition problem, no clean
water to drink, and even no shelter to stay in two years after
tsunami. These powerless and marginalized people have never
thought about all these sophisticated technological devices as
the crucial parts of their lives. They never dream about the
internet usage for tomorrow in their lives.
Accessibility level of online learning in Aceh still becomes a
central issue. When a study program benefits only a certain
group for a specific community, then, the education will be an
exclusive business commodity. As a consequence, it may widen a
profound gap between the haves and the have-nots and it is not
impossible to divide education into two exclusive sects; elitism
and marginalism. Thus, the ultimate goals of education to
empower people at large regardless of their ethnicities and
social status remain just a futile rhetoric and a perpetual
elite’s consumption.
To this
end, the government of Aceh must have a clear concept to empower
the communities, especially those who live in rural areas. The
government must allocate an adequate budget to build educational
buildings, their facilities and infrastructures which are
equipped with comprehensive teaching-learning equipment
including computers and internet access. Government must also
have clear strategic planning, good coordination at the national
level and regional communication. Capacity building, including
professionalism in planning and management, is also important to
be taken into a serious consideration by both national and local
government in region. Programs such as network administrator
training for every sub-district (Kecamatan) being done at Syiah
Kuala University’s Mathematics Department should be expanded.
More importantly, the graduates from this program should be
posted at their relevant post with enough resources to develop
and maintain internet-technology-based education and
governance.
Conclusion
It is
unarguable that the advancement of technology has enabled people
to discover new study approaches and has driven them to a world
where they can do one additional task without having to
sacrifice other routine activities. Online study has proved that
by using internet and other information technologies it has
enabled instructors in one place to deliver learning and
training experiences to learners located in other places,
sometimes continents away. Its flexibility, convenience,
freedom, and self-dependent issues are regarded as the
outstanding values of this study’s approach. Academicians who
disagree with the self-paced learning through online study,
however, believe that the online study has neglected the
opportunity of marginalized and powerless community to acquire
knowledge, as this study mechanism requires sophisticated
technological devices and forces them to have adequate
technology mastery.
Aceh is at
the strategic point to decide how to incorporate information
technology into its development and, especially, education.
There are opportunities brought about by international
organization presence after tsunami. However, challenges in
infrastructure provisions, such as reliable electrical power and
affordable internet connections, are still daunting.
References:
Bates, R.,
& Khasawneh, S. (2007). Self-efficacy and college students’
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Brockett,
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Carr-Chellman,
A.A. (2005). Global perspectives on e-learning: rhetoric and
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Dabbagh,
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Lanier,
M.M. (2006). Academic Integrity and distance learning,
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Tait, J., & Knight,
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Vaughan,
L.A. (2005). The self-paced students. Educational Leadership,
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