Transition to the online learning system

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted various activities of people in Indonesia including education activities. The Ministry of Education and Culture has established policies for educational institutions to implement online learning. Related to this, the Secretary of the Institute of ITB has a circular letter No. 871/IT1.B03/HK.00/2020 concerning to the Enforcement of New Habit Adaptations. It contains restrictions on activities to comply with the COVID-19’s health protocols.

How about the lecturing activities? The School has advised lecturer to reduce the weight of student assignments from those previously based on group assignments to individual assignments. This has been done to prevent activities that require students to physically gather in one place.

“The ideal learning ecosystem, when every learning participant (student, lecturer, and facilitator) feels comfortable and engaging with the process,” said the Director of SBM ITB Online Teaching, Dr. Nur Budi Mulyono on Thursday (10/02/2020). Although still in a transition period, he said, SBM ITB had made efforts to achieve the ideal learning ecosystem and outcomes that had been determined.

As Nur Budi continued, online lectures at SBM ITB used 2 methods, namely Synchronous and Asynchronous. Below is the definition:

1. Synchronous

Synchronous learning is learning that is carried out online and in real time. This learning can take the form of interactive online chat and video conferencing. Every learning tool is real-time, such as instant messaging that allows students and professors to ask and answer questions immediately.

2. Asynchronous

Meanwhile, asynchronous learning is learning that can be done offline or online, without connecting in real time with other study partners. The advantage of this method is that students do not need a large internet quota to carry out learning and time flexibility for learning participants.

Moreover, according Nur Budi, the School had provided solutions related to problems that might be experienced when studying online. Here are the details of school’s support due to COVID-19 pandemic:

1. Internet quota subsidies
The School provides internet quota for students who need it.

2. Lend a laptop service
SBM ITB lends laptops to students who are constrained by hardware issues when online class.

3. Financial assistance
For students live on campus and cannot return home, SBM ITB provides assistance in the form of financial subsidies.

4. Tuition fee payment relief
ITB provides tuition fee relief for students who are constrained by financial issues.

As a conclusion, Nur Budi said, “Flexible delivery, practical application, and modular are the characteristics of education 4.0 that SBM ITB has aspired to. Even though the pandemic has ended, the vision of education 4.0 will continue.”