Unequal access to technology and the internet is one of the main challenges to online learning in rural areas that led to a significant disparity in access to quality education. Additionally, those students and teachers have struggled with the transition to online learning due to a lack of technical skills and familiarity with digital tools. This study investigates the online teaching strategies implemented by senior high school English teachers in rural areas South Sumatera amidst COVID-19 pandemic. Six English teachers at senior high schools participated in this study and were interviewed in an in-depth semi-structured interview. Using a qualitative method, the data gathered from the interview was analyzed using transcription and identifications of important themes emerged. There are four important themes discussed as the results: learning preparation, instructional strategies, assessment, and personal development. Despite the challenges, the teachers demonstrated resilience and creativity in developing strategies to ensure that their students could access quality education.
TopIntroduction
As the vast development of technology leads to many fundamental changes in today’s industrial revolution 4.0, the use of technology in society is inevitable. Almost every aspect of society must adapt with all the changes driven by technology including in education where teachers are expected to adapt with the dynamic changes, and technology integration in the classroom activities becomes a requirement. In language education field including teaching English to speakers of other language (TESOL) area, one step of this adaptation process is indicated by the emergence of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) as one focal discussion for recent decades. The use of computer in language learning as well as the invention of internet has become inevitable factors that shape the language teaching and learning in new form. The nature of technology which tends to develop sophisticatedly in quite short time becomes one critical attention that should be considered in language learning.
Mishra and Koehler (2006) argued that the role of technology addition into the teaching and learning process must be seen as integrated process rather than a separate component addition to two other previous components (content and knowledge). Teachers’ general knowledge about technology is not necessarily or automatically applicable and appropriate for teaching content-specific matters. Therefore, the technology knowledge of teachers should be acknowledged as intercept among the content, pedagogy, and technology knowledge. Furthermore, Cochrane (2014) believes that teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge in relation to the pedagogical integration of the technology into the course and assessment, teachers modelling of the pedagogical use of the tool, a supportive learning community, appropriate choice of devices and software, technological and pedagogical support, and sustained interaction that facilitates the development of ontological shifts, both for the lecturers and the students are all crucial for the successful integration of technology in online learning activity. Furthermore, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to integrate technology into classrooms has increased significantly. With schools and universities closed to prevent virus spread, teachers and students have had to rely on technology to teach and learn. This has led to a rapid increase in the use of online learning platforms worldwide, including in Indonesia. The sudden shift to online learning has highlighted the importance of technology in education, as it has become the primary means of delivering educational content and facilitating communication and collaboration among teachers and students.
However, the shift to online learning has also highlighted the challenges of technology integration. A phenomenon found during school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic was that most teachers got difficulties conducting online learning, not only because of infrastructure issues but also because of their lack of knowledge of optimizing learning technology for online classroom activities (Agung & Surtikanti, 2020; Amrullah et al., 2022; Dhawan, 2020; Elumalai et al., 2020; Fauzi & Sastra Khusuma, 2020; Mahyoob, 2020; Nambiar, 2020; Octaberlina & Muslimin, 2020; Pratolo & Solikhati, 2020; Rasmitadila et al., 2020). Despite the benefits of online learning which is believed as the future of education, this situation has been challenging for students, teachers, and educational institutions especially for those who are in rural area. One of the significant challenges of the shift to online learning in rural areas is particularly in terms of access to technology and internet connectivity. Many students in rural areas lack access to the necessary devices and reliable internet connectivity to participate in online classes and access digital learning resources. This digital divide has created disparities in education access and widened existing educational inequalities between urban and rural areas. Students in rural areas may not have the same opportunities as their urban counterparts to access educational resources and participate in online learning (Badiuzzaman et al., 2021; Mseleku, 2020; Scully et al., 2021; Mwila et al., 2021). Teachers in rural areas face unique challenges when it comes to integrating technology into their teaching practices, especially when reliable internet access is not available.