Expectation – In-class meeting T1 112009137 Full text

21

E. Expectation – In-class meeting

Broadfield, 2004. One essential advantage of distance education is the freedom for students to choose place for learning Hassenburg, 2009. Unluckily, it is not the case in SWCU. Students are still required to come to class even though they use F-learn in their class. Based on that phenomenon, participants are asked ―What are your expectations in terms of face-to-face, for classes using F- learn? ‖ In general, there are only two different answers given by participants. The first group expected that in-class meeting can be conducted every other week. The second group stated that in-class meeting weekly is necessary. These two answers imply that regular face to face meeting is necessary. However, those belong to the group who agrees that the meeting is every other week has significant reason that is worth discussing. Most participants expected that in-class meeting is conducted every other week since they think that in-class meeting regularly is impractical because sometime teacher only re-do activity that has been done in F- learn. Aminah‘s stated, “One week meet, one week not. Meeting in-class every week was sometime useless because some of the activities actually had already done in F- learn” Ratna also agrees with Aminah by saying, “One week meet, one week not. Because the materials which students get from F-learn is the same with the materials that students get in the class room.”In addition, Aminah, Ratna and their others friends think that in-class meeting is necessary because teacher‘s explanation and discussion are clearer if it is done face-to-face in classroom. “In- 22 class meeting is still necessary because teachers still need to explain important points of materials or to discuss assignments.” –Aminah. These participants also proposed an idea, a complementary activity that might be done in this strategy. “So at in-class meeting time the teacher can teach what they need to teach and also to assign the students of what they need to do in F-learn for the following week.” –Marni. Her idea also supported by Ratna who said, “In-class meeting can be used for teacher to explain some important points. And when do not meet, teachers can assign stude nts to do assignments.” The idea to combine off-class learning online class learning with face-to-face learning is not a new approach. It has been used in academy in more than four decades Dziuban, Hartman, Moskal 2004. There are quite a lot of terms referring this practice, including blended learning, mixed mode instruction, and hybrid learning, which basically refer to a same concept. Dziuban et al. 2004 said that ―The term ―blended learning‖ refers to courses that combine face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning and reduced classroom contact hours reduced seat time‖ There rests of the participants prefer that in-class need to be conducted every week, just like normal class. They think that the use of F-learn is limited only to what they have already experienced. Atik said, “As usual, every week, because I think F-learn is just an additional instrument to support teaching- learning process and F-learn cannot substitute the regular meeting in class .‖ Yayuk even has clearer point by answering, “Every week, because F-learn is just an additional tool to help teachers to distribute materials and inform students about syllabus and schedule.” Another reason is about the role of the teacher in 23 using F-learn. These participants had the experience of receiving an explanation from the teachers via F-learn, but they found it not sufficient or difficult to understand. Cipluk is one of them by saying “in-class meeting still needed regularly because it is clearer when teachers explain the materials directly in- class. ‖ Her point is supported by Lastri by answering, “As usual, per week because sometime students don‟t understand only by reading teachers explanation in F-learn. Teachers need to teach in-class orally. ‖ Pedretti and Lippe 2012 in their latest paper wrote that using Moodle still beneficial in traditional classroom, such as teacher prepare, assemble, and post materials online. To sum up, Participants expectations suggest that in-class meeting cannot be replaced by distance learning, since clarity is more negotiable when direct interaction happens in classroom. In addition, blended or hybrid learning should be more carefully designed to avoid overlap activities between online and in-class learning. Teacher needs to have proper strategy to combine in-class activity and distance activity. From this point, it is clear that the role of the teacher is an important aspect. Therefore, the role of the teacher will be elaborated more in the next point.

F. Expectation – Roles of teachers