47 For the sixth statement, the writer provides a statement about the students’
perception on the effectiveness of using Nicenet.org in the class. Surprisingly, the respondents are divided into two slightly different sides in the total of
respondents. Thirty respondents are in ‘disagree’ side indicating that they do not consider Nicenet.org as an effective media. On the contrary, twenty seven
respondents believe that Nicenet.org as an effective teaching learning media. However, the respondents perceive Nicenet.org as not a challenging media. It is
described by the next statement. Twenty seven respondents 47.36 disagree with the statement. The challenged feeling has correlation with the motivation.
Thus, this question refers to the fifth question. Referring to the statement number six questioning about the effectiveness
of Nicenet.org, the writer comes the eight and ninth statement up asking whether Nicenet.org is beneficial for improving their writing skill or not. The respondents
believe that Nicenet.org is a beneficial facility to improve their English mastery especially their writing skill. Thirty two of the respondents 56.14 agree with
the eighth statement. It indicates that actually, Nicenet.org is considered as a beneficial teaching learning media.
To follow up the fifth question, the tenth statement is provided. It is said that the respondent gets more motivated to do assignments generally.
Surprisingly, the respondents are not motivated in doing their assignments using Nicenet.org. Thirty three respondents who are in ‘disagree’ side are becoming the
evidence that Nicenet.org is considered as not a motivating media. Therefore, in the next statement, most of the respondents are not satisfied with the use of
48 Nicenet.org. However, the respondents agreeing that Nicenet.org is an interesting
media are thirty five respondents. The result is quite surprising since most of the respondents consider that Nicenet.org is not a motivating teaching learning media.
However, they regard that Nicenet.org as an interesting media. 3. Student’s suggestions to improve the use of Nicenet.org
The writer provides three questions – in form of closed-ended
questionnaire – concerning about the suggestions. The thirteenth statement deals with the implementation of Nicenet.org. Thirty five respondents 61.40 are in
the position of ‘agree’ and three 5.26 respondents are in ‘strongly agree’. Most of the respondents believe that Nicenet.org can be implemented in every course in
Education Language English Study Program. However, on the contrary, when the respondents are asked to give opinion on the next statement which is about
whether they prefer to use Nicenet.org or not, most of them do not prefer to use Nicenet.org. It can be shown by the result of the frequencies. Thirty four
respondents 59.64 are in ‘disagree’ response. For the last question, the writer draws conclusion by asking their opinion
about the significance of Nicenet.org as teaching learning media in improving the respondents’ English mastery, generally, and their writing skill, especially. More
than half of the total respondents believe that implementing Nicenet.org can improve their English skills. The result shows that the respondents have a special
interest in using Nicenet.org.
49 To know the students’ perception tendency, the writer needs the mean of
the responses. The mean is classified into three classifications stated on Chapter III. The table and chart illustrating the result can be seen as follows:
Table 4.2 The Responses Classification
Range Respondents
1 – 1.9 12
2 – 2.9 43
3 – 4 2
Figure 4.1 The Chart of Responses Classification
The figure 4.1 presents the distribution of the responses in the form of mean. According to the classifications, most of the respondents 43 are in the
50 medium perception. The result shows that some students tend to perceive
Nicenet.org as not really beneficial media in improving their English mastery, especially writing skill. There are twelve respondents belonging to 1 – 1.9 range.
It indicates that twelve respondents have bad perception to Nicenet.org. The bad perception is defined as perceiving Nicenet.org as not a beneficial, effective, and
motivating media. Meanwhile, only two respondents are in the range of 3 – 4. Two of them perceive Nicenet.org in a positive perception. They consider that
Nicenet.org provides the benefits in their English mastery, especially writing skill. The mean score of the total responses is 2.3. Therefore, the result describes
that the students of Academic Essay Writing class perceive Nicenet.org in the medium perception. However, referring to the result of the questionnaire, the
writer considered that the students perceive positively. However, they are not satisfied yet on the use of Nicenet.org.
B. Interviews
According to Fetterman as cited by Fraenkel and Wallen 1994: 385, interview is described as the most important data collection technique a qualitative
researcher possesses. Thus, in this study, the writer required the interviews to gain some deeper data, especially to address the second problem formulation.
The interviews were conducted on December 11, 2009 and December 12, 2009 in which the writer interviewed two interviewees on December 11, 2009 and
three interviewees on December 12, 2009. The interviewees are derived from four students joining Academic Essay Writing class A and D in academic year
51 20082009 and one Academic Essay Writing lecturer. The selected interviewees
who will be coded with A to D are selected by referring their responses on the questionnaires.
The writer questioned six questions to each of the respondents. In order to recheck the questionnaires responses, the writer provided the similar questions to
be responded in the interview. However, in the interview, they were allowed to explore their answers.
The interviewee A often accesses internet and does not face any difficulties in accessing internet connection facility. However, he seldom accesses
Nicenet.org. Since he does not think that Nicenet.org is a beneficial media, he is not motivated in learning by using Nicenet.org. Although he believes that
Nicenet.org is a good media sharing, he does not regard Nicenet.org as a helpful media to improve his English proficiency, especially writing skill. He believes
Nicenet.org is a good media in a matter of peer correction. The interviewee B accesses internet almost everyday because in her
surrounding, the internet connection can be found easily. She confesses that at the first time, she was well interested in learning by using Nicenet.org. She could read
the other works and give feedback lively. However, as time goes by, she feels that Nicenet.org is less useful because the lecturer did not obligate the students to
access Nicenet.org. However, she believes that Nicenet.org is a good media only if it is implemented effectively. In helping to improve her writing skill,
Nicenet.org has a special benefit. According to her, Nicenet.org encourages the students to write perfectly since their writing will be exposed in internet. The
52 students should mind their work’s content and grammar. Moreover, it avoids the
plagiarism. She considers Nicenet.org as a well interesting media. The interviewee C said that accessing internet has been becoming her
habit. She surfs in internet to gain some information to finish her assignments. However, she believes that using Nicenet.org is not a motivating activity since the
lecturer, sometimes, still prefers to use a printed task. It makes her reluctant to access Nicenet.org since she thinks that Nicenet.org becomes the second priority
in teaching learning media. She believes that Nicenet.org is a good media but it does not help her to improve her writing skill. She votes to apply the manual
system which is face to face facility. She thinks that Nicenet.org is a brilliant media only if it is used in on line class or the lectures are in abroad. She adds that
it is not a very effective facilitator used in the class in which the lecturer is around the campus.
The interviewee D accesses internet three times a week. She feels motivated in using Nicenet.org since it provides a formal appearance. Moreover, it
allows her to comment and to edit her works directly. She is interested in its mutual correction facility. Before the class, she always checks Nicenet.org to
know the progress of it. She confesses that Nicenet.org improve much on her writing since she is able to read the other’s works to be a reference. She adds that,
in a printed writing, she can not refer to the other works she wants to refer. She believes that Nicenet.org is a useful media applied in Sanata Dharma University.
Motivation is one of factors influencing someone’s perception. However, only one of four interviewees stated that she is interested in learning by using
53 internet. Surprisingly, all of the interviewees believe that Nicenet.org is a good
teaching learning media. The interviewees are divided into two groups. Group one consisting two students is regarded that Nicenet.org is able to improve their
writing skill. In the other group, two interviewees believe that Nicenet.org does not bring any benefit in improving their writing skill. It is similar to the results of
questionnaire – referring to number nine of the questionnaire’s statement –. Almost of them consider that Nicenet.org is a good teaching media. However,
they have own perception toward the use of Nicenet.org as teaching leaning media. To perceive it as a good media, the interviewees demand some
requirements. From the findings, it is obvious that the interview results provide an
evidence to cross check the questionnaire results. It can be proven by their statements revealed in the interviews.
C. Discussion
Huffman et al. 1996: 97 define that perception refers to the process of selecting, organizing,
and interpreting sensory data into useful mental
representation. The student selects the media applied by herhis teacher. Afterwards, the student organizes the coming information about the applied media
itself to make herhis understand it. Then, the student decides whether the applied media is appropriate for them or not.
If the student feels that the media is appropriate for himher, heshe will perceive it positively which means as a
beneficial, interesting, and effective teaching learning media.
54 The selection of the teaching learning media affects the student’s
achievement. Thus, according to Brown et al. 1977: 2, the creative uses of the various media will increase the probability that your students will learn more,
retain better what they learn, and improve their performance. However, in applying a teaching media, the teacher should keep in herhis mind the students
characteristics and the learning objectives. To address the first formulated problem which is about the students’
perception on the use of Nicenet.org as teaching learning media, the writer refers to the data collected by the questionnaires. Based on the collected data, the
students are able to connect internet facility easily. This fact can be a supporting factor on the use of Nicenet.org as teaching learning media. However, although
the students are able to get and to access internet easily, they seldom browse Nicenet.org. Based on the questionnaire’s result number two, almost of the
respondents access Nicenet.org less than three times a week. It can be concluded that they do not try to get acquainted with Nicenet.org.
Joining Academic Essay Writing class is the first experience for almost of the students see table 4.1 number three in recognizing Nicenet.org as teaching
learning media. It influences their perception toward Nicenet.org. According to Altman et al., past experiences affects what someone perceives. By not knowing
Nicenet.org before, the students perceive it negatively. The result indicates that Nicenet.org is a new teaching learning media which needs to be developed in
order to be accepted by the students. It may be one factor affecting the students’ perception.
