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by Marni
who mentions,
“To submit assignments….” and Diah, “….uploadsubmit assignments.”
In discussion forum, non-real-time, teachers post an issue in form of
statement and or question which students are required to solve or discuss by commenting on it. Aminah said,
“…and to discuss a certain topic in a discussion forum
”
Participants ‘ answers indicate that the participants are experiencing
narrow activities of using F-learn, most of the activities tend to be more like the teacher posts something and the students check them in later time. It is clear that
F-learn is only used for asynchronous activities. All of the participants did not have any experience in using F-learn as synchronous system, so it leaves a huge
opportunity for F-learn to be explored more or to be maximized of its use.
C. Experience – The effectiveness of F-Learn
Shanker and Hu 2008 said that an effective distance learning use both learning environments, asynchronous and synchronous communication tools like
chat, peer-to-peer, e-mail, video conferencing, etc. That statement can be interpreted that distance learning that only use one type, synchronous or
asynchronous, is less effective compared to distance learning that uses both types. While participants have diverse experiences in using F-learn, the pattern
of their answer is typical. Knowing a big potential that F-learn has, most of the participants said that the use of F-learn so far was not effective. Yayuk puts it,
―The use of F-learn so far is not that effective.”Frenky also states similarly, “So
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far is not effective yet.” Even so, participants mentioned several reasons behind their answers. From the previous discussion, it is clear that participants did not
experience many activities in F-learn. Aside from measuring the effectiveness in terms of asynchronous and synchronous modes, some participants stated that
some other factors, like the lack of teacher feedback and poor quality internet connection, affect the effectiveness of F-learn.
This is not a surprising fact that most of participants answered that the use of F-learn so far is not effective, since they did not experience many activities
through F-learn, and more importantly, the fact that they do not experience any synchronous activities. Atun is one of the participants who answered,
“Not effective, because the teacher only used it to post assignments”.
Although they had discussion through F-learn, participants were not guided and monitored. Wassermann 2010 in her article listed several guidelines
in order to achieve effective discussion. In the list, teacher needs to get involved in students‘ discussion to appreciate Students ideas and to clarify what students
mean when an understanding is elusive. Cathy and Terence 2002 also suggest that instructor give fast feedback to students. Unfortunately, from participants
‘ answers, it seems that teachers did not do this. Lastri said,
“It is not effective, because in discussion forum the teacher did not give feedback at all, so students
got confuse.”
Technical malfunctions can be a great detriment to the effectiveness of distance learning. ―The failure of the hardware can be a very frustrating thing for
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all involved in distance learning.‖ Valentine, 2002. Endang said,“The problem is on the poor internet connection.”Similarly, Atik stated,“…often the internet
connection is bad” Their arguments support Teaster and Bliesner 1999 who found that unanticipated technical problems negatively affected the overall quality
of learning process. It becomes even clearer that Threlkeld Brzoska 1994 in their study found that when establishing a distance education program, one of the
most important things to be considered is the foundational network and telecommunications.
To sum up, it can be concluded that most of participants think that the use F-learn so far is not effective. The reasons behind their answer are the
participants did not experience many activities in F-learn, lack of teacher feedback, and poor quality internet connection. During the interview to seek
participants‘ experience on using F-learn, they also mentioned some suggestions to improve F-learn. It means that participants have expectation for better F-learn.
Participants‘ expectation on F-learn will be covered in next section.
Challenges
Since almost all of the participants faced same problems dealing with technical matters, researcher decided to discuss this issue. A study by Teaster and
Bliesner 1999 also found that unanticipated technical problems negatively affected the overall quality of the presentation. In this part of disscussion,
participants‘ expectation over technical matters will be presented briefly.
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Unstable Internet connection cause a failure when participants tried to download material or upload assignments, or even F-learn cannot be opened. This
problem is depressing, as good internet connection is essential for teaching- learning process via F-learn. That makes Atik and her friends highly suggested
that the supporting unit for distance learning can assure that the internet connection is good enough. She states,
“Of course the internet connection matter it should be fixed first, so students get guarantee that internet connection always
works well. ”
No one can help to solve those that issue except technician or any concerned party. Valentine 2002 said that ―One overlooked factor in the success
or failure of distance learning programs is the role that the technicians play in distance learning.
‖ It is expected that the technician give a good respond toward these issues, in order to make F-learn and the use of F-learn more effective.
It seems that technology is not the main factor that affects the effectiveness of distance learning. Bates 1995 also said that newer technologies
are not fundamentally better than old ones. Again, the instructor is the one who determine to use the available technologies and features. The instructors must be
trained ―not only to use technology, but also to shift the way in which they organize and deliver material‖ Palloff Pratt, 2000,. Hence, next two points
will examine participants‘ expectation toward how teacher organize their class and teacher‘s role in using F-learn.
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D. Expectation - Features
