Embracing the ‘digidemic’ as a time for improvisation in HE

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered various aspects of life since the start of 2020. Education systems worldwide have been striving to adapt to the changes so that teaching and learning activities can continue to run smoothly.

The term ‘digidemic’ is perhaps the most appropriate to give to the digitalisation of learning that has affected many universities around the world, where the traditional learning method of face-to-face or physical classroom-based teaching has been revamped.

The ‘-demic’ here implies that the impact of online learning parallels that of the COVID-19 pandemic, where physical distancing is at the centre of social interactions.

This distanced form of interaction has had various structural consequences at university level, ranging from the mandatory use of web-conferencing tools, which consume large amounts of internet data, through the restructuring of the lecture curriculum to changes in national education policies, which have caused anxiety and discomfort among both students and teachers because of the limitations of distance and time and have led to student protests.

While having a negative impact generally, this global disaster has also led to advancements in learning for both students and lecturers as they have devised teaching innovations in order to ensure that students progress.

In Indonesia, just as in other countries, students, lecturers and the entire higher education system have come to view this pandemic as an opportunity for improvisation. As one of the largest democracies in the world, Indonesia views the COVID-19 pandemic as a chance to rise to the occasion and review different aspects of the higher education system in ways that harness its intellectual power effectively.

Since Indonesian Minister of Education Nadiem Makarim first instructed all universities that teaching and learning activities should be continued online in early June 2020, various universities across Indonesia have complied with this call. This collective awareness of online learning activities is the result of the health risks associated with the spread of COVID-19 which must be mitigated to the best of universities’ abilities.

Diverse, but resilient

Many universities in Indonesia have collectively complied with the instructions from the minister of education. However, each university has pursued a different course of action, depending on the resources available to them. As a country that has been known for many years for its resilience, these varied courses of action in response to the ministerial instruction can be seen as a sign of intellectual diversity, which is reflective of the multicultural nature of the country.

Firstly, universities immediately began conducting online classes, with teachers using applications such as Zoom, Google Meet, Google Duo and WhatsApp.

Although weak internet connectivity is not a significant problem in Indonesia, prepaid mobile broadband services are arguably not cheap or affordable for university students, particularly for those who belong to underprivileged families, with lack of funds forcing them to prioritise between purchasing textbooks and-or other resources such as laboratory equipment and buying prepaid broadband internet credit for online classes.

Several private campuses in Indonesia have taken action to resolve this issue: they distributed IDR200,000 (US$15) to students for two months between August and September so that they were able to afford to attend online classes. Unfortunately, US$15 is not enough to buy the number of gigabytes of prepaid internet credit students need for web conference-based video lectures, which consume a lot of data.

Overall, however, in the midst of the pandemic, with its emphasis on public health facilities and services, these private universities have shown a degree of autonomy and increased the strategic measures they have taken to ensure students have access to higher education. This has made the higher education system in Indonesia stronger.

Additionally, the delivery of lecture material has been made more flexible and less prescriptive. In addition to using Zoom, lecturers require students to create PowerPoint presentations for their assignments, which are broadcast via e-mail. They also have to submit essays via e-mail.

Despite facing challenges in terms of their social and geographic backgrounds, lecturers and students have worked together to maintain the quality of the syllabus material in a balanced way. This experiment with a more egalitarian form of interaction will mean there are fewer barriers between lecturers and students when they fully embrace the era of online learning.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic affected Indonesian higher education, several campuses had already implemented what was referred to as SPADA (Sistem Pembelajaran Daring, an online learning system). However, the majority of lecturers did not optimise this learning technology as in-class learning was considered more efficient, fun and able to help in the formation of emotional bonds between lecturers and students.

In addition, some campuses implemented the electronic learning system for academic purposes ELISA. Even though they have different names, these systems perform a similar function by acting as a platform whereby lecturers can upload lecture presentations, students can submit assignments and internal discussions between students and lecturers can be held.

The pandemic has, indeed, been an unprecedented disaster, but its arrival has given new impetus to these two online learning systems.

Previous barriers are no longer seen as insurmountable in the movement towards better quality online education in the pandemic era. They included older academics’ resistance to blended learning, an intermittent internet connection in some geographical locations and poorer students being constrained by the costs of prepaid mobile broadband.

However, this experience has actually stimulated the resilience of online learning in Indonesian higher education. As a new system at university level, there are also student-led suggestions that the Indonesian Ministry of Education should further explore.

Collective solidarity for internet access

In mid-June 2020, university students across Indonesia came together to express their concern for the need for improvements to the quality of online learning in higher education. Through this peaceful social movement, students voiced their demands to Makarim, asking for the provision of more subsidies for prepaid mobile internet (kuota akses internet) so they could take part in online lectures and class activities.

Through establishing the hashtag #NadiemManaMahasiswaMerana (“Where is Nadiem when university students are in misery”), students proposed several things. First, they called for the Indonesian Ministry of Education to increase the subsidy for students attending online lectures.

Although several campuses have provided free internet or a quota system which is deducted from students’ tuition fees, several shortcomings still exist because the use of video-based conferencing consumes quite a lot of bandwidth.

In addition, students used Twitter and Instagram to demand that the government postpone some tuition fee payments. In general, through this social media-based protest, students asked the ministry to deliver a fairer system, especially when it comes to the quality of lecture facilities compared to the tuition fees they pay.

Standing stronger

The experience of Indonesian higher education during this pandemic shows clearly that higher education is an important pillar of Indonesia’s national development which requires the participation of its citizens.

In the midst of this pandemic, students and lecturers are playing a vital role in determining the future of the nation. They have acted together to support one another and mobilise together to improve higher education and Indonesia’s development.

Another crucial area has been innovation. Higher education must innovate during this pandemic so that universities remain resilient. The world can see how strong Indonesian universities are through the way they have faced this COVID-19 storm.

Meredian Alam is a sociologist at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). He is a core member of the International and Comparative Education (ICE) Research Group, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. As an assistant professor of sociology in the Sociology and Anthropology department at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UBD, he undertakes research in the field of youth culture and environmentalism. He can be reached at mere.alam@gmail.com or meredian.alam@ubd.edu.bn.