Improving Skills for Making Simple Android Applications for Elementary School Teachers to Support Learning During Pandemic Era
Posted on: 2021-06-18 08:29:52
In early 2020, the world was shocked by an outbreak of a new pneumonia that started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, which then spread rapidly to more than 190 countries and territories. This outbreak was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The spread of this disease has had a wide impact socially and economically, this has resulted in massive changes in various kinds of activities carried out by human beings. In accordance with the circular letter of the Minister of Education and Culture Number 4 of 2020 concerning the implementation of Education policies in the emergency period of the spread of Covid-19, it is recommended to carry out the learning process from home through online learning.
Readiness of the service providers and students is a demand from the implementation of this method of learning. With online learning from home, teachers are required to be more innovative in compiling learning steps. This change in teaching methods has certainly made teachers and students adapt from face-to-face learning in class to online learning using information technology.
The problem that arises is that with the many variations of learning platforms that are carried out, teachers and students have a little difficulty in managing all learning resources. Various kinds of materials need and must be prepared by the teacher starting in written form in the form of PDF files then audio videos uploaded to media platforms such as Youtube, various kinds of online exams made with interactive question and answer platforms such as Quizzz, Google Form and various other forms. It is hoped that all learning resources can be managed more easily in one place.
The solution offered through this community service activity is to manage and integrate all learning media into a simple android application. As we know the Android platform in a device has been used by most Indonesian people including teachers and students, so it has great potential to be a solution for integrating all learning resources.
This community service activity is in partnership with the Sekolah Dasar Negeri Tembalang, which involves all subject teachers. This activity was carried out offline on March 25, 2021 to maximize the benefits by practicing directly. The activity began with remarks and an opening by the Head of the Departemen Ilmu Komputer/Informatika, Universitas Diponegoro and the Principal of SDN Tembalang, then continued with the delivery of material as well as practicing making simple android applications. The activity ended by evaluating the practice carried out and giving appreciation to the teachers who successfully completed the application for managing their subject matter.
Based on the results of the evaluation and input from the teachers, 100% of the teachers stated that this activity was very useful but had limited time, because the time for delivering material and practice was quite short, including space for movement where strict health protocols were required.
It is hoped that this community service activity can improve the ability of teachers to manage all learning media resources into one integrated Android application container.
