Educational technology's place in Indonesia<\/p>\n
By Nirwan Idrus<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Much has been said about higher education in
\nIndonesia in the recent past. The new paradigm the government is
\nseeking to implement has concentrated on the mechanisms of
\nchanging attitudes and processes. Autonomy, accountability,
\nequity of access and quality have been proposed as aims in the
\nbackbone of that new paradigm. Several ongoing loan projects
\nexist at present to help institutions as well as the Ministry of
\nEducation and Culture achieve these. It is accepted that it is
\nnot easy to achieve such a brave new world considering the
\nlimited resources, and an environment which is not conducive
\nanyway.<\/p>\n
However, it is inevitable that given the geography
\nand relatively huge number of higher education students in the
\ncountry, that an unique approach to higher education in Indonesia
\nis needed.<\/p>\n
Rapidly approaching globalization, a free-trade era and
\nincreasing international competitiveness, is likely to add to the
\ninteresting mix of challenges that Indonesia is and will be
\nfacing in the next few decades.<\/p>\n
The question is whether the traditional approaches to higher
\neducation are still acceptable in such a situation, and if they
\nare not, then what other approaches should be used? As I have
\nstated in a number of previous articles in this paper, Indonesia
\nis at a crossroads. Shape up very quickly and smartly or face
\noblivion. This may sound somewhat harsh, but the situation is
\nmore than just critical. We have very little choice and the world
\nout there is rapidly becoming more than just harsh. There is
\ngoing to be a new law of the jungle out there. Not of the brute
\nforce kind, but the brain force kind. This typifies the next
\ncentury's approach to power.<\/p>\n
Forget about becoming a nation to be reckoned with if what you
\nhave is simply numbers. A country must have the brainpower, the
\nknowledge plus the ability to harness this knowledge if it wants
\nboth recognition as a leading country in the world, and to
\ncompete on a level playing field with other countries around the
\nworld. Undoubtedly we need many knowledgeable people, that is,
\npeople with brainpower -- although not forgetting those who will
\nneed to do the jobs, many of which are still manual or
\nsemimanual.<\/p>\n
But how do we produce these people quickly, and with a quality
\nthat can be sustained? We already know that the traditional
\nmethod is full of holes. Problems galore, from the salary of
\nteachers and lecturers to attitudes, to quality of teaching and
\nlearning to alleged massive absenteeism in many state higher
\neducation institutions that left students fending for themselves.<\/p>\n
As stated earlier, the system needs a complete overhaul. The
\nbiggest hurdle is the helplessness that abounds, both at the
\ngovernment level and at the higher education institutional level.
\nThe vicious circle is so complete that no one appears game enough
\nto even stretch their big toe outside the circle. Many hide
\nbehind government regulations (PP), ministerial decisions (SK
\nMendikbud), presidential decrees (Keppres), laws (UU) to name a
\nfew, while others even quote Indonesian\/Asian values as a reason
\nfor not changing.<\/p>\n
As recently as a few weeks ago in an education article, the
\nweekly magazine Gamma (March 28, 1999) quoted the then director
\ngeneral of higher education Prof. Bambang Suhendro on this issue.
\nIn his opinion, the University of Bina Nusantara (a private
\nuniversity in Jakarta) overstepped its mandate in running
\ncourses through the Internet and using multimedia as a teaching
\naid, because the law only allowed Universitas Terbuka (Open
\nUniversity) to run distance education type courses.<\/p>\n
University of Bina Nusantara is still the first Indonesian
\nuniversity to achieve international recognition for the quality
\nof its courses, having been granted a ISO 9001 quality standard
\ncertification. Its attempt at delivering its course through the
\nInternet and using multimedia is obviously in line with its
\nstudent-centered learning (or customer-orientation) approach. It
\nis also certainly in line with universities and higher education
\ninstitutions worldwide. We should really applaud Bina Nusantara
\nfor its attempt at bringing Indonesia into the 21st century if
\nnot the 20th.<\/p>\n
The use of new advanced and educational technologies is
\nwithout doubt one of the surest ways to achieve the new paradigm
\nalluded to earlier. We should try to use these as solutions to
\nour problems to produce as many educated people as possible in
\nthe shortest possible time. Simultaneously, these technologies
\nare allowing the devolution to and empowerment of the people or
\nin this case students, through which the new Indonesia will prop
\nherself up onto the level playing field of the knowledge society.<\/p>\n
Should anybody then stop us in this quest? It would appear
\nthat only those who do not wish to see Indonesian progress
\nforward and upward, will stop this blessed and even holy
\nendeavor. Only those who are blind to the extremely rapid
\ndevelopment elsewhere in the world would stop this progress.
\nCertainly, one would have thought that nobody in the education
\nsphere would do such a thing.<\/p>\n
Considering Indonesia's geographical spread, varying levels of
\neducation and access to education throughout the archipelago, and
\nthe need for a more standardized upgrading of education from
\nSabang to Merauke, the use of technology and in particular
\neducational technology is simply unavoidable. But what are we
\ntalking about when we say technology or educational technology?<\/p>\n
With the rapid development of technology itself, it is
\nchallenging to give a firm definition of educational technology.
\nIn essence it is the use of new methods of learning that improve
\neffectiveness and efficiency of learning for students, while also
\nallowing students to decide for themselves about how, where, when
\nand what they learn. This is another manifestation of democracy
\nthat Indonesia has been longing for, for such a long time.<\/p>\n
In real terms, both new software (human resources) and
\nhardware are involved. A very simple example is the use of an
\noverhead transparency projector in a classroom, rather than the
\nubiquitous blackboard. This improves student learning because the
\nmaterial shown on the transparency can be easily photocopied and
\ndistributed to the students, in comparison to students
\nlaboriously copying material from a blackboard.<\/p>\n
Then there is the use of 8mm or 16mm films to supplement
\nclassroom lectures. Even this technology has been further refined
\nand modernized. Videotapes are more portable, easier to use and
\nrelatively cheaper to edit and revise.<\/p>\n
Then, of course, there is the computer which has
\nrevolutionized much of our everyday life. The floppy diskette has
\ngraduated from the 5 1\/4 inch physically less durable diskette to
\na now universal 3 1\/2 inch 1.4Mb memory space and certainly more
\nrobust diskette. This has eased a lot of information (and
\nknowledge) transfer. Lately we have seen the \"zip\" drive disk
\nwhich can contain a lot more memory than the 3 1\/2 inch diskette,
\nwhich in itself is almost the size of the computer memory of just
\na few years ago. A typical zip drive disk has 100 Mb memory size
\n-- some 50 times that of a very good laptop computer of just a
\nfew years ago.<\/p>\n
Then of course, there is the Internet and the World Wide Web
\nwhich has opened all sorts of possibilities in all fields of
\nendeavor, including education. Communication between two people
\nor many hundreds of people at the same time has become cheaper
\nand certainly quicker than any other previous modes of
\ncommunication transfer, and can be personalized with ease. This
\nof course has been made possible by the invention of Alexander
\nGraham Bell, the telephone. It is through this medium that all
\nthese electrons carrying various messages flow. They are then
\ncatapulted off the Earth to another invention, the satellite,
\nwhich can beam many millions of bytes of information across the
\nworld. There is no reason why education cannot take advantage of
\nthese new technologies.<\/p>\n
The major obstacle is the willingness and ability of humans to
\nuse and uncover many more roles for this technology in and for
\neducation. The limiting factors are ourselves including, as
\ndiscussed previously, the various manmade hurdles including,
\namong other things, the law and government rules which hamstring
\nprogress.<\/p>\n
It is true that the populace has to be protected from the
\nunscrupulous. But surely not from something that has been shown
\nmany times to help the progress of humankind. The use of
\nEducational Technology in countries like Indonesia where the
\nwindow to catch up with the rest of the world, particularly in
\neducating their people, is rapidly getting smaller, is an
\ninevitable priority.<\/p>\n
International loans and aid agencies must also take this into
\nconsideration when deciding how to prioritize for Indonesia, in
\naddition to the other revolutionary changes to the education
\nsystem I recommended in previous articles.<\/p>\n
Yes, there is a very important place for educational
\ntechnology in Indonesia, and the quicker we use it pervasively,
\nthe sooner Indonesia will join the globalized world.<\/p>\n
The writer is an international higher education consultant
\nliving in Jakarta. This is a personal opinion only.<\/p>",
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