Digital Interactive Whiteboards and the Leap in Learning
The 2026 Hajj pilgrimage, the first major undertaking of the newly established Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, has just concluded. Meanwhile, our education system continues to navigate a rocky path. For more than two decades, the nation’s young minds have carried a ‘heavy rucksack’ in mastering literacy, numeracy, and science, leaving them unable to leap forward on the PISA stage. Indonesia’s PISA scores are recorded at 359 for reading, 366 for mathematics, and 383 for science. These figures place Indonesia third from bottom in the ASEAN region, far behind the average standard of OECD countries. Even more concerning, the World Bank has warned that without radical, large-scale change, Indonesia will need 200 years to bring its education up to OECD standards. The challenge is clear: incremental improvements are no longer sufficient. Indonesian education requires a leap.
The urgency of this change forms the backdrop to President Prabowo Subianto’s policy direction. Through the promoted digitalisation of education programme, the government is focusing on laying a new foundation by procuring Digital Interactive Whiteboard (PID) units for various schools. In 2025, this programme has reached 288,865 educational units. This strategic move is, of course, not merely about purchasing digital gadgets, but rather a long-term investment in building 21st-century learning infrastructure. The critical question remains: will the presence of thousands of these interactive whiteboards automatically boost our PISA scores?
Historically, the world of education has always greeted technological innovation with high expectations. From the blackboard, radio, computers, and the internet to digital projectors and tablets, all have promised major breakthroughs. The reality is that these changes have never automatically improved the quality of education. Some even sparked polemics. Before the 19th century, educational methods relied heavily on listening, memorising, and reciting material orally. Many conservative educators believed that using a blackboard made students lazy in sharpening their memories. However, history records that the blackboard did not weaken thinking skills but instead changed the way students learn. Information was no longer just heard but could also be seen, discussed, and understood together. Since then, the blackboard has become a symbol of the birth of modern learning.
Educational radio suffered a different fate. When introduced in the early 20th century, radio was touted as a revolution for schools. That hope was not fully realised. Its one-way nature made it difficult for radio to build the interaction, discussion, or feedback that is the core of the learning process. Radio did become a saviour when the polio outbreak closed schools in Chicago in 1937, but after the crisis passed, it never became a mainstream learning medium. Radio succeeded in expanding access but failed to transform education. Technology can change the classroom, but it does not necessarily change the way people learn.
New Zealand education expert John Hattie, in his book Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement (2008), reinforces this fact. Based on a synthesis of thousands of educational studies, Hattie shows that technology is not the most decisive factor in learning success. Its impact becomes significant, Hattie says, when combined with appropriate pedagogy, clear learning objectives, quality feedback, and strong interaction between teacher and student. In other words, devices are merely infrastructure; the quality of learning is still determined by how the device is used. A smooth motorway does not automatically speed up a journey if the vehicle is not heading in the right direction. Likewise, the use of technology in education only becomes meaningful when it drives the learning process, not just beautifies the classroom.
Hattie’s view seems aligned with what the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Abdul Mu’ti, is promoting through Deep Learning. As a new paradigm for Indonesian education, Deep Learning is no longer centred on content delivery but on a learning process that is meaningful, mindful, and joyful. The focus is not just on making students know more, but on helping them think more critically, solve problems, collaborate, and generate new ideas.
Herein lies the implementation challenge. Deep Learning demands rich learning experiences: simulations, experiments, discussions, project-based learning, adaptive assessments, and rapid feedback. All of this requires significant time, creativity, and teacher capacity. Amidst administrative burdens, limited learning resources, and the diversity of student abilities, delivering such learning experiences is not easy. Teachers are required to design meaningful, interactive learning that challenges critical thinking, while available time is often consumed by administrative tasks. This challenge does not have to be answered by adding to the teacher’s burden. It is precisely here that artificial intelligence (AI) can play a strategic role. AI can become a compass that opens the map to the depth of student understanding. When combined with the Digital Interactive Whiteboard, AI transforms the device from a mere presentation medium into an interactive space. AI enables teachers to design various learning models that were previously difficult to realise in conventional classrooms, from visual simulations and digital laboratories to interactive quizzes, group comparisons, project-based learning, dynamic concept maps, and inquiry-based investigations.