Singaraja- The Covid-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for the transformation of learning towards online learning. In the midst of such conditions, the formation of the character of students must be maintained, especially at the elementary school level. Behind this, there are still many teachers who have difficulty integrating character education content into online learning. Undiksha academics addressed this issue through training that was part of the Community Service (PkM) program.
The training was held on Monday (10/5/2021) virtually with teacher participants at SDN 1 Baktiseraga, Buleleng Regency. The speakers consisted of Prof. Dr. I Nengah Martha, M.Pd., who presented the material “Strategy to Strengthen Character Education” and Dr. I Putu Mas Dewantara, S.Pd., M.Pd., with the material “Online Learning with Character Education”.
During the activities, Mas Dewantara, who is also the team leader, explained that character education must be given to students in order to create quality Human Resources and be able to become the nation’s next generation who are ready to compete and contribute to development. “Whatever happens, character education must continue. Character education during a pandemic must take place,” he stressed.
Values in character education consist of religious attitude, honesty, tolerance, discipline, hard work, creativity, independence, democratic, curiosity, national spirit, love of the motherland, respect for achievement, friendship, love of peace, fondness of reading, caring for the environment, social care, and responsibility. These values must be instilled early on in students, especially at the elementary school level. “However, there are still teachers who feel they have not been able to fully master technology and have difficulties in character education during the pandemic,” he explained.
Delivered further, teachers need creativity so they can integrate character building with online learning. The strategy offered by the team is to insert material through story text, media, videos, and so on. “These digital-based materials can be integrated into teaching and learning activities for each subject. In essence, in situations like this, teachers are required to be creative,” said the academic from Jembrana Regency.
In order to optimize this strategy, according to him, it needs to be supported by improving learning facilities, internet access, and so on both from the side of educators and students. In addition, the psychological readiness of educators in implementing online learning. No less important is the need for collaboration between schools, the family environment, and the community in character education during the pandemic. “These three education centers must work together to achieve the goal of Indonesia’s Golden Generation 2045,” he concluded.
The head of SDN 1 Baktiseraga, Putu Ada, S.Pd., M.Pd., appreciated this training and hoped that the material presented would increase teachers’ understanding which could then be applied in order to improve the quality of education implementation in schools. He also agreed that character education must be maintained even though learning takes place in a virtual space. (hms)
