HOW VIRTUAL LEARNING TOOL AFFECT STUDENTS’ LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

The pandemic that strikes around the world in 2020 has forced educational institutions to conduct teaching learning activities virtually through internet connection. In our university, virtual learning by video conference (henceforth VC using Zoom) has been chosen to replace face-to-face classroom meetings. However, due to limited connectivity and other sources, only half of the sessions were provided with video conference using Zoom application in which the teacher can present the materials synchronously to the students. While for the rest of the learning sessions, students were assigned to do self-study. For all sessions, with or without the video conference, students were provided with the learning materials in the forms of Power point slides, learning videos and e-textbook. This study aimed to find out to what extend video conference session affect the students’ achievement in comparison to their achievement by self-study. Moreover, the other objective is to discover students’ opinions regarding the video conference sessions. This study took 40 students of English Department, Binus University as participants. They were taking the subject of Projects in Language, Literature and Culture which basically contains research ideas or projects in those three areas. The data were taken from the six class sessions (3 VC sessions, 3 self-study sessions) and the students’ assignment scores for all six sessions. A survey through an online channel was also done to obtain students’ opinions regarding the VC sessions in virtual learning. Results show that video conference sessions generate a slightly higher scores compared to those without VC sessions. Moreover, students also showed positive attitude toward the VC sessions for the course. This study implied that students still need to interact and listen to their teacher’s explanation even though it is done virtually. Even though synchronous virtual learning cannot fully replace face to face meetings, it can at least supplement the need for teacher-student interaction. Thus, teachers need to keep improving their teaching technology skill to achieve students’ learning goals.