Faculty members and students from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) and the Faculty of Engineering at Widyatama University conducted community service at the Al-Istiqomah Islamic Boarding School in Cileles Village, Jatinangor District, Sumedang Regency.
They provided training on e-learning systems and online libraries.
The activity was held on Friday, December 24, 2021.
Dr. Keni Kaniawati S.E., M.Si, Head of Widyatama Business Incubator (WIBI) and Chair of Community Service, explained that the PkM Team deliberately provided training on e-learning and online library systems online.
“Where online learning systems are learning systems without direct face-to-face contact between teachers and students but are conducted online using the internet, leading to modern education in the era of industry 4.0,” said Keni recently.
The goal is for educators to ensure that teaching and learning activities continue, even though students are at home.
“The terms online and offline learning have emerged as forms of learning in the current era of information technology,” said Keni.
In addition, Keni said that the implementation of digital libraries can also lead to expanded access, increased confidence among students, and make the teaching and learning process more interesting.
Therefore, the research team he led built and developed a digital library. This was an innovative offering, so that students could be trained to acquire knowledge from any source of information, without having to wait for it from a single source, namely their educators or teachers.
Keni continued, in line with this concept, the role of teachers in Islamic boarding schools is not merely to impart knowledge, but to stimulate students to deepen their knowledge independently. However, the presence of teachers cannot be replaced by technology.
Furthermore, the development of digital collections should be prioritized, as this is the most important component in the teaching and learning process.
Thus, through the digital library, a teaching system that encourages development will continue to be developed.
She also revealed that the implementation of the Community Service Program was made possible by a grant from the “Merdeka Belajar Campus Merdeka Policy Research Program and Community Service Based on Research Results and Prototypes of Private Higher Education Institutions, Directorate General of Higher Education, Research, Technology and Innovation, Fiscal Year 2021”.
“We, together with the PkM team, would like to thank the Directorate General of Higher Education for its financial assistance, which has made this Community Service possible,”
Meanwhile, Dr. Fansuri M.M., as a member of the PkM Team, added that during the pandemic, almost all Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia experienced the same problems.
This includes the Cileles Islamic Boarding School in Jatinangor, which faced challenges during the teaching and learning process. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, some Islamic boarding schools have suspended in-person learning.
It is known that the learning system has been carried out conventionally, therefore by providing training and simulation on online/e-learning learning systems to Al-Istiqomah Islamic boarding school, it is hoped that the online/virtual e-learning learning system will be widely known.
“Considering that currently at least 80% of all people involved in education and business use the internet to obtain information about the educational products or services they need,” said Fansuri.
Meanwhile, according to Asep Anwar, ST.M.T., also a member of the PkM team, online learning facilitates interaction between students and learning materials.
Likewise, it facilitates interaction between students (students) and teachers as well as between fellow students. Students can share information or opinions on various matters related to lessons or the personal development needs of students.
In addition, according to Dr. Ratna Komala Putri SE., M.Si., Head of P2M, said that this activity was very beneficial for the Al-Istiqomah Islamic boarding school.
Especially for teachers and students, because teaching and learning activities can still be carried out despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
In connection with all of this, Dede Otang, Chairman of the Tarbiyatul Ummah Al-Istiqomah Foundation, highly appreciates the activities carried out by the faculty members and students of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), as well as the Faculty of Engineering, UTama.
According to him, this community service is not only a manifestation of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education but also makes a significant contribution to the development of online learning systems and libraries.
(Source: majalahsora.com)
