Has the Online Learning System Failed?

As we know, the whole world is currently experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. This event affects all human activity, from waking up until going back to sleep, and one of those activities is school. Almost all schools and other public facilities have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore, we are forced to carry out our daily activities in different ways, including in the school learning process.

In learning, humanist education is very important to apply in order to develop learning abilities or potential. Humanism is a general term for sharing different lines of thought that focus on the common way out of a problem (Mulyana, 2016). Humanism comes from the word humanistic, which simply means “humanity”; it derives from the Latin humanus, meaning “human” or in accordance with human nature, which is derived from the root word homo, meaning human. Humanism is one of the theories in the discipline of education. Humanism is a concept of learning that focuses on the development of the human personality, to discover one's abilities and how to develop them. The term humanism has existed since the 20th century and was initially used only in the world of psychology (Kompasiana, 2017).

Every student certainly has a different point of view and a different way of absorbing lessons. Some students suit the way the teacher teaches, while others do not. Therefore, humanist education is very important to apply in order to achieve the goals of learning.

And in the current pandemic situation, the application of learning will certainly differ from usual, but the application of humanist education must also be part of that change. Learning is currently carried out through a distance system, usually called daring (online, literally “in the network”). In this system, students are required to have supporting facilities such as a laptop or mobile phone, and an internet data package. It is true that this online system has the advantage of avoiding the spread of COVID-19, but many shortcomings come with its implementation.

In terms of delivering material, the online system is felt to be less effective; some students admit that they do not understand the material delivered and can only be chased by assignment deadlines. They come to think that they are only chasing grades rather than knowledge, because the rules require them to obtain sufficient grades to graduate. Some also admit that the teacher explains nothing and just gives assignments and modules straight away, with not much time for discussion. Also, not all students have sufficient devices and facilities to carry out this online system, so students have difficulty in getting through their schooling.

Of course, at present offline learning (luring, literally “outside the network”)  cannot be carried out in all schools, because some areas are in the red zone. In green zone areas, offline learning can currently be carried out provided that health protocols are met. And with this offline system, students do not experience the obstacles of the online system, but still, because offline learning can only be carried out in a few places, the online system cannot be avoided in continuing learning activities. So from these shortcomings and advantages we realise that humanist education is lacking in the implementation of learning in this pandemic era. Perhaps the current learning model is not yet suited to the present situation; things might improve if the portion of assignments were reduced and teachers focused more on how they deliver material and on discussion. With that, students might not feel burdened and might find it easier to understand lessons.

Therefore, teachers should pay attention to the following before carrying out distance learning: teachers first prepare the material to be taught, consider who is being taught, the teacher's own abilities and the facilities available. Teachers can also use interactive videos that can help the learning process. In this way, at least the shortcomings of the online system can be covered, although there are still obstacles regarding facilities such as laboratories and the like, which can only be carried out offline. These obstacles are understandable because we are still in a world disaster that certainly has a great effect on human activity. So the online system is neither wrong nor a failure; it depends on how the teacher teaches. If a teacher cares only about grades as a requirement for graduation without thinking about humanist education, then not only in the online system but also in the offline system it becomes a failed way of learning.