Integrating ICT in teaching and learning in Indonesia: the state of the art

Soekartawi
Ministry of National Education
Jakarta, Indonesia and
Brawijaya University
Malang, Indonesia

This paper describes the process of integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning in Indonesia -- the importance of which is reflected in the Education Law Number 20/2003 and Strategic Plan for Educational Development in Indonesia, 2005--09. In this plan, ICT is seen as playing a vital role in supporting three basic goals of the country's educational development, namely (1) increasing equity and expanding access to education; (2) enhancing quality, relevance and competitiveness; and (3) strengthening governance, accountability and public image.

Because of the significance of ICT for a country of great geographical diversity, including more than 17,000 islands, a wide range of programmes which integrate ICT and teaching/learning have been established, viz.

• integrating ICT into the curriculum of vocational secondary schools;

• a school Internet network;

• a wide-area network in the city;

• e-education;

• educational radio broadcasts for primary school students;

• ICT block grants for secondary schools;

• ICT centres, particularly in the less developed regions;

• a mobile training unit for ICT in education;

• relay stations and mini studios for educational TV;

• a program called SMU-2000 or High School 2000, which is intended to connect 2,000 high schools to the Internet by developing an educational portal each year;

• Cyber City for supporting education;

• APEC learning community builders;

• the Indonesian Higher Education Network; and

• the National Education Network.

In general, educators, policy-makers and researchers seem to agree that ICT has the potential to make a very significant positive impact on education in Indonesia. According to Riel (2006), schools (and other education institutions) working to accommodate the present rapid changes in ICT should adopt the model of a learning community which recognizes the fundamental value of creating globally responsible citizens. Such schools can and do allow students to feel a sense of community in their schools and experience a connection with the world at large. Focusing the school curriculum on global education can reinforce the idea of being a global citizen, as global studies takes an interdisciplinary approach to learning the concepts and skills necessary to function in a world that is increasingly interconnected and multicultural.

Although there are still some constraints, it is suggested that future developments in integrating ICT for education in Indonesia should be focused on the following considerations: (1) learning about ICT (computer and ICT literacy); (2) working with ICT as a tool (ICT-assisted learning); (3) learning by means of ICT (ICT as an educational resource); (4) treating ICT as a building-block for a powerful learning environment; and (5) applying the positive effects of ICT to school organization.