Urban education is increasingly technology-mediated as teachers and students in several schools in the city make use of the Internet.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and blogs have become prominent tools for teaching and learning processes at schools.

“I often post announcements in my Facebook account as a reminder for my students about tests, science competitions and other academic activities,”  Tri Anung Novadewa, a chemistry teacher at Kanisius College senior high school in Central Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He also regularly uploads presentation materials and practice tests on his blog to be downloaded by students. Anung, who teaches five classes, a quarter of his students regularly download materials from the site.     
His students also share chemistry notes via Facebook accounts.

“I think it’s good because it can help remind them of test schedules and materials they may forget,” said Anung, who has separate Facebook account for personal use.

One of his students, Steven Sanjaya, a 12th-grader, said all of his classmates had Facebook accounts. His friends sometimes shared key answers to practice tests and school materials in using tagged notes, and also used the site for discussions on school activities.

Evita Wulansari, a teacher at State Junior High School No. 18 (SMPN 18) in Central Jakarta, said the Internet was a big help with school learning activities.

“I usually search teaching materials using the Internet,” said Evita, who usually spends between two and four hours online a day, both at school and at home.  

She chatted with them alerted about homework tasks and tests.

Evita, who taught English and IT and communication, said despite the Internet’s capacity to facilitate teaching and learning activities, it was still far from perfect.

“I do not upload materials to my Facebook account because my students still have problems accessing the Internet at home,” she said.

Most of her students did not have a computer at home, while cellular phones did not allow them to download large files.

The school encourages its students to access the Internet, with the provision of 14 Internet-ready computers.
Syasqia Nur Jaffira, an eighth- grader at SMP 18, said besides chatting with her friends on Facebook she often used the site to make appointments with friends to do homework .

“I also use the Internet to search for materials related to my studies and it enriches my knowledge,” Syasqia said.

Despite the positive aspects of the Internet, Kanisius College biology teacher Ruth Diana had some criticisms of it.

“Students may tend to be lazy to write notes in class,” said Ruth, who did not have a Facebook account.

Ruth said the proliferation of Internet access may also encourage plagiarism among students, which meant she had to work more harder  to check her students’ homework and reports.

“I don’t tolerate plagiarism and will give them zero marks if I catch my students copying,” she said. (lnd)

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