More than a year the world was horrified by the Covid-19 virus and brought many sectors of life to a standstill, one of which was education. Various efforts have been made to immediately end the pandemic period, such as requiring everyone to keep 3M (Wearing masks, Washing Hands, Keeping distance). But in the midst of the ongoing pandemic situation, not least the adverse influence that occurs in the education sector.
According to a UNICEF report, 168 million children worldwide are experiencing difficulties due to their school closures. The school closures were recorded in more than 200 countries between March 11, 2020 and February 2, 2021. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean were the most affected by the school closures, with an average of 158 days of full school closures.
To overcome these worst possibilities, the government made various efforts and policies for the continuity of education in the midst of the pandemic. Maximizing technology facilities provides an overview of the continuity of education in the future. Although technology still cannot replace the role of teachers, lecturers, and learning interactions between students and teachers, all parties involved in learning activities are forced to think creatively in utilizing this technology. Thus, in addition to bad influences there are also good or positive influences that occur in this education sector.
Here are some of the positive impacts that occurred during the teaching and learning activities during the pandemic.
1. The Development of Technology-Based Education
The Covid-19 pandemic, which impacted the closure of most of these schools, forced the government to implement Distance Education activities or PJJ for short. Pjj learning system carries the concept of online schools, where all learning activities are carried out with technology. Of course, this requires all individuals involved to be technologically literate. All parties involved will learn the importance of technology, and understand the importance of technology and digital literacy. So that the Industrial Revolution 4.0 that uses technology as its focus can also be carried out properly.
2. The Emergence of Creativity in Education
With the development of this era in education resulted in a lot of creativity that appeared such as learning applications to support onine learning that began to mushroom in the community, the increase in the number of free online courses, and programs conducted by the Directorate General of Higher Education in the form of Volunteers Covid-19 Control (RECON), Thematic KKN, Teaching From Home (MDR), and Permata Sakti.
3. The Occurrence of Good Relations in Improving Education
During this time, people in general are accustomed to an education system that is ‘fed by teachers’. Most resources in the world of education are sourced from teachers. But now, all parties, both teachers, students, and parents are jointly involved in the advancement of education in the pandemic. For example, when PJJ takes place students not only rely on printed books as a source of information but also play an active role in finding information on the internet. By studying at home, of course, parents are also involved in the continuity of education.
4. Build a Positive Mental
In the absence of learning activities at school, making a lot of time that is usually spent preparing for school until school is more spent at home. This certainly has a positive impact, one of which is to make the students more able to explore education outside of school. In addition, both students, teachers, and parents together learn to manage time so that it is not wasted. During the Covid-19 pandemic continues to take place in the world of course a lot of impacts both negative and positive that affect various fields, including education. Over time of course we can not continue to dwell on negative problems, but also have to continue to do and look for positive things in order to develop into a better person.