Learning Autonomy - Online and Distance Learning
Learning Autonomy - Online and Distance Learning
Darwin1, Burhan2
Universitas Madako, Tolitoli, Indonesia
ABSTRACT
Computer and internet technology encourage learners' autonomy by allowing them to choose the time,
place, and circumstances conducive to learning. The application of digital technology has meaningful
connections with developing students' learning autonomy and promoting their skills independently. This
research aimed to present meaningful information for the readers about the effectiveness of digital
technology in promoting students' autonomous learning by answering the two research questions; what
kinds of digital technology's characteristics, and which digital technology condition effectively promotes
students' autonomous learning. The Simple Literature Review includes seven articles selected from 19
articles in Google scholar, 1.215 articles in Science direct, and four articles in Sinta (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6).
The reviewed articles indicated seven apps; Schoology, Multimedia-assisted Instruction (MAI),
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), Memrises, Quizlet, Socrative, Sli-do, and Three-
Dimensional (3D). The virtual environments allow students to promote their autonomous learning in such
conditions as long-distance learning, classroom learning activities, and self-training activities.
INTRODUCTION
learning into three levels; control over learning management, control over cognitive
processes, and control over the learning content. He argues that through the three
approaches, learner autonomy is able to develop: by managing the planning, organization,
and evaluation of the first level; moving forward, directing learners' attention to linguistic
input, reflecting upon their learning, and building metacognitive knowledge in the second
stage; and finally, being given the freedom to decide their goals and learning resources at
the ultimate level. Little (1991) defines learners' autonomy as a capacity for detachment,
critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action. Moreover, Little (2002)
proposed a more holistic view of learner autonomy and indicated that the practice of
learner autonomy requires insight, a positive attitude, and a readiness to be proactive in
self-management and interaction with others. Students have been found to prefer being in
control of their learning process, and they can feel more competent and motivated when
they are empowered to make their own choices (Cotterall, 1995; Lepper, 1985).
In line with the effectiveness of digital technology in promoting students'
autonomous learning, a study by Andina, Cahyono, & Widiati (2020) on autonomy in
EFL affirmed that learner autonomy is strongly correlated with writing achievement and
digital competence is moderately associated with writing achievement. They similarly
detected a significant relationship between a combination of learner autonomy and digital
competency towards writing achievement. Liu, Liu, and Tu (2020) state that one of the
advantages of multimedia-assisted instruction is that it makes students more interested in
sustainable learning and supports them in accessing information more effectively.
In addition, Mutlu and Eroz-Tuga (2013) claimed that computer and internet
technology seem to encourage learner autonomy by allowing students to choose the time,
place, and circumstances conducive to their learning. Additionally, the computer and the
internet can raise learners' level of motivation in language education by offering topics of
interest to the learners and introducing a diversity of study methods inside and outside the
classroom. Moreover, the internet can contribute to the development of learners' language
learning strategies by exposing learners to a digital social environment with many native
speakers to whom the students do not have access in their local community.
Moreover, in their research findings, Ramamuruthy and Rao (2015) stated that
smartphones could boost learners' critical thinking, creative thinking, communication,
and collaboration skills. They indicated the learners moved towards autonomous learning,
but they were still reliant on the teachers to achieve their learning goals. Similarly,
Aminatun (2019) claims that the expansion of technology truly enhances many
educational areas such as teaching, learning, and research. It supplies various resources
that help teachers and students learn autonomously. Knowing how to use technology well
for study will enable students to explore many things outside the classroom. Students also
bring what they have got to be discussed with their teachers or classmates when learning
activities. Accessing learning applications from any gadget such as a laptop, smartphone,
or tablet is one way to utilize technology in a good way.
Darwin, Burhan.; Satisfaction Digital Media and its Implication in Promoting Students’ … 321
METHOD
study used simple literature review including providing a detailed summary of the
questions addressed about participants, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes, as well
as the study methodology (PICOS). It also frequently focused on literature analysis of
digital technology's usefulness in promoting students' autonomous learning as a learning
strategy. The study is determined from the inquiry components search term used
appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria in selecting the relevant publications for the
final report. The databases "Science Direct," "Google Scholar," and "Sinta" are used to
search papers in responding to the review questions. The search area identified the
following search string by applying sophisticated search methods (such as "digital
technology in promoting students' autonomous learning" and "information and
communications technology in promoting students' autonomous learning").
Moreover, the search terms were used to seek titles and abstracts published between
2015 and 2020. The exclusion criteria, articles evaluated that are irrelevant to the topic of
interest, articles published in a language other than English, and duplicate articles from
the three web-based databases are all carefully eliminated from the database. In Inclusion
criteria selected the articles relevant to the study objectives, research design, and
participants. Final the search operation, nineteen were discovered in Goggle Scholar,
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1.215 in Science Direct, and four papers in SINTA. Following the application of the
exclusion and inclusion criteria, a total of seven articles were chosen. More specifically,
a four-step analysis process was employed on the seven papers, which consisted of the
following components: 1) Examining and interpreting the first piece of research that has
been selected. As part of this activity, we examined the first article by paying close
attention to the research questions, the underlying theories, the study design, technique of
data collection, data analysis, findings, and the conclusion compared to the other research.
2) Make a note of the information included within it. 3). from the second to seventh
articles, we will look at them in detail. 4). All of the articles are being compared and
concluded.
Result
1. Research Question 1:
The analysis of the research procedure of the seven studies shows that the
applications that effectively promote students’ autonomous learning are:
Schoology
Schoology is one kind of Learning Management System (LMS) that provides
an online social learning interactive mode. This e-media platform was developed
by four students, namely Ryan Hwang, Jeremy Friedman, Bill Kindler, and Tim
Trinidad, in 2007. According to Muhammad (2020), in his study, the use of
Schoology successfully promoted students' autonomy by considering some facts,
such as students' active participation through logging in and commenting on others'
ideas, students' control over deciding learning modes, setting, and materials, and
students' enthusiasm for finishing the lecturer's challenges. This study depicts how
Schoology as an e-media promotes 25 seventh grade students' autonomy in EFL
Learning in discourse analysis. Moreover, Schoology, as an e-media platform
provided online, gives social and pedagogical experiences in learning. The learners
may have interaction as well as collaboration during learning. As the learning
management system, Schoology has many features like organizing lessons starting
from planning, action, and evaluation; having discussion rooms; having a folder
for resources; and owning external links to grab more information (Sarab et al.,
2016). Besides, the e-media platform has been designed to have the capability to
Darwin, Burhan.; Satisfaction Digital Media and its Implication in Promoting Students’ … 323
present pictures, documents, and even website links as sources of learning, and the
media able to access through www.schoology.com with all kinds of browsers like
Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Puffin, Internet Explorer, and Safari.
Memrise
Memrise is helpful to improve students' English knowledge, especially in
enhancing their vocabulary. Aminatun and Oktaviani (2019) explored the use of
Memrise to enhance students' autonomous learning skills outside the classroom,
especially in studying English. The findings showed that Memrise helps students
learn English and significantly improves their vocabulary. Memrise enables
teachers to make a learning group for their students to learn a specific topic.
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Volume 7, Number 2, July-December 2021, page 319-332
2. Research Question 2:
The analysis of the research procedure of the seven studies shows that the condition
the applications that effectively promote students’ autonomous learning are:
Schoology
Students' active participation through logging in and commenting on others'
ideas, students' control over deciding on learning modes, settings, and materials,
and students' enthusiasm for finishing the lecturer's challenges were all factors in
Schoology's promotion of learner autonomy, according to Muhammad (2020).
Schoology's effectiveness as a media technology for teaching and learning
activities is also supported by Villanueva, Ruiz-Madrid, and Luzon (2010), who
argue that technology triggers are developed to help people learn and practice
exercises more by providing them with more access to authentic materials as
learning sources, increasing the opportunity for users to interact with any sources,
and enhancing metacognitive ability as self-experienced learning. Students' self-
directed attitude to regulating their learning till they reach the target achievement
is improved by technological advancements. Schoology, a web-based e-media
platform, provides a social and educational learning environment for students.
Schoology is a learning management system with various features, such as lesson
preparation, action, evaluation, discussion rooms, a folder for materials, and
external links to get additional information. Schoology also provides a learning
management system (Sarrab et al., 2016).
students while helping them connect their schoolwork and real-world situations.
An ICT-Integrated Instruction is a means of learning interactively with excessive
use of the internet, email, webpages, blogs, and wikis incorporating Information
Communication Technologies (ICTs) or ICTs (Davies, 2013).
Memrise
Memrises are a tool that allows professors or lecturers to create learning
groups for their students for them to learn a specific topic (Aminatun & Oktaviani
2019). The program, which can be accessed at any time and from any location,
might encourage pupils to learn independently. The application, which can be
downloaded for free to students' mobile devices, is accompanied by interactive
learning features and an intuitive user interface. Memrise is a fantastic tool for
improving pupils' English language skills, particularly expanding their vocabulary.
Luczak (2017), Memrise was described as an instructional program for learning
multiple subjects available both online and on a mobile device. Furthermore,
Shellenbarger's (2015) Memrise employs spaced repetition of flashcards to
increase how students remember new information. The visitors can also learn
about different words from a given language or specific fields by viewing their
definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and even their pronunciation on the website.
known as mobile apps). Purwati (2018) employed Quizlet, Socrative, and Sli.do in
her research. The Quizlet instructor community is enormous. Its purpose is to help
students (and teachers) learn better by practicing and mastering it. Quizlet has
thousands of entertaining, flexible games developed by individuals worldwide.
Using Socrative, a teacher can assess all students' understanding throughout a
session, not just those who speak up. Each element has a unique name and function.
The quiz allows teachers to create multiple-choice, true/false, and short-answer
assessments that can be reused. Instead of multiple-choice questions, students in
the Space Race race their spaceship across the screen. The teacher asks a multiple-
choice, true or false, or short-answer question during a Quick Question activity.
Socrative helps students find the correct answer. This practice helps students
reflect at the end of a lesson. Sli-do is a polling and Q&A tool for conferences and
events. App users can tweet questions to speakers and panels, examine the event
plan, build a personalized itinerary, and network with other delegates in real-time.
CONCLUSION
scholar, Science direct, and Sinta (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) published between 2015 and 2020.
The writers were able to get minor papers that go into greater detail concerning the role
of multimedia technology in enhancing students' autonomy in their learning. The author
discovered seven papers associated with 19 in google scholar, 1.215 items in Science
direct, and four articles in Sinta using Google scholar. Seven media technologies
identified as suitable for promoting students' autonomous learning, each of which refers
to an online computer or mobile application: Schoology, Multimedia-assisted Instruction
(MAI), Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), Memrises, Quizlet, Socrative,
Sli-do, and Three-Dimensional Learning (TDL) (3D). Students in such circumstances
have access to computer and mobile applications, long-distance learning, classroom
learning activities, and self-training activities, among other things. As a guideline for
prospective researchers, this study applies two keywords to search for relevant
publications and only focuses on open access articles, a recommendation for prospective
researchers. When searching for relevant papers, it is more helpful to read non-open
access materials from various sources and construct keywords that are more than two
words long.
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