The 34th Bincang Karya (Bianka) webinar discussing the latest research in education conducted by Indonesian students in the United States was presented in the Bincang Karya (Bianka) webinar, last Tuesday (17/5). The webinar was held by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington DC through the Office of the Education and Culture Attaché of the Republic of Indonesia.
Director of Finance and General Affairs of the Financial Fund Management Institute (LPDP), Emmanuel Agust Hartanto, said education is the key to reducing poverty, accelerating economic growth, achieving gender equality, and also strengthening the quality of human resources. “Indonesia needs an education and training system to improve the welfare of its citizens, so that the quality of human resources can improve, especially to build education reform and achieve better results,” Emmanuel explained on this occasion.
In line with that, the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Rosan P. Roeslani, on a different occasion, said that Indonesia has big challenges in the world of education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the government continues to try to ensure that education is present in the midst of a pandemic. “The government continues to strive to provide inclusive education to all levels of society. One of them is by giving leeway to each school to use the curriculum according to their individual needs,” said Ambassador Rosan.
In addition, Ambassador Rosan also underlined that this commitment is in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) point four in terms of the goal of creating global education. “The government feels that the world must restore the education sector after the pandemic hit. The needs of the world of work, especially in the post-pandemic period, have changed. Therefore, we need to reorganize how education can answer the challenges of the world in this post-pandemic era,” said Ambassador Rosan.
Department Chair of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Betsy McEneaney, explains the various programs at the College of Education and the advantages of each department. “In Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, English Language Acquisition, we have many undergraduate and doctoral students in this field. Our department is also filled with people who work in the education sector for immigrants and refugees,” said Betsy.
Associate Dean and the Graduate College of Oklahoma State University, Matt Laverne, explains related research and professional development in the field of education. “One of the ways we do this is through the 3600 Critical Skills for Career Success program, which is an optional program, and involves credentials in a number of areas of professional development,” explains Matt.
A lecturer at the Department of English Education, Faculty of Language and Literature Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) Bandung, Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, was asked to be the moderator that night.
Doctoral candidate in Education Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Aziz Awaludin, said that his current research focuses on the process of preparing work plans for urban school districts in the United States to form school leaders who promote equality.
“I use Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), a new method to map the framework of thinking from qualitative data. This is because racial issues in the United States are very important, so this research is very significant in looking at the map of the framework developed by the district,” explained Aziz.
Meanwhile, a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology from Oklahoma State University, Jati Ariati, explained his research on the experiences of international students in online classes at predominantly white institutions. “This research will also look at their perception of their sense of belonging,” he explained.
According to Jati, this research will help him design online classes (blended and fully online) that are more inclusive. “In the future, I hope this research can be one of the reference indicators in evaluating teaching and learning,” concluded Jati.
Doctoral candidate in Teacher Education and School Improvement from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Nanak Hikmatullah, in his presentation, described his initial research focused on the idea of humanizing technology in the context of online learning, namely how everyone can interact well in an online environment as well as in a classroom. traditional (face to face).
“In the context of Indonesia, it is hoped that later this research will contribute to the development of online learning in our higher education to be even better and more feasible, because so far online learning is considered to lack quality and credibility,” explained Nanak.
On a separate occasion, the Chairperson of the Indonesian State University Chancellor Council (MRPTNI), Jamal Wiwoho, hoped that this webinar could create opportunities for collaboration between universities in Indonesia and education experts in the United States.
“I think campuses in Indonesia are very open to collaborating with experts in the field of education in America, for example by making them guest lecturers and conducting joint research,” said Jamal.
The Indonesian Attaché for Education and Culture (Atdikbud) in Washington, DC, Popy Rufaidah, explained that the purpose of holding Bianka was to open up opportunities for collaboration between universities in Indonesia and the United States in the field of education. “It is also hoped that the number of Indonesian students who continue their studies in the United States will increase. They can take advantage of the scholarships that the government has provided, such as the LPDP,” said Atdikbud Popy.
Bianka was held in collaboration with the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC, MRPTNI, and LPDP and will continue for several series in the future.
For information, the recording of the live broadcast of the Education Sector-34 Bincang Karya (BIANKA) webinar can be accessed at the link https://bit.ly/fb-watch-bianka34 on the official Atdikbud USA Facebook page.