ADVANTAGEOUS ONLINE LEARNING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: WHY PARENTS DISBELIEVE?

Abstract: Parents' expectations for children's educational attainment
must be restrained by Covid-19 in 2020. In Indonesia, the virus has
interfered with all levels of school to reform the mode of learning.
An immediate decision made by the Ministry of Education was to
implement full online learning. This situation uncovers obstacles
that children and parents undergo. Even though the advantages of
the policies have been perceived and published, the stakeholders
need to express the problems too. This paper will exhibit parents’
disbelief toward online learning. The survey using questionnaire
had been administered to 200 parents of elementary level students
of Muhammadiyah Schools in Surabaya, Indonesia. The results
show parents’ disbelief issues. Online learning is believed as
burdensome to parents and children. It is also ineffective in
accommodating competencies such as academic, affective, spiritual
competencies, as well as talents and interests. Interviews were then
conducted to investigate the factors: parents own limited time to
assist children in studying, numbers of the family own limited
gadget facilities, and children need to meet their teacher directly to
understand the lesson. Finally, the implication after parents’
disbelief is revealed. Parents were becoming more emotional to the
children along with their demotivation to the online learning as well
as the lower academic, affective, and spiritual competence.
Keywords: disbelief, online learning, pandemic