Digital Transformation Trends in Vocational Education in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemics has forced the changes of many aspects of life, including vocational education. Schools must adapt to the a new condition of learning activities towards online learning. However, online learning becomes more challenging for vocational schools that focus on practical lessons. The limited access to the internet and technological tools in many remote and rural areas also become main issues in delivering the learning activities. Therefore, teachers and schools need to offer various learning modes and digital platforms to ensure that the students can still get access to the lesson. The study aims to discover the trend in the use of digital transformation of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also to find out the best means of delivering the students' education for the future. The study uses a quantitative approach using a simple survey questionnaire to collect the data. The study involved 110 teachers from various vocational schools in Bandung, while the questionnaire was collected using google forms. The data then presented in graphs then analyzed and compared to a literature review from related studies. The study shows that in synchronous learning, Google Meet is the most popular option for video-conferencing (82%). In comparison, video-assisted learning is the most popular (94,45%) in asynchronous learning among vocational teachers. In terms of using the Learning Management System, all teachers use Google Classroom to manage the classes. It is also interesting that most teachers prefer to use more than one digital platform to deliver their lessons. In conclusion, vocational teachers gravitate more towards free, easy-to-use, engaging platforms and require little effort and preparation to operate. They also need flexibility and variations to use digital platforms to adjust the lesson to their capabilities, and the student needs accordingly.