Assistance in Making Teaching Materials Using Digital Apps
Community Service Program
Assistance in Making Learning Materials Using Digital Applications for Early Childhood Education (PAUD)
The presence of the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the country for more than a year has indirectly forced all services, including education, to be conducted online. Educational institutions starting from the Early Childhood Education (PAUD) level which consists of Play Group and Kindergarten (TK) to the Higher Education level must work hard to continue to convey their vision and mission, namely educating the nation’s children. The world of education has provided more space for teachers to be more creative in using technology, and it can be an opportunity to improve the competence of students in facing era 5.0. However, social conditions prove that not all teaching staff are able to adapt to the presence of digital roles in the field of education.
Early Childhood Education (PAUD) bears the toughest challenges in dealing with changes in the learning system during the pandemic. As an educational institution that is responsible for introducing formal education to young children, PAUD experiences many obstacles, both in terms of human resources, infrastructure from the school and parents, as well as limited material that can be given to students. During the pandemic, there was a reduction in the quality of teaching materials delivered to students which did not allow interaction between teachers and students. So that the emergence of boredom from students and parents with the concept of learning that is only task-based.
As evidence, one of the Early Childhood Education Institutions (PAUD) in Bandung, namely RA Persis, experienced extraordinary obstacles. With the limitations of existing human resources and the lack of knowledge of the digital world, the delivery of learning materials is significantly reduced. Therefore, there is a need for assistance in making learning materials by utilizing digital media at RA Persis. So that later it is hoped that RA Persis educators can have digital-based teaching modules to facilitate the delivery of material and attract students’ interest to continue learning in these difficult times.
The implementation of community service ‘Assistance in Making Learning Materials Using Digital Applications for Early Childhood Education Levels’ for PERSIS 8 teachers was carried out on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 13.00 – 14.30 WIB, which was attended by approximately 27 participants who are teaching staff at Play Group and TK EXACTLY 8.
This activity was opened by the chief executive who also acts as one of the resource persons in this service activity, namely Rr. Rieka F. Hutami, SMB., MM.,. The first material delivered by Khairani Ratnasari Siregar, Ph.d, emphasized the understanding of digital or e-learning materials and their impact and benefits for the school and the stakeholders involved. That the pandemic has triggered the acceleration of the use of technology in teaching which has actually been implemented in several schools and universities. After receiving an introduction, the teachers were invited to interact in a practical way using the Word Wall application guided by Rr Rieka F. Hutami. Word wall is one application that is quite interesting that can make students not bored in understanding school material. The fun didn’t stop there because after experiencing the word wall application, participants were invited to interact using the Padlet application. The padlet application is an application that provides a canvas feature, so users can post and comment on the application, this material was brought by Dr. Adhi Prasetio. This training was quite exciting, although it was conducted online, the participants were quite enthusiastic in listening to this training. The organizer hopes that this training can raise the enthusiasm of teachers to start introducing the use of digital applications to their students.
