UNS — The English Language Education Study Program (Prodi), Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta collaborates with the English Language Education Specific-Subject Teacher Forum (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran – MGMP) for Middle School (SMP), Wonogiri Education and Culture Office. The study program hosted a training on “Optimization of English Education” through Zoom Cloud Meeting. The event is attended by English Education teachers in Wonogiri District. Led by Sri Nurharsanti, M.Pd., as moderator, the training invites Hasan Zainnuri, M.Pd., as a speaker to deliver material on “Interactive Learning Media Preparation using Nearpod.”
The three-days training offers 3 (three) in service and 1 (one) on service assistance, with total participants of 70. The event started with a remark from Dr. Yuli Bangun Nursanti as the Head of the Wonogiri Education and Culture Office. In her speech, she states that the objective of this training is to solve the problems in long-range learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The objective of this training is to find the solution for the problems in virtual learning during this ongoing pandemic. In this session, you will learn about how to prepare an interactive educational media using Nearpod,” Yuli explained in her remarks.
After the statement from Dr. Yuli, an opening remark from the representative of the English Language Education Study Program FKIP UNS is delivered by Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. “Hopefully, we can always collaborate and work together until the end of the session,” Dr. Ngadiso wishes through his remarks on Wednesday (18/8/2021).
The material delivered through the program is followed by direct practice. At the beginning of the training, the participants were directed to register for a Nearpod account and filling a questionnaire. The instructor, then, disseminate the lesson objectives of the training, namely, to identify problems and strategy in English Language education during virtual learning, and to learn about the overview of Gagne’s nine events of instruction.
Hasan explains that teachers need to choose the best media to be implemented in the learning process. “There are numerous media available; feel free to choose the best media according to your need,” Hasan said. Further, Hasan explains Gagne’s nine events of instruction that consist of gaining attention, informing learners of the objective, stimulating recall of prior learning, presenting the stimulus, providing learning guidance, electing performance, providing feedback, assessing performance, and enhancing retention and transfer.
“These nine steps can be combined. Basically, those steps will be beneficial if integrated into online learning,” Hasan explained. Additionally, Hasan explains in detail the available features, informs the many options they can do, and explains how to use Nearpod extensively. He also provides the strength and weaknesses of the media, as well as the strategy to overcome the weakness of Nearpod. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
