The outbreak of the COVID-19 has driven the community, education activists and telecommunications operators to join hands. They producing content about COVID-19 prevention based on information in the mainstream media.
By
LARASWATI ARIADNE ANWAR/JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA
·5 minutes read
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by a new coronavirus has driven the community, education activists and telecommunications operators to join hands. Their goal is one: producing content about COVID-19 prevention based on information in the mainstream media that is guaranteed to be accurate so that people do not panic. There is also a free internet data of up to 30 gigabytes and digital learning programs so that the education stays online.
Ariyo Zidni, a storyteller and writer of children\'s stories, is working on a fairy tale about the COVID-19 coronavirus and how to prevent transmission. "Now, I am preparing the video. The target audience is children who need additional knowledge," he said when contacted from Jakarta on Tuesday (17/03/2020). He said he estimates that the video would be finished next week and be uploaded to social media soon.
Meanwhile, illustrator Agah Nugraha Muharam is finishing his comics. According to the plan, by Wednesday (18/3) this comic is to be colored and published on social media. He was inspired by a variety of mainstream media articles as his sources of information, which were guaranteed to be accurate. According to him, the comic targeted millennial and generation Z readers who preferred information in the form of illustrations. In it there are also graphs that are displayed in interesting ways.
The comic strip is for parents and children so that they are not exposed to hoaxes.
In a more complex arrangement, the founder of Semua Murid Semua Guru (All Students All Teachers), Najelaa Shihab, is collaborating with various institutions, such as the Education and Culture Ministry, the social media channel How come?, Inspect History and Narasi, publishing the preventive comic book, COVID-19. This comic strip is BEING distributed via the sekolah.mu/barenganlawancorona website, which can be accessed for free.
"The comic strip is for parents and children so that they are not exposed to hoaxes. It is more important that they implement preventive measures, such as staying at home, not touching their faces if they have not washed their hands and immediately see a doctor if the symptoms of coughs, runny noses and fever appear," said Najelaa.
Concerns about the transmission of COVID-19 made a number of local administrations decide to stop learning activities at schools, including Jakarta, South Tangerang city, Tangerang city, Tangerang regency, Depok city, Bogor city, Bekasi city, Surakarta city and Surabaya. The schools are being asked to prepare teaching materials to be submitted online. Telkomsel, a state-owned telecommunications operator, has also joined in facilitating the program so that the younger generations can continue studying at home online.
Related to that, Telkomsel customers are to get 30 gigabytes (Gb) of internet data free for a month. The data is for students who study at home because of COVID-19. This data quota is for utilizing Ruangguru, an online tutorial application. Telkomsel has also
partnered with online learning application managers named Quipper, Zenius, Capable and Bahaso to support the education world in the face of COVID-19. Telkomsel gives the 30 Gb data for free for one month in the Ilmupedia package to access those four applications.
The move was part of Telkomsel\'s efforts to sustain community productivity amid calls for social distancing caused by the outbreak. It also aims to ensure learning does not stop even though the process must move from schools to the homes of the students and teachers. Telkomsel and Ruangguru collaborate so that students become more eager to learn with the ease of accessing educational content. In normal conditions, a 3 Gb data package with Ruangguru is priced at Rp 25,000 for 30 days.
"This effort is a form of Telkomsel\'s contribution to ensure that the learning process of the students can still be carried out effectively during the period of implementing the long-distance learning system in a number of regions," said Telkomsel president director Setyanto Hantoro in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The challenge of learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic is not only experienced by young Indonesian people. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recorded that COVID-19 has disrupted the activities of 290 million students throughout the world. UNESCO also recommends distance-learning activities.
Ruangguru\'s founder and chief director Belva Devara said Ruangguru offered the Ruangguru Free Online School program to respond to the “learning-at-home” policies in a number of regions.
Students can also study through distance online on Monday-Friday. The facilities can be enjoyed by students from Grade 1 to Grade 12 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon West Indonesia Time with 15 teaching channels covering all subjects based on the national curriculum.
As part of the anticipation for a surge in internet data usage caused by increased access to online learning applications, Telkomsel has also prepared additional network capacity in a number of areas that apply study-at-home policies. "Telkomsel has also conducted network security in residential areas and at COVID-19 control points, such as hospitals and relevant government offices," Setyanto said.