Blending Academic Writing: The use of technology to teach amid Covid-19 pandemic Michael*, Maria Tamarina Prawati, Clara Herlina Karjo
English Department, Faculty of Humanities
Bina Nusantara University
Jakarta, Indonesia 11480
*msetiawan.jwc[at]binus.edu
Abstract
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, teachers have to hesitantly switch to virtual world of teaching, known as enriched virtual blended learning in which technology surely plays a significant role in material delivery and discussion. Studies related to blended learning in English language class, especially in academic writing classes, have been done in many countries, but they are still lack in Indonesian setting. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of technologies utilization in an enriched blended learning to teach academic writing and the students^ perspectives towards the use of technology in blended learning. This study involving forty-five students in a university in Jakarta applied both quantitative and qualitative methods. A pre-test and a post-test were assigned before and after the blended learning period to study the effectiveness of blended learning. In addition, survey and interview were conducted to investigate the students^ perspectives. The results indicated that the use of technology in blended learning effectively helped students develop their academic writing skill despite being a new experience. Furthermore, despite some limitations, this strategy of using technology in teaching learning was accepted with optimism as they started to get accustomed to. Hence, the use of technology is promising for the future of learning.
Keywords: Blended learning- technology- academic writing- English language- EFL
