International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM) – eISSN: 1865-7923 – Vol 16 No 18 (2022) Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… Google Classroom Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’ Perceptions and Motivation https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v16i18.32657 Suparjan(), Nining Ismiyani Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak, Indonesia suparjan@untan.ac.id Abstract—Google Classroom is one of the most trending platforms used in secondary and tertiary levels but has been observed to be rarely applied in elementary schools in Indonesia, and therefore the research about it is also still limited. This study was intended to give an insight of how effective this e- learning platform is utilized in supplementing the Elementary school teachers’ instructional programs by investigating their perceptions and motivation. Quantitative method was employed to obtain the research participants’ perceptions and investigate their self-efficacy motivation on asynchronous distance learning with Google Classroom. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 103 elementary school teachers in West Kalimantan. The data revealed that the majority of these researched teachers have positive perceptions and high level of motivation towards this learning web/app. However, a few teachers still doubted that Google Classroom can boost students’ learning. The findings indicate that Google Classroom is relevant to be applied to enhance the learning process in primary education; and the teachers’ motivation in running this technology product will support the quality learning in the cutting-edge technology era. Keywords—elementary, teachers, Google classroom, perceptions, motivation 1 Introduction The research interest focusing on management, leadership, and administration related to COVID-19 will apparently continue, inviting more studies in the area [1], especially in the educational sector covering those three aspects. All educational institutions in Indonesia were obliged to adapt with the management, leadership, and administration in accordance with the local situation and the availability of learning facilities and infrastructures. Indonesian government had taken several schemes to facilitate school activities such as providing free Internet credits, training teachers to perform online learning and supplying local online learning resources to mention Rumah Belajar, Guru Berbagi, and TV Edukasi. The use of ICT to support educational activities amidst COVID-19 pandemic has immensely contributed to the innovation in Education. The internet use by both iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 133 https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v16i18.32657 mailto:suparjan@untan.ac.id Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… teachers and students has significantly increased due to the learning shift from conventional learning to online environment [2]. There is a big homework of making the effective use of this technology to support the learning and to develop the pedagogical practices especially when it comes to the virtual classroom [3]. The majority of citizens living in developed countries appear to be those who have first experienced and enjoyed the benefit of this technology advancement in learning even long before the outbreak attacked [4]. However, the severe pandemic outbreak had really urged almost every single region all over the world, including Indonesia to be exposed with the use of ICT, particularly during distance learning. Universities in the country were constrained to carrying out their teaching learning activities with students exclusively online. Internet-based learning is a vital element to ensure the continuity of the educational process in schools and universities during the current pandemic. Many educational institutions have implemented asynchronous learning using various platforms of digital resources, one of them is Google Classroom which is popular today in Indonesian classrooms for it is free and not complicated in use. This app was developed by Google Corporation and launched publicly in August 2014. It is one of the most widespread and easiest operating cloud-based applications which records and archives all activities in it [5]. Even though many studies have investigated the use of Google Classroom amidst Covid-19 outbreak, in-depth study on elementary school teachers’ perception toward the use of this E-learning platform is still rarely found, especially in Indonesia due to the fact that in general, elementary school students still have very basic knowledge of ICT that it may constrains the teachers to apply Google Classroom in the class [6]– [10]. The majority of elementary teachers in Indonesia are even not ready to apply online learning and need to prepare themselves with systematic technology-based learning [11]. In Elementary school level, Whatsapp is frequently found to be the only media used for managing online classes during the current pandemic in Indonesia [12]–[14]. Whatsapp has been widely recognized as an affordable, applicable, and simple platform to facilitate teaching and learning from the distance via online [15]–[17]. However, Whatsapp is not designed to be used for education. Its original use is for communication with comfortable features. Therefore, other educational apps such as Google Classroom is more accommodating for pedagogical purposes. Since most of the studies investigate the use of Google Classroom at secondary and higher education, investigations which focus on exploring perception and motivation toward the utilization of Google Classroom by elementary school teachers are needed to be conducted. This research is significant to encourage other elementary school teachers to be more creative and productive in involving ICT in their classrooms instead of merely utilizing simple social media such as Whatsapp to communicate and interact with their students. Google Classroom as an ICT product with positive testimonies from various investigations has a potential usage to support not only online or distance learning at the current time but also face to face learning in the future when everything has come back to “normal”. Another contribution of this study is to 134 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… provide an insight of the use of Google Classroom in the elementary school level by highlighting two key points, perception and motivation. First, it discovered how the elementary school teachers perceive this platform in terms ease of use and access, usefulness, and satisfaction. Then, it highlighted how self-efficacy influence the motivation of these teachers to use Google Classroom in their teaching to the very young learners. 2 Literature review Online learning can be defined as learning experiences carried out using Internet- connected devices such as smartphones or laptops in synchronous and asynchronous environments [18], [19]. Synchronous and asynchronous distance learning model was an innovation in teaching and learning due to the advancement of technology in Internet service which allows the teaching and learning activities to be performed in virtual environment. Online learning equipped by sophisticated technologies in the modern world today has actually been designed properly to support teachers’ and students’ educational activities. A number of teachers running their classrooms utilizing technology devices is growing [20]. Nevertheless, many educational institutions in Indonesia performed the teaching-learning process with limited facilities, and therefore the teachers have to overcome the obstacles with e-learning platforms as well as to attempt very hard to adapt their teaching strategies to the need of their students. In addition, the transformation of learning from face to face to online delivery drastically has impacted to teachers’ readiness and acceptance of technology use in instructional conveyance. Restricted facilities and infrastructure, insufficiency of technical support, problems in monitoring students, limited number of human resources, low digital literacy skills of students, low learning motivation, lack of Internet access, lack of online teaching skills and knowledge, insufficient Internet quota, unavailable of hand- handled tools with Internet connection are some of difficulties faced by teachers and student in employing online distance learning during COVID 19 outbreak [21]–[23]. E-learning can be said as a breakthrough in Education. Previous studies have proven that this modern type of learning offers many advantages such as involving student-centredness and enhancing interaction with students by providing asynchronous and synchronous tools to mention e-mail, forums, chats, videoconferences [24], [25]. Students’ engagement is the core of study and online classes can elevate learners’ participations [26]. Online learning involves synchronous and asynchronous modes. Synchronous learning is defined as a classroom interaction between teachers and student (live chatting or live-streamed lectures) that occur in a particular virtual environment at an agreed time [27]. The activities are usually facilitated by the use of educational tools or conference-video devices such as Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The main advantages of conducting synchronous distance learning are learning engagement, active learning and instructional depth. This learning mode is advantageous and appropriate particularly for students who are passionate in dynamic iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 135 Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… discussion, requiring direct reaction, and loving personal interactions among peers and teachers in the process of learning activities. Another mode of distance learning is asynchronous which refers to learning activity that does not take place in real time. In this type of learning, interactions are undertaken at different places and times between teachers and students assisted by learning media and communication apps such as tutorial videos, web-based learning sources, Telegram, WhatsApp, and/or Google Classroom. Study materials are presented in various forms such as videos, texts, completion assignments, recordings (audio/audio-video) or Internet link for resources [27], [28]. In asynchronous learning environment, most students learn independently through the given sources; and interaction or discussion with teachers was employed by means of social media. Learning online asynchronously provides students with flexibility in completing their assignment at their convenience and setting their own pace affordability in doing their course material [27], [29]. Thus, both high-achieving students and low ones who take longer time to absorb information or comprehend new knowledge can be benefitted by this learning atmosphere. Another study revealed that learning in an asynchronous environment of technology has empowered students to develop interaction and collaboration skills such as providing support, helping and encouraging each other, sharing ideas, doing collaborative learning activities, and performing peer tutoring. Each student has the same opportunities to participate in the learning activities and discussion including less self-confident learners, introverted and shy students [30]. Even young children nowadays can actively involve in learning through technology, especially the playful ones on smartphones [31]. This condition is an advantage to teaching students in elementary level with more featured learning apps such as Google Classroom. Google Classroom is the emergingly trending application for asynchronous mode. One of the excellences of Google Classroom features is it is already connected to the Learning Management System (LMS) in the pertinent schools or universities [32]. Google Classroom is a form of digital educational technology developed specifically to support teachers in conducting educational activities, such as sending and distributing learning materials, creating virtual classroom, monitoring students’ learning progress, engaging students in a discussion activity, doing online grading or giving learning feedback through chat column [33]–[35]. Furthermore, teachers and students can benefit from this platform as it can easily and ubiquitously be accessed as long as they have devices connected to the Internet [7]. Google Classroom is free and has many facilitating features to support distance learning, its usage has been massive during the pandemic period where face to face activities at school have shifted to distance models. Many studies relating to the use of Google Classroom as the web-based platform in the pandemic of covid 19 period have been conducted and resulted in positive findings, especially about the perceptions of the users [36]–[38]. The benefits of using Google Classroom during covid 19 pandemic based on teachers’ view were usefulness, ease of use, friendliness to environment (paperless usage), satisfaction in process, and outcome satisfaction [10]. Kassim [7] investigated Malaysian university students’ perception on using Google Classroom during covid-19 outbreak and the result indicates that they have 136 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… positive view toward this E-learning platform. The students find it easy to use and useful to support distance learning. Further research was conducted in online English classes and the findings indicate that the application of Google Classroom has been successful to enhance students’ involvement in virtual discussions, reduce the psychological obstructions, increase learning attention, and improve learning motivation in terms of sharing ideas and comment in chatting column [6]. An investigation on the university students’ view toward the effectiveness of using Google Classroom as media for facilitating learning during Covid-19 pandemic also suggested that Google Classroom has been effective for its easiness of doing course assignments, usefulness of developing ICT skills and practicality of identifying learning result quickly [8]. Furthermore, the findings in Tangerang Selatan (North Tangerang), a district in West Java, showed that high school teachers admit that Google Classroom is useful to assist teachers in organizing students’ assignments, managing classes, and supporting students’ engagements [39]. Teachers’ perceptions and motivation toward ICT utilization is essential for the teaching learning improvement [40], [41]. Teachers’ perception and motivation toward technology are the two strategic determinants of integrating ICT in learning activities successfully. These studies conclude two factors encouraging educators to use ICT that is for facilitating their instructional activities and for promoting students to perform independent learning outside the classroom. Moreover, teachers’ motivation to apply technology in their classroom activities was influenced by teachers’ self-efficacy to ICT use, educational values in using ICT, impacts of ICT use on their teaching, and ICT trainings that teachers have experienced [42]. Therefore, in distance learning environment, teachers’ perception and motivation toward virtual learning technology is one of the significant factors that contribute to the accomplishment of a virtuous quality of instructional activities. 3 Methodology This study employed a descriptive-quantitative design. It aimed at investigating elementary school teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy motivations to the use of Google Classroom in distance learning activities amidst COVID-19 pandemic. In collecting the data, a set of questionnaires was adapted and modified from several studies i.e. [7], [35], [42] and 5-point Likert scale was employed to the items. The questionnaire for exploring teachers’ perception of using Google classroom as a tool for distance teaching and learning in terms of ease of use and access were modified from Kassim [7]. It comprised 19 items which are divided into two categories: 1) ease of use and access (9 items) and, 2). usefulness (10 items). Meanwhile, for researching teachers’ view related to satisfaction of using Google Classroom to facilitate their educational activities, a set of questionnaires (6 items) adapted from Shaharanee [35] was taken with some modification. For the purpose of discovering the self-efficacy motivation of the participants 5 items from the questionnaire developed by Mahdum [42] were applied. The total number of adapted and modified questionnaires were 30 items and they were categorized into 4 groups, iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 137 Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… namely Perceived Ease of Use and Access, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Satisfaction and Self-Efficacy. Then, to ease the process of collecting data, the questionnaire items were translated into Indonesian language to facilitate the respondents completing the form of questionnaire. Before the questionnaire items were distributed to the teacher-respondents, a validation from two experts was conducted. After validating the questionnaire items, a preliminary pilot test was administered on 30 elementary school teachers in Pontianak as the sample size to identify the reliability of the instrument. Then, the try-out result was calculated in Microsoft Excel 2013 and showed that the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.972. The Cronbach’s Alpha was applied to calculate internal consistency of the research instrument and the obtained score shows that the questionnaire reliability value was higher than 0.700. If the reliability score was higher than 0.700, the instrument (questionnaire) was ready to be used for collecting data [43]. The questionnaire items were transformed into Google Form and delivered to teachers’ WhatsApp Groups. 103 elementary school teachers in West Kalimantan were willing to participate in the research. Before the questionnaire items were distributed, concern letters were sent to the elementary schools in several cities in West Kalimantan province that have confirmed to use Google Classroom. After the letters were approved by the principals or head of the institutions, the process of distributing questionnaire was undertaken via WhatsApp Application. Google Forms- questionnaire was After one month of distribution, the data were recapitulated and data analysis process was managed in Microsoft Excel Version 2010. Table 1. Likert scale 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed to yield descriptive statistics and the criteria from Bringula’s interval of 5-point scale (Table 2) was used for interpreting the result [44]. Table 2. Criteria for result interpretation Measurement Degree of Agreement Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Mean 4.51 – 5.00 3.51 – 4.50 2.51 – 3.50 1.51 – 2.50 1.00 – 1.50 4 Findings Table 3 reveals the teacher-respondents’ response to the ease of use and access to Google Classroom. The findings indicate that majority of teacher-respondents responded favorably toward the ‘ease of use and access of Google Classroom’. The 138 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… average mean score for this variable was 4.34 and classified as “positive”. There are nine item statements in the questionnaire with the highest score (4.42) which goes to the ‘ease to create documents for assignments or announcements in Google Classroom’. The ease to understand the system of Google Classroom got the lowest score with the obtained data of 4.19, however still specified as “positive”. The findings reveal that some teacher-respondents are still not familiar with the specific system of Google Classroom. Table 3. Teachers’ perception of utilizing Google classroom based on perceived ease of use and access Most of the participants strongly agree that Google Classroom is easy to sign in, access, create and distribute course materials, add a big number of students, create documents, post videos, attach files, and operate. It is proven by the percentage of over 55 for each item. Only one out of these 9 items has percentage below 50 for the scale “strongly agree”, that is ‘easy to understand the system. On the contrary, the overall percentage of disagreement of all items do not even reach 7 percent. No Statement Items Response Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neutral (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Mean Score 1 It is easy to sign in on to Google Classroom. 57.8 28.44 9.17 0.92 3.67 4.36 2 It is easy to access Google Classroom from all Internet- connected devices (computers, laptop, tablets and mobile phones). 59.63 25.69 8.26 2.75 3.67 4.35 3 It is easy to create and distribute course materials in Google Classroom. 58.71 31.19 6.42 0 3.67 4.35 4 It is easy to add students as a lot as teachers like in Google Classroom. 62.38 26.61 5.50 0.92 4.58 4.41 5 It is easy to create documents for assignments or announcements in Google Classroom. 62.38 24.77 9.17 0 3.67 4.42 6 It is easy to post videos from YouTube or other links to learn materials in Google Classroom. 56.88 24.77 11.93 1.83 4.58 4.28 7 It is easy to attach files from Google Drive on to Google Classroom. 61.46 22.94 11.93 0 3.67 4.39 8 It is easy to operate Google Classroom as a teaching and learning platform. 55.04 28.44 11.93 0 4.58 4.29 9 It is easy to understand system of Google Classroom. 44.95 35.78 14.68 2.75 1.83 4.19 4.34 iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 139 Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… Table 4 designates that the majority of teacher-respondents have positive perceptions toward the usefulness of Google Classroom as a learning platform for facilitating teaching and learning activities amidst Covid-19. The average mean score is 4.12 and categorized ‘positive’. Table 4. Teachers’ perception of utilizing Google classroom based on perceived usefulness No Statement Response Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neutral (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Mean 1 Teaching online via Google Classroom saves a lot of teachers’ time. 41.28 34.86 19.27 1.83 2.75 4.10 2 Google Classroom can facilitate teachers to perform excellent teaching and learning activities. 33.03 46.79 17.43 0 2.75 4.07 3 Google Classroom can support teachers to improve students’ engagement in learning. 31.19 47.71 15.6 2.75 2.75 4.02 4 Google Classroom is an outstanding platform for social communication and interaction between teachers and students. 26.61 44.95 23.9 1.83 2.75 3.91 5 Google Classroom is a useful source to store teaching and learning materials. 59.63 30.28 6.42 0 3.67 4.42 6 Google Classroom is beneficial to stimulate collaborative learning. 22.05 51.38 22.9 1.83 1.83 3.90 7 Google Classroom can help teachers to have students’ assignment submitted punctually. 46.79 34.86 14.7 1.83 1.83 4.23 8 A teacher can provide a quick and useful feedback to students via Google Classroom. 36.7 41.28 18.3 1.83 1.83 4.09 9 Google Classroom provide useful grading system for teachers to monitor students’ progress. 44.95 36.7 14.7 0.92 2.75 4.20 10 Google Classroom can help a teacher to bestow clear course outline. 44.95 36.7 14.7 0.92 2.75 4.20 4.12 From the total percentage of agreement (strongly agree and agree) as shown in Table 2, more than 70 percent of the participants have positive perceptions toward the usefulness of Google Classroom for the following nine (9) components: saving teachers’ teaching time, facilitating teachers to accomplish excellent educational activities, supporting educators to increase students’ learning participation, assisting teachers and students to have social communication and interaction, helping instructors to store teaching and learning materials, supporting teachers to stimulate collaborative learning, helping instructors to have students submitting assignments punctually, supporting teachers to provide a quick and useful feedback to students, and aiding teachers to grade students’ works and to present course outline. 140 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… The lowest score goes to the benefit of Google classroom to stimulate collaborative learning with the obtained quantitative data of 3.90. This finding implies that some teachers preferred to use other learning management system instead of Google classroom to encourage learning with collaborative activities. In other words, some teacher respondents did not utilize Google classroom maximally to perform collective learning activities. Yet, most of teacher-respondents agree that Google Classroom is a valuable source to store teaching and learning materials. This item statement was selected by most of the teacher-respondents with the mean score of 4.42. The overall results show that the respondent-teachers agree that Google Classroom has provided significant benefits to support their learning and teaching activities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As shown in Table 5, the average mean score of respondent-teachers ‘perceptions toward satisfaction in using Google classroom is 3.95 and it is categorized as ’positive’. Majority of respondent-teachers are satisfied with the employment of Google Classroom as a learning management system amidst Covid-19 pandemic. The data indicate that more than 55 percent participants (strongly agree and agree) feel satisfied in using Google Classroom as a distance learning platform. These participants confirm that Google Classroom is their favorite platform for all of the use and convenience stated in the items of Table 5. The highest mean score, 4.18 goes to the effectiveness of Google classroom to support mobile and distance learning. Respondents approve that Google Classroom is effective to be applied for distance teaching and learning as by utilizing Google Classroom, teachers and students can implement virtual class ubiquitously. Then, the lowest mean score goes to the favor of Google Classroom as a teaching and learning initiative with the mean score of 3.69. This result suggests that some respondent- teachers do not take Google classroom as their favorite teaching and learning initiative. Table 5. Teachers’ perception of utilizing Google classroom based on perceived satisfaction No Statement Response Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neutral (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Mean 1 Google classroom is my first preferred platform for conducting virtual teaching and learning. 33.94 38.53 22.9 2.75 33.9 4 2 It is convenient to give assignments and do instructional activities through Google Classroom. 39.45 44.04 12.8 1.83 1.83 4.17 3 Google classroom can be benefited as a booster to activate students’ learning motivation. 22.94 36.7 33 5.50 1.83 3.73 4 Google classroom is effective to support distance teaching and learning since virtual class can be conducted from anywhere and anytime. 42.2 40.37 12.8 2.75 1.83 4.18 iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 141 Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… 5 Google classroom is my favorite teaching and learning initiative. 21.1 36.7 34.9 4.59 2.75 3.69 6 Google classroom is my first recommended teaching and learning platform to be employed to other appropriate courses. 30.28 39.45 24.8 3.67 1.83 3.93 3.95 As presented in Table 6, the average mean score of respondent-teachers’ motivation in utilizing Google Classroom in terms of self-efficacy is 3.97 and it is categorized as positive. The highest mean score is 4.08 suggesting that the teachers are confident with their own skills and understanding in using Google Classroom. Satisfying mean scores are also shown by the rest four items to mention 4.03, 4.02, 3.88, and 3.82 which respectively expresses item 3,2, 5, and 4 in Table 4. It proves that the teachers have good belief in their own capability to prompt student engagement and learning using Google Classroom. Table 6. Teachers’ motivation of utilizing Google classroom in terms of self-efficacy No Statement Response Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neutral (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Mean 1 I believe in my own skills and understandings to utilize Google Classroom in teaching and learning activities. 32.11 50.46 13.76 0.92 2.75 4.08 2 I like to employ Google Classroom in my teaching and learning activities because I am sure that I can get positive effects and advantages. 33.03 44.04 17.43 2.75 2.75 4.02 3 I believe in my own ability to identify, select and evaluate suitable features in Google Classroom that are appropriate to support my teaching and learning activities. 31.19 45.87 18.35 3.67 0.92 4.03 4 I have certain tactics to solve difficulties and hindrances with the employment of Google Classroom. 22.02 45.87 25.69 4.59 1.83 3.82 5 I am definite that I will remain to incorporate Google Classroom in my teaching and learning activities in the future. 29.36 40.37 22.02 5.50 2.75 3.88 3.97 5 Discussion The findings in the present study prove that Google classroom is not only effective for supporting the online learning in secondary and tertiary levels [6], [7], [9], [10], [45], but also helpful for engaging students of primary level and facilitating the teachers. The results demonstrate positive perceptions towards the use of Google 142 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… Classroom which support the previous findings on the benefits and challenges of this web-based platform [10], [32], [46]–[48]. Table 1 assures that there is no significant problem on using Google Classroom in primary education. Almost everyone agrees that this app or web platform is easy and practical to use in all aspects covered in the survey. All mean scores are above 4 meaning that the researched teachers confirmed the ease of use and access in utilizing Google Classroom. As shown by Table 3, the highest mean score goes to the point stating that it is easy to create documents for assignments or announcements in Google Classroom. The result is in line with what Zakaria [49] found in his research that Google Classroom is very accommodating for facilitating assignments, making the class management systematic. Teachers’ perception of utilizing Google Classroom based on perceived usefulness is also positive as demonstrated in Table 4. It means that this study has contributed to another evidence that Google Classroom is indeed a useful learning and teaching platform. The highest mean score shows that Google Classroom is a useful source to store teaching and learning materials. It is not surprising because this learning Platform has an abundant storage available for storing the materials to share with the students [32]. Although the integrated applications on Google Classroom make the interactions between teachers and students more effective [32], some of the teachers researched in this study disapproved the statement causing the mean score under 4. However, since the mean score of this statement in the table is still considered high, it does not change the fact that this application is still an outstanding platform for social communication and interaction between teachers and students. From Table 4, it is also found that teaching online via Google Classroom saves a lot of teachers’ time. It means that this learning web really facilitates teachers to make an advantage of their time to prepare more quality work for their teaching. It is not exaggerating then to convince that even when the pandemic is over and the teaching learning comes back to ‘normal’, teachers will still keep using Google Classroom to enhance their teaching process. Google Classroom has a bright future in the pedagogical field as long as the teachers and students are equipped with computer skills and provided with required facilities such as computers, electronic gadgets, and internet connection. Therefore, teachers need to be trained with online teaching skills to provide quality teaching through Google Classroom. Furthermore, maintaining the stability and reliability of internet connection is vital to have an effective learning through this e-learning platform [46], [49], [50]. Table 5 presents teachers’ perception of utilizing Google Classroom based on perceived satisfaction and although the average of mean score is not as high as the two former tables, it is still considered a positive output. It suggests that the teachers researched in this study were satisfied using this learning platform in their online teaching. The highest mean score goes to the statement that Google classroom is effective to support distance teaching and learning since virtual class can be conducted from anywhere and anytime. It also confirms that these teachers have successfully valued mobile devices which according to Rossing [51] are now becoming ubiquitous, to adjust their teaching instruction to apply the “anywhere/anytime learning”. iJIM ‒ Vol. 16, No. 18, 2022 143 Paper—Google Classroom Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesian Elementary Schools: Teachers’… Despite the teachers’ agreement on their satisfaction of using Google Classroom, around 40% of the teachers still do not believe that Google Classroom can be benefited as a booster to activate students’ learning motivation. The hesitancy has actually been evident across scholars who think that learning through social media and/or e-learning platform can distract students’ focus or even the worst condition is leading them to a dropout [32], [52]. The teachers might concern that students would not be able to adapt with the cutting-edge technology for learning or they simply use the mobile gadgets for leisure activities other than learning. The last table, Table 6 shows teachers’ motivation of utilizing Google Classroom in terms of self-efficacy. The findings demonstrates that teachers’ self-efficacy is considered high leading to qualified teaching service to the students. These teachers have owned their beliefs in their ability to effectively handle the tasks, obligation, and challenges related to this e-learning platform. With their self-confidence in preparing, conducting, evaluating, as well as formulating strategies for effective learning through Google Classroom, a conducive and systematic teaching procedure will successfully improve the class and accommodate the school curriculum. 6 Conclusion The study has proven that Google Classroom has to be considered to be applied in primary schools in Indonesia shown by the positive perceptions and high motivation of the teachers on utilizing this e-learning platform. However, an in-dept interview is critical to be performed to gain deeper insights on how the teachers clarify their response on the survey. There are still no clues for how well they acquire the computer skills, how far the online facilities constrain them during the teaching using Google Classroom and how best to use it in primary setting. It is also enlightening to conduct similar studies in different settings considering different facilities the cities might have which may face more or less challenges to apply this e-learning platform. 7 References [1] T. Karakose, R. Yirci, S. Papadakis, T. Y. Ozdemir, M. Demirkol, and H. Polat, “Science mapping of the global knowledge base on management, leadership, and administration related to COVID-19 for promoting the sustainability of scientific research,” Sustain., vol. 13, no. 17, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179631 [2] T. Karakose, R. Yirci, and S. 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Final acceptance 2022-08-23. Final version published as submitted by the authors. 148 http://www.i-jim.org https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12268 mailto:suparjan@untan.ac.id mailto:niningismiyani@untan.ac.id