LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal lof Language and Literature 12(1) October 2017 p-ISSN 1858-0165 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id e-ISSN 2460-853X 31 English Teachers’ Responses on the Indonesian MOOC: Technology for Autonomous Learning (A Qualitative Survey at Central Java Province, Indonesia) Rudi Hartono Semarang State University, Indonesia E-mail: rudi_fbsunnes@yahoo.com Received: 20 July 2017. Revised: 25 August 2017. Accepted: 20 September 2017 Abstract The birth and existence of Indonesian Massive Open Online Course (IMOOC) facilitate English teachers in Indonesia to improve their English teaching skills and explore various potential digital tools to help promote autonomous learning in their language classrooms. To prove this fact I did a qualitative survey on 17 English teachers as the IMOOC participants from Central Java. I gave them questionnaires through a Google Form. By using this data collection technique I got their responses on the importance and advantage of the Indonesian MOOC as Technology for Autonomous Learning in their English classroom context and situation. Based on the survey data, it was known that the participants: 1) had not followed MOOCs (60%), 2) did not know the advantages of MOOC (70%), 3) knew IMOOC (86%), 4) were interested in following IMOOC (100%), 5) became autonomous learners (90%), 6) were upgrading their ICT competence for English teaching (100%), 7) were improving their career as English teachers (100%). From this survey, I have much invaluable information to map the role and function of the Indonesian MOOC for English teaching and learning autonomously. The Indonesian MOOC is really significant for English teachers to face a global era, especially for their digital literacy competence. Keywords: English teacher; Indonesian MOOC; digital technology; autonomous learning How to Cite: Hartono, R. 2017. English Teachers‘ Responses on the Indonesian MOOC: Technology for Autonomous Learning (A Qualitative Survey at Central Java Province, Indonesia). Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 12(1), 31—39. __________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction Technological innovation will transform not only how we teach (or learn) but also what we teach (or learn). The rapid advancing scientific areas such as the brain sciences, artificial intelligence and the psychology of learning will influence conceptual basis of teaching and learning. The challenge for educational organizations such as universities and colleges is to learn from these innovations and to incorporate what is new mailto:rudi_fbsunnes@yahoo.com LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 12(1) October 2017 32 and helpful. Therefore, teachers need to adopt a rational integration which integrates modern teaching techniques and traditional pedagogical model for higher achievement (Rai & Chunrao, 2016). With the development of information technology, lifelong learning and autonomous learning for community residents will be a main topic forever (Li, 2016). MOOCs are a new phenomenon with important implications for online learning in postsecondary institutions, professional development, and corporate e-learning (Kennedy, 2014). The acronym MOOC itself first appeared in December 2011 (Kim, 2011) in reference to an artificial intelligence course offered by a Stanford University professor. The term ―Massive‖ refers to an educational institution offering courses enrolling a lot of students. ―Open‖ means these courses are free for anybody in the world to access. ―Online‖ indicates this is a form of e-learning and learners needs to study via the internet. The courses are taught via digital forms of media, not through paper books, face-to-face lectures and chalk scratches on the blackboard. ―Courses‖ means the learning content provided is not fragmented knowledge, but a course which is designed for learning step by step. Although the name of MOOC does not define the course providers, the providers are usually among the best universities in whichever country. In MOOCs, learning materials are delivered via an LMS (Learning Management System) which usually has functions of emending video clips, group assignments, discussion forums, and social networks (Wang, 2012). MOOCs are courses designed for large numbers of participants, that can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free (Open et al., 2015). On the other hand it was said that the MOOCs have the most signifcant contribution potential to alter the relationship between learner and instructor and between academe and the wider community (Siemens & Knowledge, n.d.). The MOOC platforms provide institutions with cloud-based hosting environments for delivering courses, offering scale and functionality while the institution provides the coursematerial and reputational value. While traditional online courses are not new, the success of the present format is a recentphenomenon. The MOOC was conceived by the University of Manitoba in 2008. Wide public interest in MOOCs followed later in 2011, with an open online course in artificial intelligence by Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This course attracted over 160 000 students from more than 190 countries (Czerniewicz, Deacon, Fife, Small, & Walji, n.d.). In particular, MOOCs succeeded the trend of Open Education movement that focuses on howopen education tools, resources, and knowledge can improve the quality of education (Iiyoshi and Kumar2008) in (Adamopoulos & Sciences, n.d.).These Massive open online courses have recently garnered widespread public attention for their potential as a new educational vehicle. There are now multiple MOOC platforms (including the edX consortium, Coursera and Udacity) offering hundreds of courses, some of which have had hundreds of thousands of students enrolled (Anderson, Huttenlocher, & Kleinberg, n.d.). We articulated five principles that can help MOOC instructors design and manage Hartono, R. 2017. English Teachers‘ Responses on the Indonesian MOOC: Technology for Autonomous Learning (A Qualitative Survey at Central Java Province, Indonesia). Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 12(1), 31—39. 33 massive classes. These five principles - meaningful, engaging, measurable, accessible, and scalable – were synthesized from conceptual development and information systems theory(Drake, Hara, & Seeman, 2015).This growing interest for language literacy consttute Language MOOCs as an evolving and expanding area with newdevelopments likely to offer greater variety of courses and moreinnovatve social learning pedagogies. Currently, practtoners, language teachers, instructonal designers are exploring how to design efcient language courses that have the characteristcsof open access and massiveness (Researcher, 2015). Thus, MOOCs are learning tools for learners to acquire knowledge and competences in different areas. But MOOCs create opportunities to ―learn by example‖ how to teach in innovative ways, to (meta)e- learn. We have available courses from universities around the world, with different views, different strategies with different teams. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn about learning, teaching, assessing, motivating and engaging students (Falcao & Fernandes, 2016).The ‗open‘ and ‗massive‘ aspects of MOOCs – not onlyconnectivist, but also other forms of MOOCs - change the roles of learners and instructors such that learnershave more autonomy than in conventional courses (Milligan & Littlejohn, 2014). After we know many about MOOCs over the world proposed by some institutions and supported by MOOC experts, I introduce a new trend of special MOOC desined for Indonesian context, called the Indonesian Massive Open Online Course (IMOOC) published in 2016 and tried to be conducted in 15 universities in Indonesia. This is a new MOOC for pre and inservice English teachers in Indonesia involving more than 300 English teachers Indonesia from Banda Aceh, Batam, Bandung, Jakarta, Semarang, Salatiga, Yogyakarta, Malang, Surabaya, Denpasar, Ambon, Balikpapan, Makasar, and Watampone. In relation to the IMOOC, Lee (2016) as the designer and instructor from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA told usmuch about it. She said that the U.S. Embassy's Regional English Language Office (RELO) worked with fifteen Indonesian university professors from around Indonesia developing this course, the first Indonesian-developed IMOOC created solely for Indonesian participants. During the creation process, the Indonesian developers learned how to use the free version of the Canvas E-Learning platform, created suitable materials for autonomous learning, and worked together as in teams to ensure that participants of the program receive the best instruction possible. This course focuses on "Autonomous Learning and Apps to Create an Autonomous Classroom." There are five modules to aid in your understanding of autonomous learning and provide you with the skills to support you in creating your own autonomous classroom. Each module runs for two weeks with activities and discussions to support your learning. Module 1 covers Introductions & Autonomous Learning, Module 2 is about Digital Literacy, Module 3 discusses Mobile Devices for Teaching and Learning, Module 4 talks about Video Use, and Module 5 introduces Creating Videos with Smartphones. This IMOOC is really demanded and followed by many English teachers in Indonesia and evidently proved that it is successfully done in improving the English teachers‘ skill of teaching. That is why I did a LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 12(1) October 2017 34 survey by taking a sample from a group of participants followed the IMOOC held by Semarang State University (UNNES) to inform that this program is really invaluable and beneficial for English teachers in the Central Java, Indonesia. Methodology This research used a Qualitative survey that asked 17 participants open-ended questions to find out more information about their responses on the Indonesian MOOC, sometimes in preparation for doing quantitative surveys. Test surveys to eliminate problems (Farrell, 2016). The participants were English teachers from Central Java areas. The IMOOC name of we conducted at UNNES is UNNES-IMOOC 2017. It was conducted from February 13 to April 20, 2017. The questionnaire was created by using Google Form that can be seen in the following link goo.gl/6CG3fv. The participants filled it out and their responses can be seen and checked from the admin dashboard. The data (responses) were tabulated and analysed qualitatively and each data from each questions were discussed interpretively. Results and Discussion In this part I state the findings taken from the questionnaire and preceded in the table and charts. The first finding can be checked in the table 1. It is the whole participants‘ responses from the whole questions given in the questionnaire. Result from the Questionnaire Tabel 1. Participants‘s Responses Taken from the Questionnaire No. Questions Yes (%) No (%) 1. They had followed MOOCs 18 92 2. They knew advantages of MOOCs 30 70 3. They knew IMOOC 86 14 4. They were interested in following IMOOC 100 0 5. They became autonomous learners after IMOOC 90 10 6. The IMOOC upgraded their ICT competence of English teaching 100 0 7. The IMOOC improved their career as English teachers 100 0 From the table 1 we can see that only 3 participants (18%) had ever followed MOOCs while 14 participants (92%) had not done yet. Just 5 participants (30%) knew advantages of MOOCs and 12 participants (70%) did not know yet. Then in relation to the Indonesian MOOC (IMOOC) almost 15 participants (86%) knew or recognized it well while 2 others (14%) did not know it anymore. All 17 participants (100%) were interested in following the IMOOC and 15 participants (90%) became autonomous learners after following the IMOOC program while 2 participants (10%) were not yet. Then the whole participants (100%) felt and proved that the IMOOC could upgrade their ICT https://goo.gl/6CG3fv Hartono, R. 2017. English Teachers‘ Responses on the Indonesian MOOC: Technology for Autonomous Learning (A Qualitative Survey at Central Java Province, Indonesia). Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 12(1), 31—39. 35 competence of English teaching and improve their career as English teacher. In the following pages I present the data in the charts that describle the participants‘ responses taken from each question in the questionnaire. Participant’s Responses of Question 1 Chart 1. Participant‟s participation in MOOCs From the Chart 1 we can see that 3 participants (18%) had ever participated in MOOCs while 14 participants (92%) had not done yet. It means that MOOCs were new for them and they were not familiar yet with them. Participant’s Responses of Question 2 Chart 2. Participant‟s knowledge of MOOCs advantages 16% 84% Participation of MOOCs Yes No 30% 70% Knowledge of MOOCs Advantages Yes No LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 12(1) October 2017 36 Chart 2 informs that only 5 participants (30%) knew advantages of MOOCs well and 12 participants (70%) did not know yet. It means that they had not ever known yet before because MOOCs were relatively new for them in their school area. Participant’s Responses of Question 3 Chart 3. Participant‟s recognition of MOOCs Chart 3 shows us that almost 15 participants (86%) knew or recognized the Indonesian Massive Online Course (IMOOC) well because they had ever known from us in after they followed the IMOOC socialization held by RELO Jakarta while 2 others (14%) did not know it anymore. Participant’s Responses of Question 4 Chart 4. Participant‟s interest in IMOOC program It is good news for us through the Chart 4 we know the information that all participants (100%) were interested in following the IMOOC. It was because they were eager to know the 86% 14% Recognition of IMOOC Yes No 100% 0% Interest in IMOOC Yes No Hartono, R. 2017. English Teachers‘ Responses on the Indonesian MOOC: Technology for Autonomous Learning (A Qualitative Survey at Central Java Province, Indonesia). Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 12(1), 31—39. 37 new trend of English teaching coming to their area virtually and were not patient to take part in a new paradigmn of English learning program. Participant’s Responses of Question 5 Chart 5. Becoming autonomous learners after IMOOC program Chart 5 also gives us a big hope that 15 participants (90%) became autonomous learners after following the IMOOC program while 2 participants (10%) were not yet. It can be proved through their independent learning during following the IMOOC program. They learned new lessons by reading online articles, searching resources, and applying some apps for English teaching autonomously. Participant’s Responses of Question 6 Chart 6. Upgrading ICT competence after IMOOC program 90% 10% Autonomous Learners after IMOOC Yes No 100% 0% ICT Competence after IMOOC Yes No LANGUAGE CIRCLE: Journal of Language and Literature 12(1) October 2017 38 The next other good news is also described in the Chart 6. It is stated that the whole participants (100%) felt that the IMOOC could upgrage their ICT competence in English teaching. The facts can be seen from their competence in using new apps learned in the IMOOC program and creating videos for their tasks and uploaded them in YouTube. Beside that they were able to use some new apps for teaching English in their autonomous classrooms like Canva, Padlet, Socrative, Quizlet, QuizStar, Hot Potatoes, Grammarly, Evernote, etc. Participant’s Responses of Question 7 Chart 7. Improving career as English teachers after IMOOC program What happened with the last chart? In the Chart 7 we really know that the IMOOC participants had got new knowledge of how to use technology for their teaching and learning. They now know how to teach their classroom using digital technologies. They are literate with digital technologies so they can be grouped into the men with digital literacy. The IMOOC had improved their career as English teachers after they followed this program. Conclusion From the findings above it can be conluded that the IMOOC participants recognized the program well, were interested in following the IMOOC, became autonomous learners after the IMOOC, felt and proved that the IMOOC upgraded their ICT competence of English teaching, and improved their career as English teacher. Then as the suggestion it can be said thet the Indonesian MOOC lives in the heart of IMOOCers. It lives from the contribution of every single learner. Withoutthe their active participation, the IMOOC would be dead. Therefore, it should be in the interest oftheIMOOC provider to raise the share of its active learners(Meinel & Schweiger, 2016). References Adamopoulos, P., & Sciences, M. (n.d.). What Makes a Great Mooc ? An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Student, 1–21. Anderson, A., Huttenlocher, D., & Kleinberg, J. (n.d.). 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