Page 76 - Reimagining Higher Education : Case Studies On Designing For Inclusion, Equity, And Access In The Buka Project

A. Susilo et al. · UTAKSES case study: Advancing digital access for students living in remote

areas without reliable internet - Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

defined as education that is o ered or available through the use of ICT, including
connectivity, flexibility, and the capacity to foster diverse relationships (Pannen,

2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, online education encompassed e-learning,

distributed learning, networked learning, tele-learning, virtual learning,
web-based education, distance education, technology-based education, massive

open online courses (MOOC), blended learning, flipped learning, and also learning

from home using ICT. The foundation of Universitas Terbuka (UT) in 1984 signified
the introduction of multimedia distance education, which included

computer-based education, tele-education, internet-based education, and
web-based education.

UT’s students live in remote areas without reliable internet access. As
internet access is still a privilege for UT students living in remote areas of

Indonesia, many of them encounter di culties accessing UT’s online services. This

has widened the discrepancies in online learning equity among UT students. UT’s
BUKA project addresses this disparity, firstly by developing a local hotspot area to

enable UT students in remote areas to access UT’s online support services. This
local hotspot service is beneficial for UT students as it gives them access to online

learning experiences that are expected to increase their study success. As most

remote areas have limited infrastructure, including power supply and bandwidth,
there needs to be a minimum requirement for the local hotspot services to provide

access to UT’s online support services. Secondly, the UT Buka project aims to
develop a learning design model that is adapted to support low bandwidth capacity.

By using a Moodle platform service, the online support services are designed with

adaptive features. The adaptive features of this learning management system
include discussion forums, formative test feedback, student learning progress, and

collaborative applications.
Internet access, especially in rural areas, typically depends on the presence

of mobile (3G/4G) operators. It is clear from the data available from mobile
operators that there are still many blank spots in various regions of Indonesia,

especially outside Java. Consequently, internet access in many areas is a challenge.

On the nperf.com site, we can observe modest mobile operator coverage in
Indonesia with data collected by that website since 2019.

74