The Digital Competence of Islamic Religious Education Teachers in Developing Interactive Learning Media at SDN 7 Blangkejeren

Abstract

This study examines the digital competence of Islamic Religious Education teachers at SDN 7 Blangkejeren in developing interactive learning media. A qualitative descriptive method was used, with three IRE teachers as informants; data were collected through in-depth interviews, non-participant observation in classrooms and the teachers’ preparation room, and study of lesson plans and samples of teacher-made media. The findings show that teachers’ capability is concentrated in presentations and simple video, with more elaborate tools left unused. The more consequential finding is that this boundary is not principally a boundary of technical skill but a boundary of the instructional problems teachers has identified. Teachers stop at presentation and video because those two tools already answer the only problem they have formulated, namely making abstract religious content visible. Other problems, such as ascertaining understanding while a lesson is in progress or allowing students to manipulate material themselves, have not been formulated as problems, and so tools capable of addressing them are not sought. It follows that training which adds applications to a teacher’s repertoire will not raise digital competence appreciably unless it also enlarges the repertoire of instructional problems. Limitations of infrastructure and training remain real but are not the principal constraint. The study concludes that developing the digital competence of IRE teachers should begin with the capacity to diagnose students’ learning difficulties rather than with a list of applications.