The Adoption of Digital Learning Applications in Indonesia Began to Grow During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Digital learning applications (DLAs) are media designed to support the learning process digitally.

Enuma School, a DLA provider, released the results of a survey on the perceptions of parents and guardians regarding learning support through DLAs in children's learning activities in Indonesia.

The survey shows that the adoption of DLAs began to grow during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021). At that time, 24.55% of respondents used DLAs.

Then, the usage rate jumped to 45.09% in 2022-2023. This is the highest compared to previous years.

"The COVID-19 pandemic was a turning point that changed respondents' behavior to accelerate the adoption of DLAs," wrote Enuma School in a report titled *Perceptions of Learning Companions Towards the Adoption of Digital Learning Applications as Learning Aids*.

This report mentions that circumstances and regulations forced respondents to adapt to the digital learning model as an adjustment to learning patterns during the pandemic.

Conversely, in the post-Covid-19 period, the proportion of DLA adoption fell to 20.54% in 2024. Although it appears to have decreased, this figure is still higher than the pre-pandemic period (before 2020), when the proportion of DLA adoption was only 9.82%.

The survey also recorded several reasons why respondents used DLAs. The majority, or 48.66% of respondents, felt that using DLAs made learning more interactive and enjoyable.

This was followed by reasons such as obtaining quality learning materials (25%) and facilitating the delivery of materials (20.09%).

On the other hand, the research team assessed that there are still several challenges to equitable DLA adoption. They recommend that policymakers encourage incentives for infrastructure development in 3T regions (remote, outermost, and underdeveloped areas).

This Enuma School research was conducted in collaboration with the Inclusive Business Solution (IBS) of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The survey was conducted on 302 respondents consisting of parents/guardians of kindergarten and elementary school children (53.65%) and teachers (46.36%).

Data collection was conducted online from October 8-16, 2024. This survey has a *margin of error* of 5% and a confidence level of 95%.

A more complete report from Enuma School can be downloaded from this link.

(Also read: Indonesia's Favorite Social Media for Gen Z in Early 2024)