The Effect of Blended Learning by Using Edmodo in Teaching English for Nursing Students

Due to the developments of social networking in education, teachers have to provide the innovative techniques and select the best way in teaching learning process in classroom, especially in learning English as a foreign language so that the students are interested and eager to learn English. Edmodo as one of online learning media is believed to present an effective solution in the teaching English. This research investigates the effectiveness of blended learning by using Edmodo in teaching English for nursing students. This research used quasi experimental research design. It begins from conducting homogeneity test, deciding the experimental group and control group. Then, it was continued by giving activities to the control class using face to face learning and giving treatments to the experimental class that was using blended learning (combine face to face learning with online learning/Edmodo), then giving the same post-test to both classes. The result indicated that there was a significant effect of teaching English in blended learning by using Edmodo on nursing students. It is proved by the value of significant column of t-test table and the result is 0.000 which was lower than 0.05. Article History Received : September 2018 Accepted : October 2018 Published : November 2018


INTRODUCTION
English as an international language is widely used by most countries in the world.It plays an important role in the International relation in almost every sector.Crystal (2003, p. 110) says that English is the communication media of the world knowledge, especially in the fields of science and technology.Since English is as a foreign language in Indonesia, teachers still faces many difficulties and challenges in teaching it.Recently the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into English Language Teaching (ELT) has become popular since the technology like social networking including Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, etc have been used intensively by students.
In the implementation of daily learning, teachers sometimes combined their teaching with audio, video, and internet technologies because technologies offer efficient way to get information and knowledge quickly and easily every time and everywhere.There are many advantages to be gained in educational setting when we use technologies and social network, such as we can make online communities to learn so we are not only monotonous study in the classroom.It is in line with Miller (2011, p. 191) who explained that virtual communities can be a solution for the lack of communication in the real world.So, the students who do not feel confident to participate in real classroom and who are afraid to express their ideas, they can communicate with their teachers and classmates in online communities.In this case the teachers should be able to find out what social networking sites are appropriate and helpful for students in their learning.
In order to make students like what they learn and increase their motivation in learning foreign language, the teacher should be able to select the best way and employ various techniques in the teaching learning process.The various and interesting teaching learning process will encourage the students to pay more attention, keep students engaged in the material so that the teaching learning process will run more effectively and efficiently.ICT provides teachers to create more exiting, interesting, and interactive classroom.Students need the renewal of educational method including technological site which allow them to access knowledge wider and study at anytime and anyplace.
Edmodo as one of technological device is believed to be able to help teachers/lecturers provide better English learning process and help to integrate the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) into their teaching.In teaching English, Edmodo can be applied as blended e-learning media, it is the combination between e-learning and face to face learning in the classroom.Blended learning is a traditional classroom learning complemented by online learning activities and sources (Downes, 2008).
Edmodo is a social media platform for learning which can be accessed freely and in safe hands created by Nicolas Borg and Jeff O' Hara for schools, lectures/teachers, students, and parents (Kongchan, 2013).Edmodo is social network based on school environment with supporting features for teaching and learning process.Edmodo is a safe social network which gives a chance for teachers or lecturers and students to cooperate and communicate easily (Duncan & Chandler, 2011).Teachers can easily manage the best and practical features which are provided by Edmodo.They can always connected with students and manage students activities easily.Learning features available in Edmodo are content sharing material, assignments, quizzes, polling and enable any discussions on the comment features.
To get out most of teaching and learning activity, Edmodo is proposed as simple as possible like Facebook and presents chamber for teachers, students, and parents (Kongchan, 2012).Edmodo is easy to use, free to be accessed and available for smart phones, android and iphone.It is closed group collaboration in which only those that have a group code can take classes, so it is safer and more private.Besides parents can supervise their children's score, check their son's or daughter's deadline of homework or assignment.Edmodo is feasible to use in learning because it provides easy and safe facilities to carry out the classes in accordance with the need and it gives the opportunity in learning based on the students' characteristics.
Previous study conducted by Abadi, Ahmadi and Mehrdad (2015) showed that using Edmodo in online learning can improve writing ability because it makes students easier to access any sources and learners can compare their essay writing with fellow friends in group.They can contact and communicate with the teachers and other students whenever they want.The differences of this research with their studies are this research did a study about the implementation of blended learning by using Edmodo not only focus on writing, but also integrated the four English language skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing).
In line with that result, Thongmak (2013) performed Thailand case study in using Edmodo as a means of teamwork and cooperation in the process of teaching learning and to know students' belief about it.The subjects were students of university and the data were gained from 182 questionnaires.The research result revealed that Edmodo is more useful to be applied in education than other social media sites.It can support both face to face learning and online learning remotely.
Besides Stroud (2010) tells some problems that might arise in using Edmodo, such as students spend much money to pay for the data connection used, waste time in front of computer and it is possible for students to open another social media rather than Edmodo as an educational media.In line with that nowadays it is believed that single online learning cannot guide and lead the students to get optimal learning and it cannot give teaching learning process maximally for students (Kocoglu, Ozek, and Kesli, 2011).Therefore, further research is needed which focus on the technological development like elearning by using Edmodo and integrated it with face to face learning (blended learning) in order to get maximum result in English language learning.By incorporating Edmodo with face to face learning, the students can interact more with the teachers and fellow friends because there will be many opportunities to discuss everything both in class and online.
The purpose of the research is to investigate whether there is significant effect on the use of blended learning by using Edmodo in teaching English for nursing students at Banyuwangi Institute of Health Sciences (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan Banyuwangi).The result of the research is expected to give great contribution for other teachers or lecturers to encourage them for using Edmodo in teaching, give great benefit for students in order to be easier in learning and can be used as useful input for other researchers to conduct a further research dealing with Edmodo.Theoretically this research would contribute to the field of educational technology, specifically on e-learning media development, implementation and evaluation.

METHOD
This research used a quasi-experimental design since it is impossible to do random as-signment in the process of taking the sample from the population.The research design steps are: First, administering homogeneity test to the first grade of Nursing students to know the homogeneity of the research subject.Then analyzing the scores of homogeneity test using ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), deciding experimental class and control class by lottery.After that giving treatment that was teaching English in blended learning by using Edmodo which was combined with face to face learning to the experimental group, while the control group was taught by using face to face learning (traditional way).The design of this research can be described as follows (adapted form Setiyadi, 2006, p. 142).The steps in administering this research were (1) administering homogeneity of the population by analyzing the students' English score using ANOVA to know the homogeneity of the research subjects, (2) having a lottery to determine experimental (K1) and control class (K2), (3) giving treatment that was teaching English in blended learning by using Edmodo to the experimental class (K1), while the control class (K2) was taught by face to face learning technique, (4) administering Post-test to the experimental class (K1) and the control class (K2), (5) analyzing the results of the two groups by using independent sample t-test formula of 5% significance level to test whether the mean difference was significant and (6)drawing a conclusion.This research conducted in Banyuwangi Institute of Health Sciences/Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan (STIKES) Banyuwangi, East Java in the 2017/2018 academic year.The population of the study was the third semester students of Bachelor in Nursing.They were taken as the populations because English material was taught at the third semester.There were 90 nursing students of the third semester (45 students from Class A and 45 students from class B).Arikunto (2002, p. 112) states that if the number of respondents is less than a hundred, it will be better to take all the subjects.Dealing with this idea, both classes were chosen as sample.Further, they were classified into two groups, 45 students for experimental group and 45 students for control group.
The hypothesis was formulated as students who are taught by using Edmodo in a blended learning setting achieves better English score than the students who are taught by traditional method (face to face learning in class only).This study used Post-Test Only Control Group Design.Setiyadi (2006, p. 142) claims that Post-Test Only Control Group Design is a type of research design that uses two classes.This design is used to compare the mean score of the experimental and control group.After conducting post test, the result is analyzed by using independent sample t-test.The result of data analysis is consulted to the t-table of 5% significant level to know whether the result is significant or not.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This chapter reports the description of treatment given, the results of the data, the hypothesis verification, and discussion.Some data were gained from the result of homogeneity test and the analysis of the post test result.After collecting the data needed by using test instrument, the next step is analizing the data by using independent t-test.Before giving treatment, the homogeneity test was conducted to know whether the two classes were homogeneous or not and analyzed by using ANOVA.The result of homogeneity test showed that the mean score of class A was 57.6 and class B was 56.3.The result of the ANOVA analysis on table 1 showed that the significance was 0.511.The va-lue of 5% significant level was 0.05.Having been compared, the result of significance was higher than the value of 5% significance level.Therefore, it can be concluded that there was no difference on the students' English ability both two classes and it can be said that the population was homogeneous.Then the lottery was done to determine the experimental group and the control group.Based on the lottery, 2B was treated as the experimental group and 2A as the control group.
The research period was seven weeks (7 meetings).The English schedule in bachelor of nursing was once a week, every Thursday.The first meeting was testing for homogeneity.The second meeting was socialization and introducing Edmodo to the experimental class because they never knew before about Edmodo.The lecturer explained how to create an Edmodo account as a student, give explanation some features in Edmodo and its function and how to do any assignments and quizzes given by lecturer through Edmodo.
Then asked the students to create an account and joint a class made by the teacher by giving a code.Then the lecturer asked the students in order that their parents created Edmodo account too to monitor the development of their sons' or daughters' learning.The third to the sixth meeting was teaching English by using Edmodo in a blended learning setting (Combining face to face learning and online learning) to the experimental class (2B).While the control class (2A) was taught through face to face learning only in classroom.
During English teaching learning by using Edmodo the students are very enthusiastic.They do not meet any significant obstacles in operating Edmodo because it has simple features.Shelly Gary (2011, p. 45) stated that the advantage of using Edmodo than other Social Networks is Edmodo has User Interface which adapt Facebook features, it is simple and easy to use even for the beginner because the students are already familiar due to the features are like Facebook.Edmodo supports preview on various types of file formats like pdf, pptx, html, etc. Edmodo is not only accessible with PC and laptop, but also it can be accessed by using smart phones.Students can download the Edmodo application on play store.
Besides through online learning by using Edmodo, students can send private massage and ask about material when they find some difficulties without being ashamed even when they are not in campus because they can connect to teacher anytime and anywhere.Teachers can share the presentations of teaching materials, photos or videos, present questions, quiz or assignment by giving a time limit and send grades from students' work and give feedback easily and make group discussion.In addition Edmodo allows parents to see the student's activities in learning, see the tasks, announcements, and agenda with the time set given by the teacher.
The last meeting, the researchers administered post test.Then the result of post test was analyzed by using independent sample t-test.
Based on the table 2 the result showed that the significance value (2-tailed) was 0.000 which was lower than 0.05.It indicated that the result of t-test analysis was significant.The alternative hypothesis (Ha) of this research which said students who are taught in blended learning by using Edmodo achieved better score on their English than the students who are taught by using face to face learning only is accepted.It means this experimental research revealed that there is any significant effect of blended learning by using Edmodo on the students' English achievement.This research result supports the study performed by Thongmak (2013) which revealed that Edmodo is more useful to be applied in education than other social media sites.It can support both face to face learning and online learning remotely.
Teaching English in blended learning using Edmodo really helps students to be more active, have more time in learning and unlimited access to up to date knowledge and material sources available.Saliba, Rankine and Cortez (2013, p. 5) state that blended learning can enlarge knowledge and material access, it is more flexible for learners and it enhances students' active level and give new and better experiences in learning.For teachers, blended learning can improve teaching and manage the class easily and students have more flexible time and convenience by studying and doing assignment part time through online learning from home.Blended learning also becomes a solution of single online learning in which cannot guide and lead the students to get optimal learning and give maximal process in teaching the students (Kocoglu, Ozek, and Kesli, 2011), because blended learning enable the teacher to monitor learning process in classroom directly, so the optimal learning can be gained.
Further Edmodo can carry out independent learning style and construct responsible learning since it makes students more discipline and on time in doing assignment because the due date of assignments and quizzes has been arranged by the teacher on Edmodo.It is in line with the statement proposed by Balasubramanian, Jaykumar, and Fukey (2014) that the usage of Edmodo by the teachers can be a great medium to expand responsible learning outside the classroom.Through Edmodo the students become more autonomous learners.So, using Edmodo can be motivating and a good media in teaching because it is new innovations in the classroom and have the great potentials to be implemented in teaching and learning.

CONCLUSION
It has been clearly described that the result of t-test analysis was 0.000.It was less than Table 2 The Result of Independent Sample T-Test 0.05.Null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected.It could be concluded that students who who are taught in blended learning by using Edmodo achieved better score on their English than the students who are taught by using face to face learning only.Besides, the post test analysis showed that the experimental students' English mean score is higher than the control students' mean score (73.28> 65.89).So, it proved that there is a significant difference on the mean score of the experimental and the control classes.It indicated that teaching English in blended learning by using Edmodo is more effective than by face to face learning only.
So, it can be concluded that Edmodo can encourage students to be autonomous learners, enhance student's motivation in learning English since students can have more flexible time to learn in campus or outside the campus.Besides, students have more access to up to date resources and materials.Edmodo considers students to participate actively in discussion forum because they can choose environment they want whether online learning or face to face learning in which they feel more comfortable.
treatment (common way/face to face learning only)

Table 1
The Result of Homogeneity Test