ICT IN DISTANCE LEARNING: TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND PROBLEMS

In 2020, conducting education in distance is obligatory since the education must continue while the world is still fighting with the coronavirus disease and one of the ways of teaching in distance learning is using ICT. While several studies have investigated teachers’ attitudes of using ICT in face to face classrooms, few studies investigate teachers’ attitudes of using ICT in distance learning. This study examines 52 teachers’ attitudes and problems in using ICT in EFL distance learning in a language development center. The questionnaires are delivered and the interview is conducted to collect the data that disclose the teachers’ attitudes and problems of using ICT in distance learning. After analyzing the data, the findings in this study indicate that the teachers have positive attitudes toward the use of ICT in distance learning. The problems that occur when using ICT in distance learning are further discussed and possible suggestions are presented.


BACKGROUND
This study aims to examine the teachers' attitudes and problems of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in EFL distance learning. Distance learning has become popular during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia which is stated to be a national disaster. While working on the mitigation, the continuity of Indonesian people's education cannot be delayed. Thus, this pandemic has forced all teachers to move their classes into virtual ones without exception (MORA, 2020;MOEC, 2020). Distance learning initially covered only traditional paper-based distance courses sent by mail. However, it has been shifted to e-learning via technology such as the Internet and mobile technologies (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007). This type of learning at the moment indeed refers to learning via a variety of technology and media configurations, such as audio, video, and computer-based resources (Smaldino et al., 2014). Through this type of learning the students are facilitated to have meaningful learning experience through online learning although without the teacher's direct presence in the classroom. It is therefore regarded as the best solution to do during the COVID-19 Pandemic to carry on the language teaching and learning with also paying attention to the health security protocol.
Teaching language, as suggested by Harmer (2007), must consist of at least explanation and practice steps. Like face-to-face learning, distance learning is also required to provide learners with those two stages. In line with that, Smaldino et al. (2014) believe that effective distance learning has three key elements; information presentation, practice, and feedback. In information presentation, the teachers through distance learning explain the topics to equip the learners with adequate knowledge about the target language. Then in the practice stage, the learners are given more opportunity and freedom to experiment with the target language. Furthermore, to transfer more language input, the teachers need to give feedback, such as by doing question-and-answer or discussion activities related to the performance of the learners in the preceding stage. By this explanation, distance learning is a complex thing and therefore needs proper technology to achieve its learning goal. In other words, distance learning and technology are strongly connected (Rahman, 2014).
The success of distance learning is heavily influenced by the utilization of technology (Faramarzi et al., 2015). The use of technology plays a significant role as a mediator in language acquisition processes and it will become normal to fully integrate the technology with language teaching (Chun, 2016). For this reason, the use of ICT in distance learning is inevitable. ICT is defined as computer-based and internet-based technologies for teaching and learning (Tri & Nguyen, 2015). The function is as tools and resources for further relations, creation, distribution, reservation, and information management led to teaching and learning scope (Bidarian et al., 2011). ICT thus is an extraordinary tool that benefits the curriculum to be more accessible and richer for learners (Galloway, 2007). In the English teaching and learning process, ICT even offers more benefits, either for the teachers or learners. In general, Al-Munawwarah (2014) states through the use of ICT the teachers can design interesting and enjoyable language learning activities that promote learner autonomy and boost the students' motivation to learn. In summary, more opportunities for language use are constructed by using ICT (Kenning, 2007).
Despite the ample availability of technology and its advantages in distance learning, there are still some things required to be done. In this regard, the teachers primarily are required to comprehend the effective technology use and the learning theories behind its practice (Howell, 2012). Additionally, teachers are offered different kinds of technology learning tools and applications which can be overwhelmed. Furthermore, the technology they choose needs to be suitable for the learning goal (Simmons & Hawkins, 2009). As long as the teachers are prepared, ICT helps students to master various skills in foreign language learning. Incorporating language learning with technology has created circumstances for language learners to integrate the four skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking (Blake, 2016).
ICT in distance education offers many innovations. However, the challenges will be also as big as the benefits. The negative attitude of the teachers towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning is the most fundamental challenge. This attitude is usually caused by a lack of confidence, facilities, and or training, which can lead to a technophobe or a fear of using technology (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007). A positive attitude towards ICT is the first step to successful distance learning.
Teachers' positive attitudes toward using ICT in teaching encourage the students to be more engaged in the learning process (Mustafina, 2016). Additionally, in distance learning, teachers are difficult to supervise and direct learners (Ekmekci, 2015). In line with that, Markova et al. (2017) state that effective teaching practices and communication patterns are the two most common challenges while learning at a distance. The solution to those challenges is unfortunately not always clear cut as many reasons can be a hindrance for teachers to utilize the technology in their teaching. Moreover, this shift in teaching from face to face to virtual is the result of COVID-19 emergencies. In other words, the teacher has not been thoroughly prepared to teach at a distance. By those rationales, this research attempts to investigate language teachers' attitudes toward using ICT in distance learning and problems of using ICT in this sudden change of teaching i.e. from traditional face to face classroom to the virtual ones.
Research into the distance learning of languages is now established as a significant avenue of inquiry in language teaching (White, 2014). Certainly, this present study is inspired by the previous works of several researchers. Those are Beri & Sharma (2019), Aminullah et al. (2019), Rodliyah (2018), Warni et al. (2018), andRahma (2018). Five of them are elaborated below.
In "Teachers' Attitude towards Integrating ICT in Teacher Education", Beri & Sharma (2019) conduct a self-prepared interview guide to examine the attitude of teacher-educators of using ICT. They also use a purposive sampling technique to select 50 teacher-educators working in different teacher-training colleges in the State of Haryana, India. Through their investigation, they find the attitude of the teacher-educators of using ICT in education is positive. Along with that, they also reveal some challenges. It is found teacher-educators have a lack of training and technical support. Additionally, lacking motivation and enthusiasm towards the use of ICT tools and devices in the teacher-education process are also found as the challenge. Beri & Sharma infer that ICT can be successfully incorporated in the teacher education process if ICT-training, technical support, resources of ICTs, motivation, support of management are adequate.
In "Teachers' Attitudes and Problems of Using ICT in Teaching EFL", Aminullah et al. (2019) involve 19 participants from 16 public senior high schools in Palembang to find out the attitudes of English teachers and the problems that they face towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning English. Questionnaires, interviews, observation, and documentation are used to collect the data. Through the analysis, they reveal that the teachers face some challenges in using ICT to teach English, such as lack of ICT equipment, lack of competency, and also unsupported regulation from institutions. Despite those problems, the attitude towards the use of ICT in teaching and learning English are positive.
In "Vocational school EFL teachers' practices of integrating ICT into English lessons: Teachers' voices", Rodliyah (2018) deals with vocational English teachers to investigate their reasons for using ICT, the ways they integrate ICT into their English lessons, and their perceptions of benefits and challenges of incorporating ICT into English classrooms. To achieve those objectives, interviews and observations are conducted. The finding shows that all of the teachers are familiar with many types of ICT tools and hence they are self-motivated to employ ICT in teaching and learning processes. This positive attitude allows them to do similar ways of integrating ICT tools into their daily activities, such as using the Internet to search and share teaching materials and PowerPoint to prepare presentations. Rodliyah however highlights that it is still necessary for the school to provide adequate technology access and facilities as well as professional training in ICT for language teachers.
In "The Use of Technology in English as a Foreign Language Learning Outside the Classroom: An Insight into Learner Autonomy", Warni et al. (2018) implement quantitative design through questionnaires and qualitative design through a semi-structured interview to investigate the learners' autonomy supported by the use of technology in learning English outside the classroom. Students of a private Senior High School are involved during the questionnaires and five of them are selected purposely to be interviewed. The analysis finds that learning English outside the classroom using technology develops learner autonomy such as learning motivation, metacognitive awareness, self-confidence, and social skills. By these results, Warni et al. (2018) conclude that using various information and communication technology is suggested to boost learner autonomy.
In "The Role of ICT in Open and Distance Education", Rahman (2018) examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in open and distance education. He points out that ICT is a useful tool used to extend the opportunities for formal and non-formal education. With the existence of ICT, distance learning can provide multimedia-based education content to the students. Additionally, ICT in distance learning is cost-effective, independent in time and place, quality of education can be gained from the mass production of course materials, ability to teach a lot of students simultaneously, and finding a lot of educational resources. In conclusion, he states that changes and reforms in education will be achieved if ICT can be applied to the maximum.
The previous studies above show that the field of ICT and distance learning is researchable. From those five previous studies, it can be seen that teachers' attitudes and problems of using ICT in traditional face to face language learning have been revealed. The roles of ICT in distance learning have also been investigated by previous researchers. However, the teachers' attitudes and problems of using ICT in distance learning have not been addressed. Therefore, this study focuses on investigating the teachers' attitudes and problems of using ICT in distance learning.

METHOD
This study mixed the quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the teachers' attitudes and problems of using ICT in distance learning. Mixed method was used with the reason to provide a more comprehensive comprehension of the research problems (Fraenkel et al., 2011). This method was conducted in order in two stages. Therefore, the explanatory design was used. With this design, the research began to analyze the data quantitatively and it was followed up by qualitative analysis (Creswell, 2014). As a result, the questionnaires adapted from Vo & Vo (2020), Thamarana (2017), and Albirini (2006) were used at the beginning of the study to collect the data from 52 teachers who teach in a language development center in Cirebon. The questionnaires were regarded as a suitable technique for collecting the data since it could involve a large number of respondents effectively (Dawson, 2007). Several teachers then were selected purposely to be interviewed using semi-structured interviews adapted from Beri & Sharma (2019). Through this type of interview, researchers could still deliver other questions to dig other important information from the participants.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The findings in this study are divided into three parts. Firstly, the data taken from the questionnaires are displayed and elaborated to investigate the attitude of the teachers towards the use of ICT in distance learning as well as the problems faced by them. The attitudes of the teachers are presented using a five-type scale; SD, strongly disagree (1); D, disagree (2); N, neutral (3); A, agree (4); SA, strongly agree (5). Meanwhile, the teachers' competencies in using computers are presented on a four-point scale. After that, online platforms used by the teachers are discussed and elaborated.

Teachers' Attitudes toward Using ICT in EFL Distance Learning
In this study, 24 items of the questionnaires to assess the participants' attitudes toward the use of ICT in distance learning are divided into five categories which are presented in tables 1 to 5. The first category presents the participants' affective domain of attitude in using ICT. The second category presents the participants' cognitive domain of attitude in using ICT. The participants' attitude toward the advantages of using ICT in distance learning is in the third category. The next categories are the attitudes of the participants toward technical knowledge and time required in using ICT in distance learning and communication and interaction when teaching using ICT in distance learning. The last category shows the participants' attitudes towards the usefulness of using ICT in distance learning for teaching English skills. According to table 1, the teachers' attitudes are varied. The participants answer agree that using ICT in distance learning is comfortable (54.7%), make them confident (50.9%), and excite them (43.4%). They also disagree that ICT in distance learning scares them (37.7%). On the other hand, the participants remain neutral for the items that state ICT in distance learning stresses them out (50.9%). As seen in table 2, the cognitive domain of attitude in using ICT, more than half of the participants agree with the value of ICT as an instructional tool in distance learning (60.4%). Most of them also agree that ICT changes the way of teaching and learning in distance learning (62.3% & 73.6%). However, the highest responses of the participants are neutral for the usefulness of ICT compared with traditional ways of teaching (34%) and unconducive distance learning due to the usage difficulty faced by the students (37.7%). In table 3, the participants' attitudes towards the advantages of ICT in distance learning are exposed. They agree that using ICT in distance learning is helpful for their students to express their thinking in better ways (47.2%) and develop their autonomy (41.5%), and for the teachers to teach effectively (34%). Meanwhile, the participants respond neutral that ICT is helpful for them to teach English skills (47.2%). Additionally, the proportion of the participants who respond neutral and disagree with the statement of ICT was helpful for students to understand concepts are similar (35.8%). In table four, most of the participants agree that they need more time to teach English using ICT in distance learning (56.6%). They also know how to fix a problem when using ICT in distance learning (54.70%). Besides, most of them also are more likely to communicate and interact with their students using ICT in distance learning (41.5% and 39.6%). The last table addresses the teachers' attitudes towards the helpfulness of ICT in five English skills. The majority of the participants consider that ICT is useful for teaching English grammar, listening, and reading (39.6%, 50.9%, and 49.1%). Conversely, the participants' responses are neutral for the usefulness of ICT for teaching writing and speaking skills (49.1% and 35.8%).
The findings indicate that the participants generally have a positive attitude toward using ICT in distance learning during the pandemic time. This is consistent with Beri & Sharma (2019), Aminullah (2019), Mai (2015), and Albirini (2006). Through the interview, they point out that ICT gives them a comforting feeling in distance learning, especially in terms of explaining the material without face to face meetings. Also, they believe that the use of ICT can maximize their distance learning. ICT assists them to teach English skills in a better way to their students, particularly, the receptive skills. They are also confident that learners can develop their learning autonomy through the use of ICT in distance learning. With the absence of ICT, it is impossible for distance learning to achieve the learning goal.
Although the participants show positive attitudes toward the use of ICT in distance learning, they also reveal two other important points. First, distance learning requires more energy, especially to prepare the materials and set the ICT itself, and hence they feel more exhausted. For this reason, they believe face to face teaching is still more effective. Second, the pandemic which forces every education practitioner to engage more with ICT opens another opportunity to widen the language teaching beyond the classroom. For this reason, distance learning by utilizing ICT must continue as a complement to face-to-face teaching after the COVID19 pandemic ends. With this integration, as suggested by Rodliyah (2018), teachers and students can interact more intensely both in the classroom and beyond.

Teachers' Problems of Using ICT in EFL Distance Learning
This study also highlights the participants' competencies in using computers on a four-point scale ranging from no competence to much competence which is shown in tables 6 to 8 below. Through this highlight, the problems faced by the teachers in using ICT in distance learning are inferred. Based on table 6, most of the participants indicate that they have moderate competence in using productivity tools such as a word processing program, a presentation program, and a spreadsheet program. They also think that they have moderate competence in solving basic troubleshooting. Whereas for using the internet for communication and accessing different information, they think that they have much competence. Besides having moderated competence, many participants also believe that they have much competence in using productivity tools. Unfortunately, few participants with little and no competence are also found. This fact is a real whip for educational practitioners to always develop themselves to be able to walk in harmony with technological developments in the world of language teaching. The findings in table 7 above show that most of the participants have moderate competence in Operating Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Teaching Platforms. Some of them even have much competence. This is something positive and must be maintained. However, there is still plenty of room for selfdevelopment especially for those who still have little and no competence in terms of operating the Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Teaching Platform which is the flagship platform for offering real-time virtual meetings in distance learning. As presented in table 8, in terms of the participants' skills in creating learning content, delivery, and assessment in distance learning, they regard themselves as having much competence in giving instruction in Google classroom, moderate competence when assigning their students through Google classroom, receiving the learners' works through Google classroom, and giving feedback through Google classroom. Additionally, according to them, they also have moderate competence in designing exercises with Google form and managing their students' attendance list using online platforms. In making a learning video, the participants think they had little competence. In other words, the participants mostly have adequate skills in content creation, delivery, and assessment. However, few of them have problems to overcome, especially in terms of giving feedback, designing exercises, and managing attendance lists via online platforms. These three elements are essential in the teaching process. Feedback is useful to correct the students' errors, exercises are beneficial to measure how comprehensive the students have understood the topics, and an attendance list is also one of the important administration requirements in the teaching and learning process.
The above elaborations indicate that the participants still face problems of using ICT in distance learning. Similar to Dudeney and Hockly (2007), there are three common challenges that the participants need to overcome. The first is the lack of equipment, especially for the students. Through the interview, the participants state that some of their students do not have complete tools to support distance learning. The second is the lack of internet connections. The participants reveal that most students live in rural areas where internet connection is limited. This bad network affects students' moods in learning due to the stressful situation which complicates the teachers to supervise and direct the students (Ekmekci, 2015), and hence distance learning is not conducive to whatever the platforms are. The last is the lack of competence. The participants also feel that they and their students are not familiar enough with the use of ICT and some online platforms in distance learning. Even if they have a good understanding of the technical things of ICT in distance learning, they still state that teaching online is more challenging, especially in terms of choosing the most suitable teaching practices and communication patterns, which is consistent with Markova et al. (2017). Therefore, workshops, as mentioned by Tezci (2010) are needed especially to boost the competence of using ICT in distance learning both technically and pedagogically.

Online Platforms in Distance Learning
The technology advancement makes distance learning and online platforms are inseparable. The phenomena of online platforms are therefore regarded as an important aspect of distance learning, including distance learning conducted by 52 teachers in this study. They use various online platforms to support their distance learning. Below is figure 1 that summarizes the online platforms employed by those 52 participants.

Figure 1. Online platforms used by the teachers
The graph shows the proportions of online platforms used by participants in distance learning in a language development center during COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. It can be seen clearly that there are three online platforms which are used dominantly by the participants in their distance learning. Firstly, Google Classroom is used by 94.20% of the participants. WhatsApp Group is used by 92.30% of the participants. Lastly, YouTube is used by 55.80% of the participants.
Through the interview with the participants, it is revealed that Google Classroom is used for various purposes in distance learning. Google Classroom, in line with Sukmawati & Nensia (2019), is used to upload the instruction of the class activities, assignments, and materials. Unfortunately, the participants find this function challenging since they feel more burden. Using Google Classroom requires them to spend more energy and time to prepare the teaching materials. Another challenge of using Google Classroom in distance learning is the students' competence. The participants believe that the students are not familiar enough to use this platform. They also point out in the interview a similar opinion with what Azhar & Iqbal (2018) find in their work that Google classroom is only useful to manage documents and basic classroom management and therefore has a minor impact on teaching methodologies. However, they are still optimistic that Google Classroom can benefit the distance learning as long as training, as suggested by Al-Maroof & Al-Emran (2018), is provided for the teachers and students to master how this platform is used comprehensively and effectively.
Like Google Classroom, the participants through the interview also believe that WhatsApp Group is a helpful instant messaging service in terms of distributing and creating information and knowledge. In line with Ahmed (2019), Jafari & Chalak (2016), and Allagui (2014), using WhatsApp Group in distance language learning provides natural interaction as well as contextualized language use and therefore contributes to the improvement of several English skills, such as vocabulary mastery, writing and reading skill. The interview also reveals that WhatsApp Group offers several ways of instant messages in teaching, mentioned by Ta'amneh (2017), such as text, voice notes, images, or even videos. Besides the advantages, the participants also are aware of the challenges of using WhatsApp Group in distance learning. They share the same opinion with Annamalai (2019) (2017) that the students usually feel upset due to the overloaded messages in WhatsApp Group. This issue leads the students to be silent readers who do not join the discussion. As a result, it complicates the participants as the teacher in distance learning, especially to monitor whether or not the students are involved in the group discussion. This circumstance is also stated by Nuraeni & Nurmalia (2020). Furthermore, obeying rules in WhatsApp Group discussion is also very challenging for the participants. They still face difficulties to make their students obedient during the WhatsApp Group discussion. In this case, the participants need to be equipped with certain knowledge through training especially about organizing the students to be well behaved in distance language learning (Woollard, 2007).
Besides Google Classroom and WhatsApp Group, YouTube is another online platform commonly used by the participants in distance learning. The interview reveals that the main reason for using YouTube is because it can be used to teach multiple language skills. This is in line with some previous works, such as Alwehaibi (2015), and Nofrika (2019), who discover that watching videos from YouTube improves the students' English competencies. However, there are some considerations before choosing the videos from YouTube as the teaching content, especially in distance learning. Following Watkins & Wilkins (2011), the participants believe that they have to select not only the videos that are matched with the students' proficiency but also the videos that do not contain a fair amount of risqué content and provocative language. By these risks, the participants are suggested to run their own YouTube Channel to be able to easily match the videos with what the students need. Mini-courses and a guideline for teachers who want to start an education channel have been provided by YouTube itself (Azevedo & Matias, 2019). The interview, unfortunately, figures out that only a few participants are willing to run their own YouTube Channel to teach. Therefore, training is again needed to boost the awareness and interest of the teachers to use various online platforms to teach. Figure 1 also displays that less than 25% of teachers use online videoconferencing platforms. Zoom Meeting is used by 21.20% of the participants. Instagram Live is used by 7.70% of the participants. Google Meet is used only by 5.80% of the participants. Skype is used by 1.90% of the participants. This is unfortunate because these platforms offer something more to users, namely realtime video streaming. With this virtual meeting, the interaction between the teacher and the students is more intertwined and hence the teaching will be more effective. Video-conferencing, like what Candarli & Yuksel (2012) have discovered, gives students a comfortable real class atmosphere. Similarly, Sayem et al. (2017) state in their research that video-conferencing, for instance, Zoom Meeting, establishes positive student satisfaction and better experiences in teaching and learning. The participants' reluctance to use video-conferencing is caused by at least some factors. Through interviews that have been carried out, the first factor is the internet connection problem, which is consistent with the findings of Afrianto (2016). This situation encourages participants to use other online platforms to teach. Afrianto (2016) also found that the use of technology in teaching causes culture shock which triggers feelings of discomfort and confusion. The second factor, in line with what is presented by Fitzgibbon (2003), is the teacher's unfamiliarity with video-conferencing technology. Therefore, technology training must be intensively given to teachers.
Lastly, there are some other online platforms used by the teachers. Those are Quizziz, Edmodo, Kahoot, and Facebook with 5.80% and 1.90%, as shown in figure 1. The diversity of online platforms used by participants in distance learning, as explained above, has strengths and weaknesses. Even this is realized by the teachers in this study. One important thing found through interviews with them is that they do not use just a single online platform in distance learning to minimize the weakness. They always try to integrate several platforms to provide three mandatory stages in distance learning. The first stage is pre-teaching activities that include reviewing the last lesson and apperception. The next stage is while teaching activities that contain delivering and discussing the lesson. The last stage is post activities in which participants clarify students' understanding, summarize the lesson, and give assignments. This is consistent with Smaldino et al. (2014) who argue that effective distance learning has at least three key elements, namely information presentation, practice, and feedback. Some participants say that they explain the materials through YouTube Channel, discuss the material more in WhatsApp Group through voice notes, and evaluate the students' understanding using exercises designed in Google Form or Quizziz. This is one of the teaching steps in distance learning found in this study. Further research can be conducted to investigate it more.

CONCLUSION
This study investigates English teachers' attitudes towards the use of ICT in distance learning and the problems that occur when using ICT in distance learning. The findings in this study reveal that the attitudes of teachers in using ICT in distance learning are positive although both technical and non-technical problems occur during their teaching in distance learning when using ICT. Lack of equipment, low internet connections, and lack of competence are among the problems when using ICT in distance learning. Training or workshop on the use of ICT in distance learning therefore is highly recommended to do to overcome these problems.
Lastly, this study offers many other issues related to ICT for future research. Researchers can fill the gap by conducting a study to investigate how teachers use ICT in distance learning. Also, they can conduct research focusing on the integration of distance learning and face-to-face learning. Last but not least, studies that have more specific aims also can be conducted, for instance, the influence of ICT in distance learning towards productive skills or receptive skills of the students.