Pentingnya Seorang Guru Kreator Konten

With the current digital world development, full of internet and social media, the education sector must adapt. Therefore, becoming a content creator is an opportunity for teachers to develop themselves to keep up with the times, says Gilang Danu Kurniawan, a Social Media Specialist at the UIN Raden Intan Business Development Center in Lampung.

He notes that there is concern among teachers when they see many of their students enjoying social media platforms like TikTok. Many of the contents on social media are not educational, not suitable for children’s needs, and mostly entertainment content that can lead to negative influences affecting students’ performance in school.

For this reason, Gilang, who often conducts webinars on the importance of becoming content creators for teachers, adds another reason that he believes is the most important. He says, “Why don’t we (teachers) take part in facing this change? Take part in creating better content, with good educational value.”

This sentiment is shared by Kristiawati, a teacher who is also a content creator. She started during the pandemic when teaching activities shifted to online formats. She was concerned when she noticed students using gadgets not for learning, which impacted their mindset. Therefore, Kristiawati hopes that when she creates content on social media and students see it even for a few seconds, it will be beneficial content.

Another reason for teachers at SD Negeri 2 Bejiarum, Wonosobo, to create content is, “At the very least, wanting to provide benefits to fellow teachers, who knows they will be inspired and do the same. So, it’s like sharing best practices, to have more positive content on social media.”

The National Inspirational Teacher Award recipient in 2023 initially uploaded content on YouTube. She now also utilizes Instagram and TikTok platforms. The content on her YouTube channel is mainly aimed at helping fellow teachers, such as those preparing for the civil servant exam. Instagram is where she shares educational content for teachers and parents. She wants to show them that what she presents as content on these platforms is simple and applicable in their respective areas.

Kristiawati also hopes, “If it’s for kids, maybe we can provide learning materials that can be accessed not only in the classroom but also on social media. Perhaps the direction could lead there eventually.”

Educator Comments

Ratih Ayu Apsari was a Mathematics Education lecturer at Universitas Mataram before becoming a doctoral program student and postgraduate lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley in 2021. According to her, there is nothing wrong with disseminating knowledge through social media, as long as the content and delivery are appropriate.

She adds, “As individuals, teachers have the right to expand their ‘classroom’ into the digital social space, while maintaining thoughts, words, and actions in line with norms. It should be understood that creating educational content requires thorough preparation. If teachers want to become knowledge communicators for society, they should not diminish children’s right to learn in the classroom.”

Furthermore, she emphasizes that if children are included in content, their dignity must be preserved and consent from parents/guardians and the children involved should be obtained.

In Louisiana, Rachel Waldrop teaches at Denham Springs High School. Rachel, who admits she does not have social media, says she fully understands that teachers who become content creators may need additional income. However, she cautions that teachers must be careful in using social media.

She disagrees with content from teachers that record students at school or mock students. But, Rachel says, “Content like classroom management, educational activities in class, tips for new teachers, or educational content for children is very useful.”

Content Creation Training

As the only content creator teacher in her school so far, Kristiawati admits she did not receive formal education to create content because she was still focused on teaching in the classroom. But whenever there is an opportunity to improve content creation skills through workshops, for example, she always attends.

Gilang also acknowledges that learning content creation is mostly through non-formal training. Some of these are conducted by communities. He cites the WISE Pendidikan Indonesia community, where he is a member, which provides additional skills for becoming a teacher content creator.

Gilang, one of the founders of the Media Fisika digital creator account on Instagram, with a mission to make physics a fun subject, mentions that the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud Ristek) has facilitated such training and has a Teacher Content Creator (GKK) program. The program demonstrates central government support for teacher content creators, according to Kristiawati, who was a participant in the first batch of that training. Unfortunately, Gilang assesses that the program is not evenly distributed as only teachers with established names or reputations were called for training at the ministry.

Human Resource Readiness

Gilang admits he was initially pessimistic about many teachers not being ready to become content creators. He suspected that many of them, especially the older ones, struggled to adapt to technological advancements, let alone create content.

However, during content creation training for teachers from various regions in Indonesia through webinars where he was a frequent speaker, Gilang observed their enthusiasm to learn. Surprisingly, the majority, 80 to 90 percent, of webinar participants were in their 40s and 50s.

“When given the opportunity to create content, it turns out they can too.