Exploring Teacher and Student Interactions in Blended Learning

Abstract


INTRODUCTION
Learning is a process of interaction between teachers and students and learning resources in a learning environment (Hanafy, 2014;Inah, 2015).Learning is assistance provided by teachers so that students can gain knowledge and knowledge, master skills and behavior, as well as form attitudes and beliefs towards students.What is significant is an individual's ability to take in information through the behavior of other people, and distinguish whether the attitude they will take is good or not.The teaching and learning process is a reciprocal relationship between teachers and students in educational (educational) situations to achieve certain goals (Musa, 2016).The current learning process certainly requires learning that can adapt to situations where teaching and learning activities are limited where teachers apply blended learning (Mahyudin et al., 2016).
Blended learning is a combination of learning that applies face-to-face learning and online learning using available platforms.Blended learning is a virtual activity between teachers and students at different times and places, but teachers and students still interact with each other and provide feedback on the results of their work.(Nugroho & Purwandari, 2016;Prasetyorini & Bachri, 2016).In this combination learning, students not only rely on the material provided by the teacher but can search for material in various ways and have various forms of devices that can be used during learning such as communication applications such as WhatsApp, Zoom, Facebook, web-based learning programs, one of which is Google Classroom. .The learning process must continue and can be applied whether it is face-to-face or online learning.Where blended learning is an alternative in implementing teaching and learning activities, with blended learning teachers and students can interact either directly or online.In teaching and learning interactions, teachers will try to provide the best using various skills and abilities so that students can achieve the expected goals.That way, teachers must be able to create situations so that students can learn.The teaching and learning process which is said to be successful in changing behavior can be called learning outcomes (Sirait, 2016).
The interaction between teachers and students during the teaching and learning process is very helpful so that an active and impressive teaching and learning process can be realized (Mujianto, 2015).The ability to know when, where and with the situation as well as the type and function should be explained, so that it can determine the level of acceptance of the message conveyed (Saefudin, 2013).When interacting, there are interaction patterns, especially interactions between teachers and students.A pattern is a way of behaving repeatedly by an individual or group regarding an existing phenomenon or situation.Interaction according to language means relationship, reciprocal relationship and mutual influence.Through language, it is hoped that two-way communication and interaction can be achieved so that there are actions and actions.
Based on the results of an interview with one of the class III teachers at Jambi City 1/IV Elementary School, teacher interactions are usually carried out offline but are currently different, where teachers use technology more in the learning process, delivering material which is usually done directly but Currently teachers deliver material by utilizing technology where when using technology of course requires a stable network connection but during the learning process he said there are students who still have network problems so that it affects teaching and learning interactions, readjusting interactions in the teaching and learning process, especially in using applications.updated, of course it is difficult for teachers to adapt how to use the application to students' understanding.
In accordance with the background described above, the author wants to know more about how teachers and students interact in blended learning.The aim of this research is to describe the reasons teachers choose the blended learning model; to describe the obstacles faced by teachers and students when interacting in blended learning; and to describe the solutions that teachers provide to overcome obstacles to teacher and student interaction in blended learning.

Research Design
This research is included in the qualitative research approach.Qualitative research is methods for exploring and understanding the values of a number of individuals or groups that are considered to originate from social or humanitarian problems (Widyastuti et al., 2014;Henawanto, 2014).This research intends to explore teacher and student interactions in blended learning.
This research uses a qualitative research method with a case study type of research.This research reviews cases in depth regarding teacher and student interactions in blended learning.Case study data can be obtained from careful cases, and from parties who know and are familiar with the case so that it can be obtained from various sources but is limited to the case being studied.

Research Target/Subject
In this research, data was obtained in the form of words or verbal utterances from respondents related to teacher and student interactions in blended learning.The data comes from direct observation, and the data sources in this research are class III teachers and class III students.The subjects of this research were one of the class III homeroom teachers and 3 class III students, where the teacher and students were the main informants in research regarding exploring teacher and student interactions in blended learning.
Where the researcher will explore the teacher's experience through data collection techniques so as to obtain accurate data.

Research Procedure
The research procedures carried out during the research process are: 1. Planning Stage The researcher made an initial visit where he asked permission from one of the teachers at State Elementary School 1/IV Jambi City.The next step was for the author to prepare a research instrument to collect data through observation and interviews.

Research Implementation Stage
At this stage the author collects data from respondents by conducting observations and interviews using the research instruments that have been prepared.

Completion Stage
At this completion stage the author compiles the data results that have been obtained in the form of a research report.

Instruments, and Data Collection Techniques
Data collection techniques in this research are observation, interviews, audio/video recorders and field note cards.The explanation is as follows: 1. Observation Observation is the author's way of getting data which is done by looking at the location directly so as to see what conditions and situations are occurring, so that the information obtained is accurate.

Interview
An interview is communication carried out by two people with certain predetermined goals.There is a dialogue that occurs to obtain the necessary information.Solutions that teachers provide to overcome obstacles to teacher and student interaction in blended learning.

Audio/Video recorder and field note cards
Audio/Video recording is used as evidence of research where during the research process the researcher can record via audio or video.Researchers also make short notes about what they see, hear, etc. so that later they are recorded in "field notes", these notes serve as a tool for researchers in making field notes as a basis for analyzing data and drawing research conclusions.

Data analysis technique
Validity testing is carried out to prove the research carried out, through the data collected so that the information is not incorrect or not appropriate to the context.Triangulation is checking data obtained from various sources, to test the accuracy of this research, namely using source triangulation by checking data obtained from teachers and students.In this research, researchers carried out data analysis techniques in 4 stages, including: 1. Researchers collected data which was collected from observations of teacher and student interactions in blended learning and direct interviews.This means that researchers collect all data from the beginning of the research to the end of the research.2. The researcher summarizes and selects the main and important things from observations of teacher and student interactions in blended learning and direct interviews, thereby providing a clearer picture of the research focus.3. Presentation of data is described in narrative text form, neatly arranged and easy to understand.
Researchers present data based on summaries of interviews and classroom observations which are developed according to respondents' answers, resulting in descriptions related to the research focus.4. Conclusions are drawn based on the research results which are presented in narrative form, then the researcher examines the data and expresses them in sentences that are consistent, systematic and linked to theory and the results of class observation and interview data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results obtained are that the interaction between teachers and students in blended learning is very helpful.Where the teacher's role is the main one for the success of the learning process, this is in line with Sadirman's (2016) opinion that teachers are one of the most important parts in the field of education where teachers must participate actively and position themselves as professionals, in accordance with increasingly changing conditions.develop.Therefore, teachers have a responsibility to bring their students to maturity or a certain level of maturity.
In blended learning, the interaction between teachers and students uses online learning and faceto-face learning components.In each learning process, of course, there are different interactions.The teacher also tries to ensure that students can follow the learning well so that the interactions that teachers build with students can become educational interactions.
Interaction is a reciprocal relationship, where the teacher is the communicator and the student is the communicant.Of course, the interaction that is built is expected to achieve the goals of the learning process itself.This is in line with the opinion of Sadirman, (2016) that educational interaction is reciprocal communication where one party and the other party have a specific purpose in order to achieve common goals in learning activities so as to achieve learning goals.
The learning process of blended learning or what can be called mixed learning certainly has different interactions, blended learning is meant by combining online and offline learning.This is in accordance with the opinion of Picciano & Anthony (2016) that blended learning is mixed learning, which combines the strengths of face-to-face and learning using technology, which is one of the most important parts of current educational reform.Blended learning allows teachers and students to understand how to send and receive information, how we interact with others in an educational environment, and how we assess what we have been taught or learned.
Where when learning offline, of course the teacher has more freedom to interact during the learning process, the teacher is more able to convey information and give directions directly so that the aims and objectives can be conveyed well, but when learning online the teacher uses WhatsApp as a medium for indirect interaction with students.However, the teacher explains the material delivered online so that learning can be delivered in stages.During the learning process the teacher tries to create a pleasant atmosphere, where the teacher always tries to prepare a learning process that makes students feel comfortable interacting, of course the interaction that the teacher builds is not only how the teacher conveys material during learning, but also how the teacher behaves with students, such as joking and sometimes the teacher also heard the opinions of students who spontaneously answered the teacher's questions, where the opinions were funny and the teacher responded well.Educator communication and interaction are the most influential activities in creating a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom.That way, teachers have the opportunity to create a pleasant atmosphere for interaction (Supartini, 2016).
During blended learning, the interaction during the learning process is of course more offline learning, where when online the teacher only interacts using technology, so the interaction that is built is verbal interaction, or communication using WhatsApp to provide the information needed when switching to offline learning.This is in line with the opinion of Istiningsih (2015) that online learning is a state of open learning by considering the learning perspective and using internet and web-based technology so that facilities during the learning process can build meaningful knowledge.
Of course, the division of time in blended learning makes the teacher experience a few obstacles, where the problem is that the teacher finds it difficult to divide the time and prepare the same learning material, therefore the teacher only provides material using WhatsApp but the teacher explains again when the students enter offline learning.This happens repeatedly in the first or second shifts, so that learning is not missed and students understand the material.
Based on the results of observations that have been made, exploring the interaction of teachers and students in blended learning, of course there are advantages and disadvantages in interacting, where blended learning can be a solution in interacting between teachers and students, where interaction between teachers and students will make it easier during the learning process.However, the lack of interaction between teachers and students in blended learning is that teachers find it more difficult to divide their time and it is difficult to prepare the same lesson on the same day.

CONCLUSION
Based on the results of research conducted at Jambi City 1/IV Elementary School, it can be concluded that the interaction between teachers and students in blended learning is carried out online and offline where the teacher acts as a communicator and students as communicants, teachers are more interact during the learning process directly, where students are also more responsive when learning directly, teachers also accompany students during the learning process, which ensures students' readiness to carry out the learning process, teachers use media, be it projectors, animated videos, books for success.student learning whether online or offline, teachers are able to overcome obstacles in implementing blended learning.The response given is where students ask questions, dare to express opinions during learning, both online and offline.However, when online, the interaction between teachers and students is indirect, and the interaction provided is that the teacher provides information, gives directions, and answers questions when students do not understand the meaning conveyed by the teacher, and the teacher also repeats the material where every material given online will be discuss again when students enter offline according to the schedule that has been given.

Table 2
Students ask questions and express opinions either to the teacher or other students.Obstacles Faced by Teachers and Students When Interacting in Blended Learning