Students’ critical awareness of the internet and social media use as resources for Islamic learning in Indonesian public senior high schools

Abstract

The internet and social media as sources of learning have played a vital role in education. However, the use of the internet and social media-based materials for students learning about Islam in the school context has yet to be widely known. This study describes students’ attempts to maximise internet and social media to enlighten their understanding of Islamic learning materials at senior high schools. The authors collected data through face-to-face interviews with students who actively participated in school-based extracurricular organisations. The study suggested that the internet and social media have impacted learners’ approaches to learning about Islam in schools. Islamic teaching methods at school levels no longer centre on teachers; instead, they focus on students. The results further indicated that students search for the internet and social media-based Islamic learning resources and discuss them online in whatsApp groups or offline in extracurricular groups. Students also show their open and rational attitudes instead of being hypocritical and bound to one religious madzhab.