Blended Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Learning: Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Perception (A Proposal)
INTRODUCTION A. Background Since the beginning of 2020, the covid-19 pandemic has been a global public health catastrophe. It has been disrupting almost all sectors, including education. To contain the spread of the virus, practicing social distancing is indispensable and schools are forced to create a big change in the system. In Indonesia, the ministry of education had proposed to shift the offline classes into online classes at every level of education since March 2020. Applying online learning (henceforth is abbreviated OL) or e-learning has become the most feasible solution during the pandemic because it enables students to access and learn the materials anytime and anywhere. It also allows students and teachers to communicate from a distance. Students can also read and respond every time (Lim 2017). OL is classified into a triad of synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid or blended learning (Perveen, 2016; Dorsah & Alhassan, 2021). Synchronous OL, such as live students presen