Application of Information Technology at School to Create

Competitive Advantages on Distruption Era

Asih Enggar Susanti

Faculty of Education, Department of Economics, UPH Lippo Karawaci



Keywords: Information Technology, Schools, Competitive Advantages, Era of Disruption

Abstract: The existence of information technology that continues to grow and move exponentially has an influence on

the system of educational institutions to increasingly compete to provide better quality of education than

among its competitors. The context in which educational institutions currently serve educational service

users who are familiar with the "internet of things", should have taken schools as educational institutions to

think about and offer a far better quality of education by paying attention to various aspects. The purpose of

this paper will explain how the role of information technology as part of the competitive advantage of

schools as an educational institution amidst the proliferation of new educational institutions both physically

and substitute. The research method used in this paper is a literature study. The results of the study show

that by using the reference of the five forces of competition, educational institutions can analyze the position

of development and self-readiness in determining the competitive advantage that will be carried out. Next

the school can optimize the school's internal resources. This starts with building qualified teachers who are

able to update with technology. Furthermore, the school is aware of the potential of information technology

as an asset but also challenges in providing quality education for students. This can be started by building

adequate infrastructure, so that the application of information technology as a competitive advantage can be

implemented within the scope of the support system and the process of learning activities.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the era of technological advancement like

nowadays, the community is facilitated very easily

in carrying out their activities. The mobilization and

dynamics of the activities carried out are indirectly

influenced by technological progress whether in the

family, work, or other community activities.

Technology is present in the community as part of

tools to facilitate, accelerate and provide services in

accordance with the needs needed by the

community. As an example of the form of ease felt

by the community in the last few years located in the

area of gadget and the internet, which can facilitate

the community in meeting their needs such as in the

scope of transportation, shopping for clothing and

food. When observed all these things only depend on

typing skills supported by adequate gadgets or

technology and the internet. This internet of things is

a feature of people's lives today so that almost every

activity carried out by the community is not

separated from the internet and the technology used

in it

This significant technological development has

an impact or influence in various areas of service or

community work areas today. Naylor (2017)

explains that in the current era there is a revolution

of technology which includes the combination of

interrelated technologies. Thus the existence of a

change from one part of the technology will affect

other technology systems and of course this affects

the community as users. Thus it can be interpreted

that the technological revolution in the last few years

has been able to provide opportunities for every

organization to advance by using perspectives that

provide opportunities and better quality because of

the technology in it. Changes caused by the

advancement of technology, also become an

opportunity for organizations to compete healthy

and smart in displaying products or services they

have. The area of change that is influenced by

technological progress is not only applicable to

Susanti, A.

Application of Information Technology at School to Create Competitive Advantages on Distruption Era.

DOI: 10.5220/0009494100880091

In Proceedings of the 1st Unimed International Conference on Economics Education and Social Science (UNICEES 2018), pages 88-91

ISBN: 978-989-758-432-9

business organizations but also must be understood

by educational organizations namely schools.

Schools as formal education institutions should be

sensitive to change. Fattah (2004) explains the

nature of change that can be understood as a

different situation, and can be related to structure,

people and technology. These three components are

dynamic as a factor of changes in the scope of

educational institutions.

Therefore, it is related to the scope of change in

an organizational management system, so that

technological progress that occurs exponentially also

needs to be a concern of the school as one of the

educational institutions. Why is that? Because

schools become one of the institutions that have a

great opportunity to educate future generations to

have the competencies and skills of students needed

in the future. Schools must be aware that in the

midst of a technological era that is so fast, the school

should also think about how to provide better

educational quality to students. In this case schools

as educational institutions should think about the

concept of competitive advantage in the era of

technological progress. One implication is using

technology as a support service and facilities used in

classrooms. This study will discuss the application

of technology as part of the school's competitive

advantage in realizing a better quality of education.

Next in this paper will also be explained about what

should be done by the school in addressing this

disruption era in maximizing the quality and quality

of education.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

The method used in this study is literature study.

Literature study is a method that is by looking for

relevant theories based on problems or phenomena

that occur.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The existence of schools and technology are the two

things that are closely related in creating competitive

advantage. Both components can be interconnected

and have a positive influence to improve the quality

of education both in the scope of input, the process

to the output produced. Therefore, the existence of

these two components must support each other.

Schools as educational institutions can determine the

type of information technology that will be used so

that it can help sustain the performance of a school

in the field of services to the wider community or to

students through the learning process in the

classroom.

Rochaety, et al (2005) explained that a school as

an educational institution requires components to

run educational operations such as teachers,

students, facilities, organizational structures, and

areas of cost which all of them can be operated to

carry out quality education practices. Of course, it is

supported by the existence of a system or

information technology which consists of hardware,

soft-ware and brain ware. Therefore, schools

basically have the capital to control some of these

components and optimize them so that they can have

competitive advantage with the surrounding

educational institutions. The first step that will be

taken in designing competitive advantage of

educational institutions is by knowing what is a

factor of disruption both in the scope of education

management and its implementation. One of them is

the existence of an "internet of things" a new

breakthrough in various fields that emphasizes the

rapid movement. Naylor (2017) explained that one

of the key elements of the connected world is the

sensor chip, called telematics so that it can provide

direct feedback to the data center which is then

better known for the presence of new breakthroughs,

namely Wifi. Through this, we can get a clearer

picture of how technological progress is accelerating

and bringing about change. Therefore it is important

for schools to use the opportunity to read the

opportunities of advancing information technology

that moves very quickly.

Underlying that technology is an important role

in educational institutions in the current era of

distractors, it is important for schools as educational

institutions to be able to do the following:

a. Establish five competitive forces

In creating competitive advantage in educational

institutions it is important for schools to see and

determine the five competitive forces that will be

used. Thus it can be a first step for schools to

identify the use of information technology which is

also used similarly by educational institutions that

are in the vicinity. Michael Porter, 1995 in the book

of education management provides a visualization of

the five forces of competition that can also be

contextualized within the scope of education.

Rochaety, et al (2005) describes five competitive

forces as follows.

Based on the picture of the five strengths above,

there are several things that can be considered by

policy makers in educational institutions, namely

schools. First, schools can pay attention in terms of

competition with existing educational institutions.

Application of Information Technology at School to Create Competitive Advantages on Distruption Era

Figure 1: Five competitive forces

In this case the school in this time of distraction can

be more creative in creating and offering affordable

quality education by combining speed due to the

application of technology in it until finally the

school can offer the best quality education. Thus

technology is present as a support for the school

system both in terms of administration and learning

process. The second thing that needs to be

emphasized is the existence of threats from

newcomer educational institutions. In the current era

the concept of distance learning has become part of

the education process, therefore it is important for

schools to see opportunities in using technology as

part of providing innovative educational services.

The third of the five competitive forces is also

emphasized by educational institutions that offer

substitute education services. In the current era

many substitute educational institutions offer ease of

learning. Support from technology that facilitates the

transfer of files to replace the learning process in the

form of teaching materials, e’books, reference books

that are of course offered at a lower price so that this

can be a part thought by schools to use information

technology as part of the solution to anticipate

threats from substitute education institution. This

can be done with the school using a data based

system or learning portal so that students can be

facilitated in accessing learning materials or sources.

Next the fourth and fifth things from the strength of

competition emphasize the community as providers

and users of education services. In an era where

everything uses the internet, it becomes a challenge

and an opportunity for schools to continue to

provide quality education services.

b. Optimizing internal school resources

In realizing competitive advantage in the education

sector, one of the things that schools can do is to

implement an internal system of educational

institutions that is increasingly solid and optimal.

This begins with applying the knowledge,

technology and abilities of the teacher's pedagogy in

teaching. In the era of technology, as now, it is very

important for schools to be able to ensure that the

human resources they possess have been able to use

technology as part of their daily activities at school.

Aljufri (2011, p. 28) describes three groups of use of

information technology in the scope of education.

These three things are :

"Groups that use computers to deliver

teaching material. The use of the second

group is to distribute teaching materials

through the internet network. The use of the

third group is as a medium of communication

with experts, resource persons or other

students, so that students get feedback from

lecturers, experts or other sources. "

Based on the explanation above, it can be

understood that being a hope in applying technology

in this case the computer does not only stop to

convey learning material but to the stage of

communication in learning. Furthermore, it is

important for a teacher to be able to develop his

competence in the field of technology applications

so that it can lead to a meaningful learning process

for students. Maloy et al., (2011) explained that

there are five technological steps in a computer that

can change the teaching and learning process for

teachers and students. Among them are "visual

learning, accessing and assessing information,

collaboration and engagement, feedback and

creativity". Based on these five things it can be

understood that technology such as computers can

be a tool that can help the learning process become

meaningful. Information technology used in learning

can influence the approach used by teachers in

student-oriented teaching, thus the learning process

in the classroom can have an effect on students in

understanding learning. Of course a teacher still

plays an important role in holding authority in the

classroom and guiding students to follow the

learning series so that through directing and

mentoring teachers and information technology that

is used can provide space for students and schools in

their scope to provide quality education services for

students and users of education services.

Furthermore, in optimizing the internal components

that are owned, the school can also maximize

facilities or infrastructure so that it can support the

effectiveness of learning that can contribute to

realizing the quality of affordable and quality

education.

4 CONCLUSION

Through the discussion that has been done above,

the following conclusions can be drawn:

UNICEES 2018 - Unimed International Conference on Economics Education and Social Science

1. Technological developments bring influence in

the life of society at large and influence

organizations including schools as one of the

educational organizations.

2. Schools and information technology are the two

things that are interconnected to realize

competitive advantage in providing quality

education services.

3. In realizing competitive advantage the school

must establish five competitive forces. As a first

step for schools to identify the use of

information technology which is also used

similarly by other educational institutions. Thus

the school can develop creativity and methods

in using information technology as part of

providing quality education services.

4. Optimizing the role of the teacher as an internal

component of the school is an important part so

that the teacher can optimize the learning

process with information technology.

REFERENCES

Aljufri, H, (2011), Sistem Informasi Manajemen

Pendidikan, PT Smart Grafika : Jakarta

Fattah, N, 2004, Landasan Manajemen Pendidikan. PT

Remaja Rosdakarya , Bandung

Maloy, R. W., O'loughlin, R. E. V., Edwards, S. A. &

Woolf, B. P., (2011), Transforming Learning With

New Technologie, Pearson ,USA

Naylor, M., (2017). Insurance Transformed Technological

Disruption. School Of Economic and Finance

Massey University, New Zealand

Rochaety, E., Rahayuningsih, . P. & Yanti, P. G., (2005),

Sistem Informasi Manajemen Pendidikan, PT Bumi

Aksara, Jakarta

Application of Information Technology at School to Create Competitive Advantages on Distruption Era