Interests of Indonesian Islamic Students in using Social Media as a Means of Online Learning during the Post Covid-19 Pandemic

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, the traces of post-Covid-19 online learning in Indonesia are still ongoing. This manuscript reports the level of student interest in Islamic higher education in using social media as a means of online learning. The study, which involved 471 students from three Islamic Higher Education in Indonesia, used thematic analysis. The research findings show that the most attractive social media platforms for online learning in Indonesia are GoogleMeet, Zoom App, Youtube, Whats App, Facebook, Instagram, and E-Learning Applications created by campuses. However, the lecturers feel that the use of social media as a means of online learning is not effective. This is indicated by the low involvement of students during online learning, as well as the problem of uneven internet access for students living in remote areas in Indonesia. This has an impact on the emergence of boredom to a decrease in student participation and motivation to learn. This study recommends that the findings be used as a basis for consideration in evaluating policies and implementation of online learning in Islamic higher education