UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING COMMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN SEKOLAH MURID MERDEKA (SMM) STUDENTS

Abstract

Communication competence is an increasingly crucial skill, not only for the future but also for daily life. The era of globalization and rapid technological advances has made the ability to communicate one of the indicators of individual success in various aspects of life. The widespread use of digital media will also make communication skills more complex. As an educational institution, Sekolah Murid Merdeka (SMM) is committed to developing student competencies by integrating communicative competency into the curriculum. SMM uses a blended-learning approach by combining multiple instructional methods—such as in-person teaching, online content, and interactive activities in a personalized competency-based learning process according to students' interests and aspirations. This research aims to identify learning methods and strategies used by teachers in developing communicative competence and the student profile on the achievement of this competency development at Sekolah Murid Merdeka. This research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches simultaneously (a
mixed method). A total of 1,780 summative assessment data of SMM students were used to measure the achievement of communicative competence, while data from interviewing 6 SMM teachers were used to explore the learning methods and strategies. The results showed that SMM improves students' communicative competence by applying a project-based approach and collaborative learning. The findings of this study are expected to offer a comprehensive analysis of communicative competence achievement, as well as a basis for providing concrete recommendations to refine learning strategies that enhance students' communicative competence.