Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026)

Letter recognition constitutes a fundamental component of early literacy development and plays a critical role in supporting beginning reading and writing skills in primary education. Difficulties in distinguishing letter forms, particularly visually similar letters, may hinder students’ early reading progress and classroom participation. This study aimed to develop a multimedia-based e-flashcard learning medium and to examine its feasibility and effectiveness in supporting letter recognition among Grade 1 students. The study employed a research and development approach using the ADDIE model, followed by classroom implementation through a one-group pretest and posttest design involving 25 students. The developed e-flashcards integrated letter forms, supporting images, example words, and audio elements designed to reinforce visual recognition and letter–sound associations. Feasibility evaluation through expert validation demonstrated that the product met validity standards across media, content, and language domains. The effectiveness findings indicated a marked improvement in students’ letter recognition performance, reflected in the increase from pretest to posttest scores. Statistical analysis using a paired-samples t-test indicated a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest results. These findings indicate that multimedia-based e-flashcards can function as a supportive instructional medium for strengthening letter recognition, particularly in addressing difficulties related to visually similar letters in early primary classrooms.

This study aims to provide a conceptual analysis of the Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) learning model in the context of Islamic Religious Education (IRE). The method employed is a literature review using a conceptual analysis approach of relevant sources, including books, academic journals, and previous research findings. The analysis focuses on the theoretical foundations, characteristics, implementation procedures, as well as the strengths and limitations of the STAD model in IRE learning. The findings indicate that the STAD model has significant potential to enhance student engagement, promote collaborative learning, and improve understanding of religious concepts through constructive social interaction. Furthermore, the implementation of STAD aligns with Islamic values such as cooperation (ta’awun) and togetherness. However, its effectiveness largely depends on teacher readiness, classroom management, and student characteristics. Therefore, appropriate implementation strategies are required to optimize the use of the STAD model in Islamic Religious Education.

This study examines digital literacy as a form of nonformal learning through patterns of information technology investment among UMKM in Aceh. UMKM actors in Aceh continue to face fundamental challenges in mastering digital literacy, including limited digital competencies, inadequate technological infrastructure, and unequal access to digital learning opportunities. These conditions contribute to a persistent digital divide, which is further influenced by the limited role of educational institutions, including Islamic schools and community-based learning institutions, in preparing society for digital transformation. The study aims to explore information technology investment patterns among UMKM in Aceh as manifestations of nonformal learning processes, identify the role of technology-based training and mentoring in improving entrepreneurs’ digital competencies, and examine the potential contribution of educational institutions in supporting community digital transformation. This research employed a qualitative field research approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and documentation studies involving 24 informants selected through purposive sampling in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, and Aceh Tengah. Data were analyzed inductively using thematic analysis, and findings were presented descriptively and interpretatively without making causal claims beyond the scope of qualitative inquiry. The findings reveal that 71% of informants experienced self-directed digital learning through gradual technology adoption, ranging from the use of WhatsApp Business to online marketplaces. UMKM actors who received structured technology training and mentoring demonstrated higher levels of digital competence and more significant business performance improvements compared to those relying solely on self-learning. The study concludes that technology adoption among UMKM in Aceh fundamentally represents a process of nonformal learning that requires systematic support from educational institutions and local governments through structured and sustainable digital literacy assistance programs

Students’ learning interest is an important dimension of elementary education because it is closely related to engagement, participation, and students’ willingness to sustain learning activities. In the context of Kurikulum Merdeka, the deep learning approach has been increasingly discussed as a pedagogical strategy that may support meaningful, mindful, and joyful learning. This study aimed to examine the exploratory association between teacher-reported deep learning implementation and fourth-grade students’ learning interest in elementary schools of Sekayam Subdistrict. A small-scale exploratory quantitative survey design was employed. The study involved 85 fourth-grade students from four elementary schools and four homeroom teachers representing different school contexts, including remote, mixed rural-urban, and subdistrict-center settings. Data were collected using two closed-ended questionnaires: a 12-item learning interest questionnaire completed by students and a 12-item deep learning implementation questionnaire completed by teachers. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, validity and reliability tests, residual normality testing, homogeneity testing, and exploratory simple linear regression. The learning interest questionnaire was valid and reliable, with item-total correlations ranging from 0.477 to 0.663 and a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.784. The regression result showed a positive coefficient for deep learning implementation, but the association was not statistically significant (B = 0.463; Beta = 0.177; p = 0.106). These findings suggest a weak positive tendency between teacher-reported deep learning implementation and students’ learning interest; however, the available data did not provide sufficient statistical evidence to confirm a significant relationship.

This study critically examines ChatGPT as an algorithmic epistemic mediator in contextual Islamic Religious Education (PAI) learning and its implications for religious moderation. The development of generative artificial intelligence has transformed how students access, interpret, and validate religious knowledge, raising pedagogical and epistemological concerns in Islamic education. This study employed qualitative library research by analyzing scholarly literature published between 2021 and 2026 from academic databases and journal portals, including Google Scholar, SINTA, Scopus-indexed journals, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Elsevier. The literature was analyzed through reduction, thematic categorization, critical interpretation, and conceptual synthesis. The findings indicate that ChatGPT has an ambivalent role in contextual PAI learning. On the one hand, it may support religious moderation by expanding access to diverse Islamic perspectives, encouraging student inquiry, strengthening digital religious literacy, and facilitating reflective learning. On the other hand, it may also create risks such as simplification of religious teachings, algorithmic bias, pseudo-authority, and pseudo-moderation when AI-generated responses are accepted without critical verification. This study argues that ChatGPT should not be positioned as an autonomous epistemic actor or a final source of religious authority, but as a mediated learning aid that requires teacher verification, critical digital literacy, and reflective-dialogical learning. The study contributes to Islamic education scholarship by offering a conceptual framework for integrating ChatGPT responsibly into contextual PAI learning without weakening the epistemological foundations of religious knowledge.

This article examines bureaucratic bullying as a form of unequal power relation within government organizations. Although bullying has widely been discussed in schools, workplaces, and digital environments, its operation within bureaucratic structures remains relatively underexplored, particularly in the Indonesian context. Using a qualitative conceptual-critical literature review, this article synthesizes scholarship on workplace bullying, public sector organizations, symbolic violence, disciplinary power, bureaucratic polity, civil servant neutrality, and merit-based public administration. The analysis suggests that bureaucratic bullying can be conceptualized into five main forms: institutional intimidation, factual and symbolic marginalization, bureaucratic psychological manipulation, digital bullying in organizational communication, and excessive workload allocation as a punitive mechanism. These practices tend to be enabled by hierarchical authority, bureaucratic politicization, inconsistent implementation of the merit system, and organizational cultures that normalize domination. The discussion indicates that bureaucratic bullying may weaken meritocracy, reduce public service quality, encourage a culture of silence, increase the risk of maladministration, and erode public trust in government institutions. The article argues that preventing bureaucratic bullying requires more than ethical appeals to individual leaders. It requires stronger merit protection, transparent promotion and transfer mechanisms, safe reporting channels, protection for whistleblowers and complainants, and a broader bureaucratic reform agenda that addresses internal power relations within public organizations.

The development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) technologies, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot, has brought significant transformation to the Indonesian education sector. These technologies offer numerous benefits, including supporting personalized learning, enhancing the efficiency of educational administration, and facilitating the retrieval and processing of academic information. However, the increasing use of AI has also raised concerns regarding academic integrity, including AI-assisted plagiarism, information fabrication, excessive dependence on technology, and the decline of students’ critical thinking skills. These challenges highlight the necessity of an AI governance framework that can accommodate technological advancement while safeguarding fundamental academic values. This study aims to analyze the governance of Artificial Intelligence in Indonesian education through an examination of existing regulatory frameworks and to formulate a model for strengthening academic integrity in the era of Generative AI. The research employs a normative legal method using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches, supported by an extensive literature review of relevant legislation, legal doctrines, and scholarly publications. The findings reveal that AI regulation in Indonesia remains fragmented and sector-specific, lacking a comprehensive legal framework to govern the use of AI in educational settings. In contrast, regulatory practices in various countries emphasize the importance of transparency, accountability, personal data protection, fairness, and human oversight as fundamental principles of AI governance. Based on these findings, this study proposes a model for strengthening academic integrity through five key pillars: institutional policy development, AI literacy and digital ethics, transparency and accountability, adaptive learning and assessment design, and continuous monitoring and evaluation. This model is expected to serve as a foundation for developing educational policies that are adaptive, ethical, and responsible in responding to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technologies

Religious leaders play an important role in shaping community understandings of gender relations in Muslim societies, particularly where religious authority remains closely connected to everyday social life. This article examines how religious leaders participate in gender mainstreaming in Kampung Jati Kaum, Tanjung Sari Village, North Cikarang District, Bekasi Regency, and reads this role through Fatima Mernissi’s critique of patriarchal interpretation. A descriptive qualitative design was used, with data collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and supporting documentation. Eighteen informants participated in the research, consisting of six religious leaders and twelve community members. The data were analysed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, with attention to recurring themes such as religious authority, domestic and public roles, conditional participation, contextual interpretation, and patriarchal assumptions. The findings show that religious leaders occupy a central position as normative mediators in the formation of gender norms. Their views fall into three broad tendencies: traditional, moderate, and progressive. Traditional views preserve domestic-public divisions, moderate views allow women’s participation under moral and domestic conditions, while progressive views connect women’s education and public participation with Islamic principles of justice and mutual responsibility. Through Mernissi’s critique, the article shows that gender mainstreaming in this community is shaped by negotiation between Islamic ethical values and inherited patriarchal cultural assumptions. The article argues that local religious authority can either reproduce gender hierarchy or open space for gradual gender-just reinterpretation.

The rapid expansion of digital technology has increased children's engagement with online games, raising concerns regarding its influence on religious behavior within Islamic educational settings. Despite extensive research on the academic and social consequences of online gaming, empirical evidence addressing its association with students’ religious discipline remains limited, particularly at the Madrasah Ibtidaiyah level. This research examined the relationship between online gaming intensity and discipline in performing obligatory prayers among students of MIN 12 Nagan Raya. A quantitative correlational design was employed involving 53 students selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered through validated and reliable questionnaires and analyzed using Pearson Product–Moment correlation and simple linear regression techniques. Statistical analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between online gaming intensity and prayer discipline (r = −0.451, p = 0.001). The regression results further indicated that online gaming intensity accounted for 20.3% of the variance in students’ prayer discipline (R² = 0.203). These findings indicate that increased involvement in online gaming tends to coincide with lower consistency in fulfilling obligatory prayers. The study contributes to the growing discourse on digital behavior and Islamic education by demonstrating that technology-related activities may influence not only academic and social dimensions but also the spiritual development of young learners. Consequently, strengthening cooperation between schools and families is necessary to encourage responsible digital engagement, foster self-regulation, and support the development of students’ religious character in the contemporary digital environment.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has significantly transformed various aspects of education, including the development of the Islamic Education (PAI) curriculum. As digital technologies continue to evolve, the PAI curriculum is required to adapt while maintaining its role in strengthening Islamic values and character education. However, several challenges remain, including limited technology integration, insufficient learning innovation, and the inadequate incorporation of 21st-century competencies into the curriculum. This study aims to analyze curriculum innovation strategies for Islamic Education in the Industry 4.0 era. Employing a library research approach, the study examined books, journal articles, and other relevant scholarly sources, primarily published between 2020 and 2026. Data were analyzed through reduction, classification, interpretation, and synthesis techniques. The findings indicate that an adaptive and innovative Islamic Education curriculum should integrate digital literacy, critical and creative thinking skills, collaborative learning, and the strengthening of Islamic values. Such integration enables students to develop strong character, global competitiveness, and readiness to face the challenges of the digital age. The study proposes a digital-religious integrative curriculum model that combines technological competence, digital literacy, and Islamic moral values to support sustainable educational development in the modern era.

The recitation of different Qur’anic verses for foreign delegations at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s state funeral prompted speculation that Iran was conveying hidden diplomatic messages through selective verse assignment. This study asks how verse selection for each delegation can be explained beyond ad hoc political signalling, and proposes Revelatory Situation Matching as an analytical mechanism for this purpose. Using a qualitative case study design, it examines twenty delegation–verse pairs drawn from approximately nine hours of official livestream footage. Historical revelatory situations were reconstructed from al-Wāḥidī’s Asbāb al-Nuzūl and the tafsīr literature; contemporary ceremonial situations were reconstructed from audiovisual observation and international media reports. Both corpora were coded independently through open, axial, and selective coding. The findings show that verse selection did not function as personalised political messaging to individual states, but as structural correspondence between historical revelatory situations and contemporary diplomatic circumstances: the strongest correspondences appeared among delegations associated with the Axis of Resistance, while partner states showed more moderate correspondences. The study concludes that Revelatory Situation Matching extends the function of asbāb al-nuzūl beyond hermeneutics into an analytical tool for contemporary Qur’anic reception, while Qur’anic Framing denotes the communicative effect produced once matched verses are performed before a public audience. These findings constitute an analytical reconstruction based on observable ceremonial patterns rather than a direct verification of the organisers’ decision-making process.

This study explores the implementation and perceived contribution of blended e-learning to student engagement and instructional interaction in Islamic Religious Education at MA Al-Azzaam Semarang, Indonesia. The study employed a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through non-participant classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis involving eight purposively selected participants, consisting of one madrasah leader, two Islamic Religious Education teachers, and five students. The data were analyzed through data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing, while source and method triangulation were used to enhance the credibility of the findings. The results indicate that e-learning was implemented through a blended learning model combining face-to-face instruction with Google Classroom, Google Meet, and WhatsApp. Participants perceived that this model facilitated access to learning materials, supported student participation and independent learning, and expanded communication between teachers and students beyond classroom hours. However, its implementation was constrained by unstable internet connectivity, differences in students’ digital literacy, and limited opportunities for direct moral guidance and teacher role modelling. Face-to-face instruction therefore remained essential for religious practice, character development, and the internalization of Islamic values. The study suggests that the contribution of e-learning to Islamic Religious Education depends not merely on the availability of digital technology, but on the pedagogical allocation of online and face-to-face activities according to their respective instructional functions. These findings provide practical implications for madrasahs seeking to develop context-sensitive and value-oriented blended learning.