Reading Literacy Challenges in the Digital Era
Reading literacy is an essential part of education because students need to obtain information, understand content, evaluate ideas, and connect new information with their existing knowledge. However, the researchers noted that Indonesian students continue to face challenges in reading literacy, particularly in moving beyond basic comprehension toward interpretation, critical responses, and reflection.
The problem was also identified at SMP Negeri 1 Maospati in Magetan Regency, where the researchers conducted their development work. Classroom observations and interviews found that learning relied heavily on printed textbooks and worksheets, while teaching was often dominated by lectures. About 50% of students scored below the school's Minimum Competency Criterion of 75.
Students could generally identify explicit information in texts but experienced greater difficulty understanding implicit meanings, connecting information with prior knowledge, and providing critical responses. At the same time, students showed interest in visual media, group discussions, and learning materials that could be accessed through digital devices.
Combining Digital Flipbooks With Group Discussion
To address these challenges, Siti Fatonah and St. Nurbaya developed digital flipbook teaching materials incorporating the Reading Response Group strategy.
RRG is a small-group learning approach in which students actively respond to reading from different perspectives. They consider their existing knowledge, ideas developed from the text, and interpretations that extend beyond the text. The approach emphasizes discussion and interaction among students, rather than treating reading as an individual activity only.
The digital flipbook was designed to support this process by guiding students through reading, discussion, responses, and reflection. The materials covered several types of non-literary texts, including observation reports, advertisements, slogans and posters, popular scientific articles, and descriptive texts.
How the Teaching Materials Were Developed
The researchers used a Research and Development approach based on the ADDIE model. ADDIE consists of five stages: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.
The research involved eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri 1 Maospati. A total of 32 students participated in the large-group trial, while 10 students were involved in a small-group trial. The development process also included assessments from a material expert and a media expert.
Researchers collected information through tests, classroom observations, interviews, questionnaires, and documentation. Students completed pre-tests and post-tests to assess their learning, while interviews with three students representing high, medium, and low achievement levels provided additional information about their experiences.
The needs analysis showed that students needed learning resources that were more visual, contextual, interactive, and accessible through digital devices. The researchers therefore designed the flipbook with an accessible layout, communicative language, illustrations, and navigation appropriate for eighth-grade students.
Digital Flipbook Receives Strong Feasibility Scores
The evaluation produced positive results regarding the feasibility of the developed teaching materials.
- Material expert assessment: average score of 4.58, equivalent to 91.6%, categorized as very worthy.
- Media expert assessment: average score of 4.20, equivalent to 84%, categorized as worthy.
- Overall assessment: average score of 4.39, with a feasibility percentage of 87.6%, categorized as very worthy.
The media assessment was conducted by Prof. Dr. Kastam Syamsi, M.Ed., a lecturer at the Faculty of Languages, Arts, and Culture at Yogyakarta State University. The researchers subsequently refined the flipbook based on the validator's suggestions before further use.
Beyond feasibility scores, the researchers reported that combining the RRG strategy with digital flipbooks increased student engagement and supported understanding, analytical abilities, critical thinking, and reflective thinking during reading activities.
Implications for Indonesian Language Learning
The findings suggest that digital teaching materials can serve as more than electronic replacements for printed textbooks. When combined with a structured collaborative strategy such as RRG, digital materials can guide students to actively engage with texts and discuss their interpretations with peers.
For teachers, the flipbook can function as an additional learning resource alongside existing materials. The researchers suggest using the materials together with discussion and response activities to strengthen students' abilities to understand and analyze texts, formulate critical responses, and reflect on what they have read.
Fatonah and Nurbaya of Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta emphasize through their findings that reading instruction can be made more active and collaborative by integrating digital materials with structured discussion and reflection. Their work positions the digital flipbook not simply as a technological product, but as a tool for organizing the reading-learning process around student participation.
Limitations and Future Research
The researchers caution that the findings have limitations. The product was tested with eighth-grade students in a single school and involved a limited number of participants. Therefore, the results cannot automatically be generalized to schools with different characteristics.
The study also focused strongly on developing and assessing the feasibility of the teaching materials. Further research is needed to examine their long-term effectiveness and compare learning outcomes between students using the RRG-based flipbook and students receiving other forms of instruction.
Future studies could involve more schools and diverse student groups. Researchers could also examine specific reading abilities, including finding information, understanding implied meanings, evaluating text, providing critical responses, and reflecting on content. The authors additionally suggest expanding the range of non-literary texts and adding more interactive and multimedia features.
Author Profile
Siti Fatonah is affiliated with Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta and works in the field of Indonesian language learning and reading literacy, particularly the development of digital teaching materials for non-literary reading. The article identifies her as the corresponding author. Her academic degree is not specified in the published article.
St. Nurbaya is also affiliated with Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta and contributes expertise in Indonesian language education and reading instruction. Her academic degree is not specified in the published article.
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