Natalina Purba, Rosita Wondal, Irma Yuliantina, Anita Chandra Dewi Sagala, Erna Budiarti, Debie Susanti, Herman Herman

Bringing Numbers to Life through Numeracy Literacy: Practical Use of E-Comic Media in Early Education

Introduction

Bringing numbers to life through numeracy literacy: practical use of e-comic media in early education. Learn how e-comic media effectively teaches numeracy literacy in early education, helping young children distinguish letters (b,d,p) through engaging digital stories.

Abstract

This research aims to develop and assess the effectiveness of e-comic media as a literacy-numeracy learning tool for early childhood education, specifically in helping children distinguish letters b, d, and p. This study employed a research and development (R&D) approach using the Borg and Gall model. The media were validated by early childhood experts, linguists, users (teachers), and media experts, followed by field implementation in PAUD Pembina 7 Ternate City. The participants included 25 children aged 5–6 years, selected based on their difficulty recognizing the targeted letters. Expert validation results showed high feasibility, with average scores of 84% (material experts), 93.4% (linguist), 95.4% (teachers), and 82% (media expert), indicating that the media met the developmental, linguistic, and technical criteria. Field trials, including limited and operational tests, showed strong student engagement, with response scores of 83.71% and 88.86%, respectively, in limited trials, and 90.02% in the operational test. The children showed enthusiasm, understood the storyline, and were able to differentiate letters effectively after viewing. These findings suggest that e-comic media is an effective, engaging, and developmentally appropriate tool for improving early literacy and numeracy. The use of animated storytelling, visual cues, and moral values in videos supports both cognitive and character development in young learners. This study recommends integrating multimedia learning tools in early education and encourages further development and research on similar digital media for broader educational contexts.

Review

This research presents a compelling case for the integration of e-comic media in early childhood education, aiming to enhance literacy and numeracy skills, specifically focusing on distinguishing problematic letters like 'b,' 'd,' and 'p.' Employing a robust Research and Development (R&D) approach based on the Borg and Gall model, the study meticulously developed and validated its e-comic tool. The comprehensive validation process involved a diverse panel of experts, including early childhood specialists, linguists, media experts, and end-users (teachers), all of whom provided overwhelmingly positive feedback. This preliminary validation, with average feasibility scores ranging from 82% to 95.4%, lends significant credibility to the media's design and pedagogical potential, confirming its adherence to developmental, linguistic, and technical criteria. The subsequent field trials, conducted with 25 children aged 5-6 years at PAUD Pembina 7 Ternate City, further underscored the media's effectiveness. Both limited and operational tests revealed high levels of student engagement, with response scores consistently above 83%, culminating in an impressive 90.02% in the operational test. Crucially, the children demonstrated enthusiasm, comprehension of the narrative, and a marked improvement in their ability to differentiate the targeted letters after engaging with the e-comic. The abstract effectively attributes this success to the medium's inherent qualities, such as animated storytelling, visual cues, and the subtle integration of moral values, suggesting a dual benefit for both cognitive and character development in young learners. While the study makes a strong contribution to the field of early childhood digital learning, particularly in enhancing foundational literacy, it is important to note a potential discrepancy between the title's broad promise of "Numeracy Literacy" and the abstract's explicit focus on "distinguishing letters b, d, and p." While foundational literacy is undoubtedly crucial, the abstract does not elaborate on how "numbers are brought to life" or how "numeracy literacy" was specifically addressed or measured within the e-comic content. Future research could explicitly detail and assess the numeracy components to fully align with the title's scope. Nevertheless, the findings unequivocally support the e-comic media as an effective, engaging, and developmentally appropriate tool for improving early literacy, making the recommendation for integrating multimedia learning and pursuing further digital media research well-founded and pertinent for advancing early education practices.

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