Vol. 1 No. 2: Februari 2026
Articles

Digitalizing Cultural Heritage: Preserving the Legend of Lake Toba Through Storybird

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  • Yusron Abda'u Ansya,
  • Elwin Dermawan Samosir
Yusron Abda'u Ansya
Intelearn Insight Pustaka Media
Bio
Elwin Dermawan Samosir
Universitas Negeri Medan
Bio

Published 2026-02-21

Keywords

  • Storybird,
  • Folklore Writing,
  • Local Culture Preservation,
  • Legend of Lake Toba,
  • Digital Learning Media

Copyright (c) 2026 Yusron Abda'u Ansya, Elwin Dermawan Samosir (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Ansya, Y. A., & Samosir, E. D. (2026). Digitalizing Cultural Heritage: Preserving the Legend of Lake Toba Through Storybird. Jurnal Transformasi Dan Inovasi Pendidikan , 1(2), 138-156. https://ejournal.intelearn-insight.com/jtip/article/view/20

Abstract

Elementary students' engagement with local folklore has declined due to conventional instructional methods and foreign media influences. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the digital platform Storybird in enhancing students' folklore writing skills and cultural literacy regarding the Legend of Lake Toba. Employing a quantitative pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design, the research was conducted during the even semester of the 2024/2025 academic year at SDN 060809 in Medan, involving 36 elementary students selected via purposive sampling. The research procedure comprised a pretest session without digital tools, an interactive Storybird treatment session, and a posttest session. Data were collected using validated folklore writing performance tests assessing characterization, plot, and theme. Data analysis utilized descriptive metrics, Lilliefors normality tests, F-homogeneity tests, and paired-sample -tests. Results showed a statistically significant score gain of 24.10 points, with mean performance rising from  (Adequate) to  (Good), supported by  (). In conclusion, Storybird effectively scaffolds creative narrative performance while revitalizing local cultural heritage. It is recommended that educators and curriculum designers integrate interactive digital storytelling tools into elementary language arts instruction to sustainably align modern technological literacy with indigenous cultural preservation.

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