Utilization of Digital Books in Increasing Students' Reading Interest

In line with the development of the era, technology brings its development, by shaping a change in life, especially in the field of science and knowledge. Nowadays all activities we can enjoy through mobile phones. One form of utilizing a media of technological progress is the existence of innovation in the fields of science, technology, and information as improving the quality and quality of education in Indonesia, This can be seen in the Indonesian Ministry of Education institutions that support utilizing technology as a form of utilizing digital technology as a learning medium, namely by utilizing digital books. The purpose of this study is to provide new information about fun learning resources for students, namely through the use of digital books to increase reading interest. This study used the PTK method (classroom action research) using the research subjects of grade IV elementary school students at SDN Kebarepan 1 Kab. Cirebon totaling 30 students, using collections in the form of questionnaires, observations, interviews, and documentation. The results showed that in the form of an answered questionnaire distributed by researchers on the use of digital books showed that the use of digital books succeeded in increasing students' reading interest which was shown by an increase in one of their reading interest indicators, and can improve reading skills shown by increasing their reading ability test results, at the beginning of the phase an average score of 61 in the phase before the PTK test, to 79 in the first cycle test and to 83 in the second cycle PTK test.


INTRODUCTION
Along with the progress of the era, technology always brings development by bringing changes in all aspects of life, especially in the world of education, which will continue to develop (Hanifah Salsabila dkk., 2020).Nowadays all activities we can enjoy through mobile phones.The use of technology as a learning medium is an innovative step to improve the quality and quality of education in Indonesia, this can be seen in the Indonesian Ministry of Education which supports utilizing technology as a form of utilizing digital technology as a learning medium, namely by utilizing digital books.In the past, we could read books in the form of sheets of paper arranged in such a way as to produce a reading that could be read by readers.Currently, running with the progress of the book age is not only in the form of paper containing sheets but can be in digital form that can be stored in mobile phones which of course its use can be more effective and efficient because it can be used at any time and place to read (Ruddamayanti, 2019) Reading is one of the things needed to increase knowledge, especially for students.In modern times, students are facilitated by mobile phones by their parents to learn and communicate but are not balanced with supervision from parents (Rokmana dkk., 2023).With a lack of supervision from parents of using smartphones students are much happier using their mobile phones to play games and watch TikTok neglecting their duties as students to learn (Sari dkk., 2022).That problem is the idea of how to combine reading with digital utilization to generate reading interest.If reading in written form alone will get bored faster, for the digital book adds a musical component that will interest students to read when reading.
By reading someone has grown positive things that exist in individuals, so that individuals continue to develop, broaden horizons, and sharpen ideas (Salma, 2019).In line with what is in the writings of Ade May Sunjaya, he conveyed other benefits that a person will get when someone reads that allows the growth of various other interests in themselves, such as interest in writing and revealing opinions, as well as interest in problems and rumors that are often read.Reading skills can be optimal if students are active in the learning process.The activeness of students, in this case, students who must be more active in learning than the teacher.Students must be involved in learning not only physically, but mentally, socially, and emotionally must be involved as well.Student activity in learning is very important.Because all knowledge, skills, and attitudes cannot be taken for granted, students must also be able to process the knowledge they get.In learning also by the direction of the Ministry of National Education, there is a literacy movement, therefore, when students must be active in learning activities, students will also take part in literacy activities (Mu'arif dkk., 2021).
Interest in reading is a great influence on students.Efforts to Increase a child's interest in reading that occurs at the age of six to 12 years.students are a shared responsibility, between the students themselves, teachers, and parents (Pamailiani, 2020).However, the low interest in reading students in elementary school is one of the barriers, lack of desire and self-awareness of the students themselves, teachers also do not require students to read books when learning taught to students.To increase interest, in reading elementary school students, students should be given support, so that interest, in reading, arises from students and is introduced to reading materials so that students are accustomed to reading, therefore the reading habits of students during the time sitting in elementary school will foster high interest in reading until students grow up (Elendiana, 2020).
Applying reading habits to students is very important to build students' interest in reading and it is important to create learners who know and develop thinking, in addition to carrying out obligations as Indonesian citizens, namely to educate the life of the nation and state.This habit of reading interest can be started from an early age because the early age is the right time to create good habits that will later be carried into adulthood.Interest in reading is characterized by a liking for the habits of reading students.To instill the habit of reading, parents become the main driver and the most responsible party.Therefore, parents are the first people seen and imitated by children, everything done by parents will be imitated by children (Anggraeni dkk., 2021).
Released in the 2009 Program For International Student Assessment (PISA) test data, Indonesian students are ranked 57th with a score of 396 (OECD average score 493), while PISA 2012 shows Indonesian students are ranked 64th with a score of 396 (OECD average score 496).A total of 65 countries participated in PISA 2009 and 2012.The results of both can be said that the educational practices that have been planned by educational institution units, for example in schools, have not shown the function of schools as learning organizations that seek to make all citizens skilled in reading to support them as lifelong learners.Seeing the very low interest in reading the Indonesian people, of course, will have an impact on the low quality of Indonesian human resources who will face the ASEAN Economic Community so that the Indonesian people will find it very difficult to compete with people from other countries in Asean (Jatnika, 2019).
Based on observations made by researchers at SDN 1 Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon Regency, researchers found that some students are lazy to read, not enthusiastic if ordered to read by the teacher, must be instructed by the teacher to start reading, reading books facilitated by schools are limited and less varied, and students take reading that is not by their needs.This is shown in several classes, researchers focused on low interest in reading in grade VI SDN 1 Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon Regency.In line with the results of the observations above, based on research (Hapsari dkk., 2019), it was found that 12 students out of 15 grade V students of SDN Harjowinangun 02 who filled out questionnaires with scores ranging between 37-54 or more than 37 and less than 50 had boredom when students read books.Furthermore, based on the research conducted (Lamis dkk., 2022).It was found that students were less enthusiastic in reading with printed books that were less varied in reading content.This affects grade V students of SDN 118 North Bengkulu who have an interest in reading at an average level.
Observations of interviews with teachers in elementary schools.The teacher argued that students' low interest in reading was also influenced by students if free time took advantage of their time to go to the library to read books because of the level of laziness that has been attached to students which makes students use their free time more to play than read.This is due to the readings provided by the school.The content of reading given to students does not vary, which of course students prefer illustrated reading and also short and dense reading content with several musical components in the digital book, to make students relax when reading it.
Based on the results of interviews conducted with teachers and observed by researchers and students at SDN, it was found that there were several factors in the low interest in reading for grade VI students.internal and external factors.This internal factor is influenced by students themselves having low interest in reading due to the thinking of students who cannot understand how important reading is to increase existing knowledge in these students, lack of reading habits, reading books at the teacher's behest, and students rarely look for reading books that suit their needs.External factors that cause low interest in reading because the limited time given by teachers to carry out reading activities because reading activities are implemented at SDN 1 Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon Regency are, 10 minutes before entering into learning.So that the implementation of literacy is less than optimal.Limited reading provided by the school, and the influence of the use of mobile phones limited technological knowledge for teachers at SDN 1 Kebarepan Kec: Plumbon, and lack of motivation in cultivating literacy.By the aftereffects of the exploration above, (Triatma, 2016) explained that low interest in learning can be caused by several factors such as internal factors which include feelings, attention, and motivation, while external factors consist of the role of teachers, facilities, and the environment.Therefore, without the fulfillment of these factors, students' reading interests will not increase properly.And more attention must be paid to the teaching materials given to students.
Based on the above problems, innovative learning media are needed, one of which is the use of digital books.Researchers took digital book teaching materials because after making initial observations, researchers observed students when students were doing reading habits with printed books that had been provided by the school within 10 minutes given by the teacher.Researchers observed that students when reading for 10 minutes not all students read correctly, some only flip through the sheets of paper, and some students only open the book.This makes students feel bored with what they read, students have never used digital books before during reading activities in class.In this case, researchers introduce digital books to students which can later be used by students and can be accessed anywhere.
Efforts to solve problems in increasing students' reading interests can be made by optimizing the use of digital books in the learning process.This optimization can be started with the selection of the right reading books to be used as effective learning resources for students.The selection and utilization of digital books is one of the efforts to improve the quality of learning to increase student interest in reading (Suarlin dkk., 2022).(Fajri dkk., 2022)The results showed that most students stated that by using mobile phones, they would prefer digital books as a tool for reading.
The main reason they like digital books is that students think that these digital books are easier to use and more understandable by students (Marselina & Muhtadi, 2019) This digital book is in the electronic form of a book.If books generally consist of a collection of paper that can contain text or images, then electronic books contain digital information that can also be in the form of text and images.Digital books need electronic devices to open them, without electronic devices digital books can not be opened (Khikmawati dkk., 2021).Apparatuses that can be utilized to open advanced books can be PCs, workstations, or cell phones.Digital books can be read anytime and anywhere, but there is no need to carry around thick books, just bring Mobile which is colloquially used (Nurhabibah dkk., 2023).This electronic book is very flexible when it comes to reading.
Research that supports this problem is research conducted by (Fitriyanti, 2021) where the results of the study show that the use of Electronic books can increase student motivation in increasing interest in reading.Another study that supports this is research conducted by (Purbasari dkk., 2019) Where the results show that learning media based on mobile learning applications can increase students' reading interest.The same study conducted by (Indriasih dkk., 2020) concluded that the economic media developed was able to increase students' motivation and interest in reading.So it can be concluded that digital-based book media can increase reading interest for students.However, existing digital book media has not been equipped with several music components in the digital book, therefore it is one of the foundations for researchers to conduct the same research but with different products, the digital book to be developed is the digital book including several music components that support the readers of the digital book.So that's what distinguishes this study from previous studies.
Based on the explanation above, researchers are interested in examining the effect of the application of digital books in increasing the reading interest of students who are still low.With the use of digital books, they are more effective and varied.It is expected to support the improvement of students' ability in reading interest at SDN 1 Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon Regency.It is hoped that the existence of this digital book is to find out whether this digital book is effective in increasing interest, reading students, and having a positive impact on students in using mobile phones for useful things.

METHODS
This type of research is classroom action research (PTK).That is observation in a series of classroom learning carried out to produce an action.This research is with planning-action, Observation, and Reflection (Prihantoro & Hidayat, 2019).The data obtained will be arranged systematically in a certain frame of mind that produces a descriptive text that has been produced during the research so that the data has meaning and can explain the trouble points under study.A class action research that focuses on giving direct action on a problem under study, by using learning planning that is tailored to the objectives (Slameto, 2015) In the picture below is a diagrammatic description of the class action research that will be carried out by researchers.In this study, it was found that this research uses sampling using purposive sampling where this technique adjusts to the researcher's goals by considering certain elements (Firmansyah &;Dede, 2022).This research focuses on students or students ' ability to adapt to learning media that can increase students' reading interest (Zhu dkk., 2016).In this case, it requires an updated media or platform with the formation of media, namely digital books or ebooks collected on one website.The reference source for these digital books is digital books from the Ministry of Education and Culture which are collected and then made on a website that researchers create.The web form can be seen in the image below.The website display above shows a collection of digital books that have been collected to become research materials that can have an impact on the influence on students' reading interest by one of them using reading sources that are easily accessible or used anywhere (Lin dkk., 2017).The web can be accessed by anyone who uses the https://baca-bukusix.vercel.app/website domain.The time of conducting the research was adjusted to the planned allocation for learning Indonesian Grade 4 Elementary School with the achievement of being able to identify words that are often used daily and new words in the text with visual clues and supporting sentence context The subjects of the study were all students of grade 4A SD Negeri 1 Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon Regency for the 2023-2024 academic year, totaling 30 people, consisting of 17 men and 13 women.The techniques and instruments used in data collection during the implementation of this class action research are the Questionnaire Technique, Observation Technique, and Test Technique.The questionnaire technique in question is several elements of questions that concern part of the research aimed at receiving data from the sample (Rijali, 2018).Observations are made to believe that the actions taken and some of the problems that occur are by the conclusions of the data that have been obtained in the field.
The data analysis techniques used to analyze the data obtained during the research include Qualitative Analysis, namely qualitative analysis techniques used to analyze the results of questionnaires and observations on research implementation procedures and student responses during action research (Syaeful Millah dkk., 2023).Quantitative analysis is used to analyze the data of test results obtained during the study.Broadly speaking, the analysis procedures carried out on each test result are as follows: The results of the analysis are interpreted as improving the reading ability of students during classroom action research (Mahayanti & Utami, 2017).An indicator of the success of classroom action research carried out is if there is an increase in students' reading interest and at least 70% of students can meet the Minimum Completeness Criteria (KKM) for Class 4A Indonesian subjects at SD Negeri Kebarepan Kec.Plumbon, Cirebon, for learning outcomes able to identify words that are often used daily and new words in the text with visual clues and supporting sentence context.and improve the ability to write texts with argumentation structure.they are specified at 70.

Procedure
In the first stage, researchers collected learning resources that will be given to students with grade 4 subjects by utilizing digital book sources on the Ministry of Education and Culture website, namely the collection of reading materials.Then teachers and researchers act as executors in the learning to make direct observations about the initial condition of students by doing simple questions determined in the use of this digital book (Herlinah dkk., 2018) By using this observational analysis, initial data will be produced in the form of less interest in children in reading in everyday life.This will provide an overview of how the cycle of giving digital books will affect children's reading interests.
Both teachers will provide actions in the form of presentations carried out to identify early that digitalization will have an impact on children's reading interests.Then the provision of this action aims to find out whether the existence of digital books will affect children's reading interest.In line with that, the act of giving and utilizing digital books will play an important role for the whole in the learning that takes place.Third, make observations of all parts of the child and read the child's character while reading the digital book, it will give a response that can understand that there is an increase in reading interest depicted in an expression (Juwita & Rosidin, 2022).
Then the last is the evaluation of the actions that have been given, namely by detailing all forms of actions, expressions, and understandings that have been given when the child has been given a digital book which will show that the evaluation carried out is appropriate and acceptable and then corrected in the next meeting.Then every learning meeting is not only focused on giving books but also providing a fun learning experience with various other media approaches also it will contribute to increasing students' reading interest.This study wants to provide maximum use of more modern learning resources, namely by using digital e-book media as reading material that is fun and easy to understand by students (Putri & Festiyed, 2019).

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
At the beginning of the condition before giving action in the form of using digital books (e-books), researchers found that the initial condition of students in grade 4 was still very low, the results of initial observations made by researchers had a large percentage of reading interest in one class, only 10% of all children in the class.Of course, this provides an initial picture of the need for real classroom action for teachers and researchers to provide Indonesian learning that can increase students' reading interest.With these initial observations, the researchers concocted questions about how often to read books at home, how much time was spent reading, and who instructed the reading.The result is that in a class of 30 grade 4 students, only 10% often do reading activities at home.It shows that only 3 students like to read outside the school environment.
The learning approach uses this digital book obtained on the Ministry of Education and Culture website which is collected and becomes reading material.To be disseminated and become learning material during the research process.In the first phase, researchers and teachers agreed to cooperate to provide reading materials for this e-book as learning takes place in Indonesian subjects.To find out the average increase in children's reading interest when given questions about reading interest spread in the first cycle.Seen in the following table below: The recapitulation of the answers to questionnaire No.1 in Table 1 (Do you like to read?), shows a very striking increase between before the use of digital books and after the use of digital books, if before there was an action in the form of digital book utilization it is very visible the difference, in this case, gives an illustration that the first cycle in giving the use of digital books 3 people or 10% who like to read then after there is the use of digital books This 24 students or 80% of students stated that they liked to read or experienced an increase of 90%.And if it can be drawn according to the diagram, the results will be seen in the diagram listed below.Recapitulation of the answer from the results of lift no. 2 is (how many digital books are read at home?), in addition to showing a change in the reading scale that was very lacking before the provision of this digital book.If before 23 students had not finished reading a single book title at all and only 4 students had finished reading above 3 book titles, then after the use of digital books all students had completed reading books and the number of students who managed to read above 3 book titles had reached 10 people or increased by 200%.Then explain again using the bar chart below.Recapitulation of the answers to questionnaire No.3 in Table 3 (Who motivates to read harder?), shows a shift in who motivates to read harder, before there was the use of digital books teachers ranked first with 20 students or 60%, then after there was a use of digital books decreased only to 10 students or 30%, while oneself experienced an increase from 3 students or 10.7% before there was a use of digital books to 15 students or 53% after the use of digital booksand presented again according to the bar chart below.
Meanwhile, the results of the initial tests.The results of the final test of PTK cycle I, and the final test of PTK cycle II can be seen in Table 4 as follows: The use of digital books is a modernization activity, a learning activity that utilizes existing technology.This shows that there is a renewal or transformation of new learning sources that can increase the ease of access to learning and teaching.This is in line with previous research (Nurhabibah dkk., 2023) states that learning must follow technological developments to maximize learning resources even better and facilitate in terms of time and cost.This is sometimes the need for information media from accelerating technology that quick tips can be carefully examined by utilizing all existing conveniences.According to (Su & Cheng, 2015) learning should follow the interests and characters that have been set by an institution and encourage various elements, namely (teachers) can be creative in utilizing media sources that can accelerate the process of maturation of children's thinking.Of course, it will have a good impact on the digestibility of children's intelligence and support the child's response stimulus to be able to encourage the hard and soft skills of the child.(Prajawinanti & Khoirunnisa, 2023) states that the influence of attachment between the level of learning followed by students will increase along with the more creative teachers in providing exposure or appearance when teaching.This is in line with (Imsiyah & Setiawan, 2020) which states that one of the reference sources makes the teacher a translator or provider of means of channeling children's creativity in learning.That way it can be concluded that the role of teachers is very central in fulfilling all the labor information that will be given to their students and utilizing all access to teacher creativity in conveying it through technology.This brings closer the perception that teachers must be at the forefront of change and progress in the field of information and technology.This is considered a good start for the growth development and readiness of an institution that will transform towards the gate of modernization that is beneficial for science and education in Indonesia.The important role of teachers is to prepare themselves to take part in preparing themselves to improve their quality.According to (Kintu dkk., 2017) The development of technology affects all educational world orders that will affect each other.That way learning activities will have a significant impact on progress.The results of the research above all that, indeed, the involvement of technology contributes greatly to the learning process that takes place, as seen from the enthusiasm, motivation, and actions taken by students to always pursue all learning activities given by teachers.With various perspectives that exist it is true that the world of education is increasingly close to technology, ease of access and efficient time makes this technology one of the references for advanced education or not.This made him stunned that there needs to be special empowerment from a profession that is very close to educators, namely teachers to want to play a role in exploring existing technology and developing it to advance better national education.Not only that, the results of the research above that teacher creativity will be reflected by knowing the source of technology or information that can be a source of opportunities to improve teacher learning and teaching.Therefore, teachers have an important role in the introduction of the initial process of children adapting to technology to be wise in using it.This will encourage changes in the moral character of the nation that are more directed and wiser in responding to this technology.

CONCLUSIONS
The continuous increase in test results during class action research (initial test, final test of PTK Cycle I, and final test of PTK Cycle II) shows that the class action research carried out has succeeded in improving the reading skills of grade 4 students of SDN Kebarepan 1 Kab.Cirebon, while the increase in the number of students who passed KKM shows that the class action research carried out can be well received by all Students and is not limited to students with certain abilities.In this study, a conclusion can be drawn that the application and utilization of digital books often referred to as e-books is a forum for students to increase their interest in reading.In this case, emphasis is placed on mastery of digital books and a high sense of interest in reading activities.It can be seen in the dehydration answer questionnaire that children who initially do not like reading activities are intrigued to always read.Indirectly, this study wants to test whether teacher creativity in mastering technological media sources can affect children's interest in learning.For this reason, this research as relevant knowledge about learning resources that transform into simple technology, namely e-books, is one indicator that interest in reading will be encouraged and increased along with smart teachers in responding to fun learning resources.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The Flow of Research Implementation in Classroom Action Research

Figure 2 .Figure 3 .
Figure 2. Website Display Using Mobile Phone . and improve the ability to write texts with argumentation structure.The research was carried out in two research cycles, each cycle consisting of two meetings of 35 minutes each.a. Cycle I Class Action Research -First meeting on Thursday, October 19, 2023 -Second meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2023 b.Class Action Research Cycle II -First meeting on Thursday 02 November 2023.Second meeting on Thursday 09 November 2023.