Digitalisasi Legenda Kawah Putih Tinggi Raja Simalungun Sebagai Media Pelestarian Budaya

Abstract

The preservation of local culture through digital media is important to maintain the existence of folklore among younger generations. This study aims to describe the digitalization of the legend of Kawah Putih Tinggi Raja, Simalungun, into a digital short story and to identify students’ understanding of its intrinsic elements and moral messages. This study employed a descriptive quantitative approach. The research involved 15 students of Universitas Negeri Medan who had read the digital short story. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of 10 statements with a five-point Likert scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage. The results showed an overall mean score of 3.98 out of 5.00. A total of 86.7% of respondents were categorized as having high and very high levels of understanding. The highest mean scores were found in the ecological message and the ease of language and narrative, both scoring 4.27. The lowest score was found in understanding the causal relationship between the ritual, earthquake,

and formation of Tinggi Raja, with a mean of 3.60. These findings indicate that the digital short story can serve as a medium for introducing local Simalungun culture to younger generations.

Keyword: digitalization, folklore, Simalungun culture, intrinsic elements, moral messages.