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text in digital form or book converted into digital
form or digital reading material or book in computer
file format to be displayed to e-book readers. So, e-
book is an electronic version of printed conventional
module or book. Conventional module or book
generally consists of a set of papers containing text
and figure, so that electronic module or e-book
contains digital information in the form of text,
animation, simulation and figure as well.
A previous study conducted by Embong,
Embong, Noor, Hashim, Ali, & Shaari (2012)
suggested that electronic book or e-book offers a
supplementary media or instruction to the students,
teacher and school to support or to improve learning
process. The development of economic e-book can
produce a learning media that can facilitate the
students understanding with the material or learning
independently aiming to improve the students’
learning outcome. Tang and Ellis (2016) stated that
using e-book exerts a positive effect on the students’
learning outcome. The utilization of digital comic-
based economics e-book in this research is
conducted individually and the teacher serves as
learning facilitator rather than writer in the learning
process. Amri and Ahmad (2010) suggested that in
individual learning, there is still the relationship
between instructor and students, but the relationship
is represented by teaching material or learning
media.
One of e-books that can be used in instructional
process is a comic-based economy e-book.
Educative comic is the one carrying on story and
message about education to the readers. Meanwhile,
textbooks at Kindergarten – College levels have
used comic as one element of its learning material,
despite simple visualization. Tatalovic (2009) stated
that the education-themed comic can help explain
science to the students, because of its visual
attractiveness inserted with science, so that comic is
a good media to deliver lesson material to the
students. Buchori and Setyawati (2015) said that
learning model, through comic, can stimulate and
motivate the student to learn and can improve the
students’ character effectively. This statement is
confirmed by Daryanto (2010), suggesting that
comic contains visual element and strong story. The
expression visualized makes the readers involved
emotionally within it thereby reading continuously
until the end.
The combination of figure and economic
learning material can result in an attractive message,
because the power of figure and story languages
makes comic the effective graphic media to deliver
message or content of economic subject to the
students. The figure of character and story in the
comic can grow the students’ imagination to think
more critically during instructional process as the
figures existing in e-book makes the learning
material, comic’s text makes the economic subject
more understandable to the students, while the plot
of story makes the message or information to be
delivered followed and remembered easily by the
students. It also inspires the author to develop the
comic-based e-book, containing economic subject as
the learning media for the students.
The use of comic-based economy e-book is
displayed through android application. Android is a
linux-based operation system for cellular phone such
as smart phone. Android, according to Safaat (2011),
is a linux-based operation system for mobile ware
including operation system, middleware, and
application. Android provides an open operation
system to the developers to create and to modify
application as they want. There are two types of
android operation system distribution: playstore and
open handset distributor (OHD). Playstore is the use
of android operation system (OS) supported with
google, while open handset distributor (OHD) is the
independent android operation system (OS) without
google’s support.
The advantage of android operation system is
providing a system facilitating the designer to make
development without terms and conditions that
should be paid for developing android platform or
application. Android can also be used as learning
media as it provides many supporting applications
for learning process including math workout, words,
android app, periodic table, epub reader, e-book
android, ireader. This research and development
employs android operation system with pocket book
application available in the playstore. Suyoso and
Nurohman (2014) stated that learning using android-
based electronic media can improve the students’
learning achievement and learning outcome.
The problem of research is how feasible is the
comic-based economy e-book as the learning media.
Meanwhile, the objective of research is to describe
the feasibility of comic-based economic e-book
development as learning media.
2 METHODS
The procedure of developing a comic-based
economy e-book employed Borg and Gall’s (1998)
model consisting of (1) Research and information
collection, (2) Planning, (3) Development
preliminary form of product, (4) Preliminary field
The Development of a Comic-Based Economy e-Book as Learning Media
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