DESIGNING AN INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA TO SUPPORT HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPOKEN COMMUNICATION SKILL

English communication, which has become an essential skill for graduates
of the university, has not been achieved because of the low performance in spoken
English proficiency. A challenge for educators in the digital age is to provide
appropriate circumstances to support the learning of English during the pandemic
of covid-19. This study addressed the emerging issue of the availability of media in
online learning. It specifically aimed at designing interactive digital media that
would not only assist the students in gaining the language skills but also develop
their self-learning through its flexibility and accessibility. Design-based research
was employed in the present study that involved the first-grade students of higher
education. The ASSURE Model was used as a guideline for the appropriateness of
the media, and a need analysis was conducted to find out the target and learning
needs of the students through interviews and questionnaires. The result showed that
the design of interactive digital media gave positive impacts on the higher education
students’ English communication skills and their independence in learning as well.
The students’ performance was improved through pre-test and post-test results. The
designed media itself was considered very good (a score of 87) by the seven aspects
namely organization, speaking activities, appearance, learner-centred, content,
feedback availability, and motivation impact.