Utilization of the Cube as a Medium for the Introduction of the English Alphabet for Preschoolers

Abstract

Abstract Awareness of the importance of mastering English now raises efforts to introduce and teach children about English as early as possible, such as preschool education or children aged 3-6 years. Constraints that are often faced are usually in the form of lack of enthusiasm of children to learn this. This is evidenced by the difficulty of children in memorizing and pronouncing letters in English. The choice of instructional media also greatly influences the level of students’ understanding of the material. Considering that preschool age is a time when children will be very interested in interactive multimedia content, this problem can be applied augmented reality technology. The learning concept used is based on student centers. So that the affective and psychomotor scope of students can be achieved. This instructional media in the form of a cube which contains a letter marker forming pieces. Students will scan from the cube containing letter markers. The scan results are a 3D view of the object marker. 3D objects will display the basic words beginning with the selected alphabet. Besides that, the application will also display the way of spelling the word accompanied by sound. The aim is to make it easier for children to remember words and letters in English. There is also a quiz feature as a material for evaluating students’ understanding of the material. From the results of the trial regarding the appropriateness of the application conducted at TK Dharma Wanita Unity the data obtained were obtained from the questionnaire given to the accompanying teacher, as many as 5.71% said the application was quite helpful, then as much as 42.86% said they agreed, and as much as 51.43% said strongly agreed that the application can help students’ level of understanding of the alphabet in English.