Strengthening Cultural Heritage in the Digital Disruption Era: Developing a Digital Catalog for Desa Labuhan Kertasari as a Participatory Community Model

Abstract

Abstract: The low historical awareness of Taliwang Junior High School students (average score 31–45) and the decline in younger generation participation in cultural festivals are two indicators that the digital disruption era poses a threat to the sustainability of local cultural heritage in Labuan Kertasari Village, West Sumbawa Regency. As a creative solution, this study created a digital cultural heritage library based on the Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) methodology. Although field tests demonstrated a notable increase in students' historical awareness by 15-20% through the ability to link local traditions (e.g., Mbelu'pandang, Suro'mbasa) with the national historical context, expert validation demonstrated the product's viability with scores of 85% for historical content aspects and 80% for media design. In addition to accommodating the learning preferences of the digital native generation, the digital catalog that incorporates interactive maps, 360° video documentation, and multilingual narration boosts students' interest in cultural preservation by 70%. The use of CRT in this catalog turns the fear of digital disruption into educational support while reaffirming Labuan Kertasari's distinctive status as a "living heritage" of the Makassar Sultanate (1626). 75% of instructors said it was simple to incorporate the catalog into their own curriculum, which supports the school-community collaboration approach for technology-based cultural preservation. With the use of a text-based light version, technical issues including 15% of students' poor smartphone access were resolved, making this solution repeatable for comparable communities in Indonesia.

Keywords: Kertasari Village, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Cultural Heritage