This study aimed to develop and evaluate a digital-based history curriculum tailored for Indonesian senior high schools, addressing the pedagogical gap between traditional history instruction and 21st-century learning demands. Employing a Research and Development (R&D) methodology guided by the ADDIE model, the research involved five curriculum and pedagogy experts, ten history teachers, and over 200 students from six public high schools with varying levels of technological infrastructure. The study encompassed a comprehensive needs analysis, expert and teacher validation, guided classroom implementation, and multi-source impact evaluation using interviews, observations, formative assessments, and digital questionnaires. The curriculum was validated with high scores by experts (mean = 4.80) and teachers (mean = 4.60), highlighting its structural coherence, relevance, and ease of implementation. Classroom trials across schools demonstrated consistent effectiveness (mean = 4.60), with no significant variance found through ANOVA analysis (p > 0.05). Qualitative results indicated increased student engagement, deeper historical understanding, and development of contextual thinking. The study offers a novel approach to system-level curriculum design where digital media is the backbone of instructional planning. This model contributes to global discourse by presenting a scalable, equitable, and pedagogically resilient solution for integrating digital history education in diverse and resource-limited settings.
Zulkarnain et al. (Tue,) studied this question.