Abstract. This study aimed to identify the least mastered reading competencies in the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World subject, serving as the foundation for developing digital-based reading materials using Canva. Employing a developmental research design, the study involved 153 Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences learners alongside nine experts tasked with evaluating the developed materials. Results indicated that the least mastered competencies included understanding Representative Texts and Authors from the Regions, utilizing Multimedia and ICT Skills for Creative Literary Adaptation, and grasping the Context and meaning of texts. Additionally, subject teachers identified areas such as inferring literary meaning, self- and peer-assessment of creative adaptations, contextualizing texts regionally and nationally, explaining the relationships between context and text, and selecting appropriate multimedia formats as the least mastered by learners. The creation of digital-based reading materials, titled "Lit Made Easy," was guided by these identified competencies. Feedback from learners highlighted their interest, perceived usefulness, and accessibility of the materials, noting their effectiveness in understanding the reading selections. Evaluation by IT experts and reading teachers deemed the digital-based materials highly acceptable.

Keywords: Canva application; Developmental research; Digital-based reading materials; Literature; Reading comprehension.