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Can we ever fully replace a teacher with technology? At least in today's age, no. But, we most definitely can use technology in schools to help students in all sorts of endeavors, including literacy. There are all sorts of ways we can improve literacy development and education with technology. Let's go over a few of the latest examples of this.
When I say literacy, I, of course, mean the ability to read and write. What kind of technology can we turn to nowadays to improve literacy? Well, one of the most well-known ways to improve literacy, especially spelling, is through the use of word processing programs, specifically those that utilize word-prediction software. It has been shown that students that have spelling problems can increase the amount of words they spell correctly quite dramatically if they use word-prediction software as they type. This type of software produces lists of words that are compatible with the letters the student is typing on the screen. It's sort of like the auto-complete function found in some text messaging programs on smartphones nowadays.
Another way to improve literacy rates is to bring the teacher home. In the old days, students would sit in the classroom, learn as much as they could, and then go home and try to sort things out basically on their own. This does have its positives, but having the ability to essentially take a teacher home with you has its positive as well. In one instance, literacy rates were improved when students were able to take home an MP3 player where a teacher read a story, much like they would in a classroom. As the student listened to the story at home, they could follow along with more traditional means, like a book, a question and answer packet, and so forth. The home learning session would then be solidified the next day at school.
What's really important is that technology has also helped increase literacy rates for students with special needs. Take, for instance, students that have visual problems. Computer software now allows us to easily manipulate the size and spacing between letters and words so that such a student can stay on top of the material presented in class via more traditional means, like books, that do not have such flexibility in manipulating text. Students who have difficulty understanding sounds or processing auditory stimuli as quickly as other students can use software technology that slows down the rate at which a text is read. They can repeat a word using the software as often as they need to as well.
And whether a student has special needs or not, the more recent concept of gamification, the process of making a mundane task into a game-like activity, can help students reap rewards for their tasks. Software programs that combine important concepts like spelling, reading, and writing in a game-like fashion make these activities seem fun. Students can gain instant gratification in the form of virtual coins, imaginary prizes, and level-ups for completing a certain task correctly. Even without physical rewards, the games themselves are designed in such a way that the graphics, animations, and sounds all capture a student's attention and motivate them to learn new things.
Without literacy, the ability to read and write, this lesson would've been impossible to make and understand. Nowadays, we can turn to things far beyond paper and pencil to catch a student's attention and to develop their ability to read and write. We can use software and computers to make learning fun via gamification, the process of making a mundane task into a game-like activity. We can bring the teacher home with audio and mp3 players. Students with special needs can use software to help them see and hear written and spoken words a lot better.
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Education 102: Literacy Instruction in the Elementary School16 chapters | 107 lessons
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