First year secondary students are currently being furnished with brand new computers as the fulfillment of an election campaign promise made by the new government. The reported cost is about $84million dollars, it was stated that this will be the beginning of an exercise , continuing for the next four years, by which time all secondary school students will have personal access to laptop computers.
The implications of this exercise is vast. I am concerned with the impact of computers on the reading achievement of challenged students . How would they be used in the classroom? Are teachers properly trained in computer assisted instruction? How and for what purpose will a struggling reader use this technology? Additional concerns by the citizenry range from , who would service and upgrade the computers to concerns about the safety of students taking laptops to and from school in crime ridden Trinidad. To me, the overarching question is , is a computer necessary to facilitate reading achievement among struggling readers?
The research continues in this area but I’ll make reference to two, Simic (1996 ) refers to research by ( Reinking , 1988) to indicate that computer instruction is effective for a variety of reading skills and concept areas. In another study the researcher found that multimedia presentations could improve retention and comprehension of information . In order to sustain these positive trends in literacy outcomes Simic (1996 ) suggests the following guidelines:
o Computer instruction in reading should focus on meaning and stress reading comprehension.
o Computer instruction in reading should foster active involvement and stimulate thinking.
o Computer instruction in reading should support and extend students' knowledge of text structures
o Computer instruction in reading should make use of content from a wide range of subject areas.
o Computer instruction in reading should link reading and writing.
Only time will tell if this money was well spent.
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