Basic Skills Instruction using technology

Basic Skills Instruction

Technology has served as a very successful and efficient tutor for students learning basic reading and math skills. Teachers who employ CAI, for example, can drill students on specific topics for which they need extra help, such as with long division or spelling. Among the attractions of CAI are its ability to individualize instruction and to provide instant feedback. Many CAI applications not only mark student answers as right or wrong, but explain the correct answer. Since students are able to control the pace at which they proceed through their exercises, they are neither held back nor left behind by their peers. And, the instant feedback motivates them to continue. In a decade-long series of studies, students in classes that use CAI outperformed their peers on standardized tests of basic skills achievement by 30 percent on average.

Schools have also turned to videodiscs and multimedia software, which can store and play back extensive collections of multimedia images, to strengthen students' basic skills. Video and audio technologies bring material to life, enhancing students' ability to remember and understand what they see and hear.By incorporating pictures, sound, and animation in classroom activities, multimedia significantly enhances students' recall of basic facts, as well as their understanding of complex systems.