Reading is a very complex skill and it is one of the priority development areas in all educational institutions throughout the country as well as to the other countries in the world.In an educational setting, students with proficient reading skills are more likely to complete high school and generally experience higher levels of academic success in all subject areas. Outside of education, individuals with proficient reading skills experience a lower rate of unemployment, higher wages earned when working, and generally better health outcomes in the long term.
As such, because of the positive, long-term effects proficient reading skills have on individuals, educators are looking for alternate teaching practices to help all learners acquire this skill.
The emergence of the multimedia technology and the Internet has largely expanded the scope of CAI (Computer-Assisted Instruction) especially in the field of reading.
The new millennium marked an influx of improved technology and technological communication in the Philippines. Due to the fact that telecommunications has become central to the lives of learners, a child in the twenty-first century has at its fingertips a myriad of ways to communicate using technological means.
According to Mahabeer (2002), rapid advancement in technology does not guarantee rapid attainment of high reading levels. She also mentioned that the introduction of computers in the country’s businesses, homes and schools over the last decades somehow suggests some kind of advancement; one realizes that most people still have to be able to read in order to start up a computer, to retrieve information from it, to use the Internet, and to send and receive e-mails.
To those who have remained untouched by modern technology and telecommunications, the printed word as a means of communication still plays an insignificant role towards the development of their literacy levels. This is a sensitive issue precisely because a nation’s progress through global communication can only be achieved when the larger portion of the population is literate. To be able to compete globally with our neighboring countries, we need to be competitive in terms of technological advancement but in order to do so, it entails that we must also be literate enough to understand the basics of computers.
This is a hard task to do especially for those who are older individuals who are too busy to do other things than to learn using the computer. This is also too risky for children because too much exposure to computers might lead to several complications for them such as leading to poor eyesight, short attention span or mood swings from too much computer use (Busch, 2003).
So with all of these considerations, how can we maximize the use of technology as aid in teaching? Can we really rely on the use of technology to make our lessons better? Maybe at some point technology is really useful since it is widely used by educators in planning and organizing their teaching tools. But there could be some modifications and restrictions as to use when it comes to different levels and ages of learners. We wanted our countrymen to be able to compete globally but we have to weigh down a lot of things before we implement something.
References:
v Busch, H. (2003) Computer Based Readers for Intermediate Foreign-Language Students.
Educational Media International.
v Mahabeer, S (2002). Barriers in acquiring basic English reading comprehension and spelling
skills by Zulu-speaking learners .Unpublished MA Dissertation.University of Southafrica
By: May S. Flores | T-II | Hermosa National High School
