Why is technology important to students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why is technology important to students - Essay Example The 21st century has posed a new challenge to the traditional way of learning as administered by teachers to their students. These days, learning is no longer limited to the 4 walls of the classroom, nor the pages of the school approved textbook. With the advent of the internet, search engines, laptops, smart phones, and tablet PC's, the world of education and learning has entered unknown territory. Technology is now an integral part of the educational system. It has become a vital and all too important part of the modern day classroom and learning process of the modern student. Education is no longer limited to a mere 40 minutes per class subject in school. Technology has allowed education to extend far beyond the recognized educational system and has come to offer the highest benefit to students in terms of a well rounded education thanks to the gadgets that help in their discovery and learning processes. Students of today must be computer savvy in order to ensure that they will be able to compete in the modern workplace. Lack of technological education such as basic computer skills will prevent these students from reaching their full employment potential. That is why the modern day teacher must work with the students in order to provide themselves with challenging learning opportunities (qtd. in Hayden). Education has never before had an all too important role in the future of a student. The advent of technology has forced the students to develop a higher level of thinking and analytical skills (Delgado, Rick â€Å"Top 10 Reasons Technology is Important for Education†). The use of computers and other technology based equipment in the modern or digital classroom has provided the students with the ample development of their problem solving skills through the use of computer software and other programs that help them to accomplish that task. By successfully completing the assigned tasks, the students sense of motivation and self - esteem is heightened an d their desire to learn more about topics of interest to them is fueled by their exposure to the technology that helped them kindle their interest in the topic. It is important to note however, that even though not all the students in a school will have computers at home, they all have an equal chance at learning while in school because of the computers that are readily available either in the computer lab or the library. These gadgets are available free of charge to the students who can use it to research any topic on an unlimited basis. However, the advent of technology also poses new problems for the students and the teachers who use learning tools such as power point presentations. Not all students manage to learn at the same pace. There are some who require extra time to process their learning material and the oral lecture of their teachers. Power point presentations and other technological advancements have also made teaching faster and easier for most teachers. They then fail to take into account the learning curve of their students (Hayden, Kelly â€Å"Reasons Technology is Important in Schools: The Digital Age in Classrooms). Technology has allowed students to also become their own teachers because they are given projects that require them to research and understand various materials

The essential components of effective literacy program Essay

The essential components of effective literacy program - Essay Example This paper highlights the five essential components of effective literacy program.Literacy has been defined as individual's ability to read and write.The term also embraces other operational definitions such as computer and multimedia operations as well as understanding health concepts. The five essential key areas of effective literacy according to the US National Reading Panel include the phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, the fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. All these are predictors of effective literacy among individuals and needed to be properly assessed for an objective measure of students' learning outcomes.The skills in communication are vital in the life and development of a person. Success during childhood as well as later stage in life is usually dependent on the individual's ability to read, write and grasp learning about complex situations. Acquiring literacy is a complex task and in fact, nations across the globe are confronted with so many issues in r elation to severity of literacy problem. In the estimates of UNESCO (Rotary International, 2007), there are nearly 800 million people globally over the age of fifteen (15) have insufficient basic reading and writing skills. Added to that, over 64% percent of the world's population is illiterate women and children.Literacy is traditionally defined as the ability of an individual to read and write. It may also encompass other functional abilities, such as operating computer, understanding disease prevention, or reading signs in a market (Rotary Club, 2008). Former President Bill Clinton once said in his speech, ""Literacy is not a luxury; it is a right and a responsibility... if our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens" (Better World Quotes, 2008). Consequently, comprehensive reviews on the problem on literacy have created demand for programs that attributes to the improvement of students' skills in reading and writing (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004). Components of Effective Literacy According to the United States National Reading Panel (2000), there are five essential key areas or components of effective literacy that can fit into a school's literacy program. The said five key areas are the: phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, the fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension.These elements must be considered in literacy programs. Phonemic awareness is the ability of the individual to hear, recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. It does not include visual recognition of the alphabet letters, only their sounds. To build this, the instructor may strategize teaching through the use of poems, nursery rhymes, wordplay in songs, literatures and the use of oral language. On the other hand, alphabet letters and sounds being represented are introduced in phonics instruction. This will enable the individual to successfully recognize words and spelling. There are several ways in which phonics can be built, examples include letter-sound correspondence or letter naming and letter blending or putting together multiple letters sounds. Indoor games like picture shows, spelling bee, word factory, scrabble, message relay and puzzles may be encouraged by instructors in their respective classes. In addition, fluency is defined as the ability to read texts or sentences accurately and smoothly. The use of guided and repeated oral reading, audio recording (play back and repeat listening of voices) and echo reading are some ways in building fluency. In English classes, speech choir, role playing activities and theatrical shows may be required by the teacher. Similarly, vocabulary refers to the definitions of words that are heard