Posts Tagged ‘students’

PostHeaderIcon Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction in Reading Achievement Among Secondary School Students

COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTIONS IN READING ENGLISH AT HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL

            Technology is an ever-increasing part of the English Language arts classroom Today’s teachers are developing new and exciting means of integrating Language writing and literature with innovative technologies.

            The President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, formally launched the India-U.S. Edusat Network at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 8th December 2005.  His advocacy for a knowledge grid connecting educational institutions, research facilities and industries is the logical follow-up of a series of measures that have been undertaken by Anna University to ensure that tele-teaching reaches even to the remotest corners of the state.  This will enable the knowledge users to have access to high-performance computing environment, virtual reality, simulation systems, parallel/clustered servers, and super computer infrastructure from any end of the grid.

            According to him, the whole purpose of education in a country was to develop and enhance the potential of human resource and progressively transform it, into a knowledge society.  Every Nation wants to produce students who ultimately become the knowledge workers in their own economy to be global citizens.  In the 21st Century, the need for competitiveness, in the field of Higher Education knows no bounds.  In the words of Dr.Kalam, “The competitiveness is powered by knowledge power.  Knowledge power is powered by innovation.  Innovation is powered by science and technology and technology is powered by resource investment”.  (The Hindu, Friday, December 9, 2005).

            The progress and growth of Technology in Higher Education is significant and it can be measured in terms of the excellent output in research – teaching – research cycle leading  to societal transformation.  Gartner has projected that the total Indian enterprise IT spending (not including consumer IT spend) including hardware, software, telecommunications and IT  services will reach Rs. 1,903 billion in 2006, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (GAGR) of 20.8 per cent from 2004 to 2009.  The aim of this paper is to focus on the ‘Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’.

            Education is facing a significant challenge in preparing students and teachers for future” knowledge based society”.  In recent years the educational access to digital information and communication technology (ICT) has grown dramatically.  ICTs are quickly becoming more accessible, like computer, internet and WWW. ICTs are not single technology but it is a combination of hardware, software, media and delivery systems.  ICT can influence much in developing teaching and learning environment in the following ways, which is quite different from older technologies.

Integration of multiple media :  into single educational application.

Interactive and include the capacity to control, manipulate and contribute to information learning environment.

They are flexible offering freedom from rigid scheduling and from barriers of time and location.

Through connectivity they provide access to every other person on the planet who has a internet account, to hundreds and thousands of information archives and to million of web-pages.

            Because of these differences, the teaching and learning environment finds new frontiers and educators are finding powerful new ways to integrate digital ICT into the curricula at the higher education levels, all over the world.  Of course India is not an exception.

            The various information and Communication technological tools such as web resources, educational CDs, computers, multimedia etc find place in teaching, learning, research, administration and data management.  These ICT tolls have changed the learning styles of the students. Learning in the higher education level is not simply knowledge acquisition but knowledge ‘managing’ and knowledge ‘creating’.  Hence the present study attempts to find out the impact of ICT tools in the learning style, and awareness about these tools among graduate and postgraduate students, their attitude towards the integration of these tools in the learning process which enables the educational planners and policy makers to update or modify the present curriculum and methodology of teaching.

            The impact of Technology on teaching and learning in Higher Education has enhanced students’ achievement in mastering the following skills.

Basic  Skills Instruction

Computer assisted instruction to drill
Multi-media software – teach to a variety of learning styles.
Videodiscs – strengthen basic skills.
Video and audio technologies – bring material to life.
Distance learning –at least as effective as traditional methods of instruction.
All forms – develop new skills related to use of technology itself, necessary in workplace.

           A five-year report (1987-1992) by the Sacramento School District in California found that students using multimedia and telecommunications showed improved attitudes toward reading, social studies, and science and became more active and independent in learning.  Some also showed improved reading scores.

            Whether Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) can improve reading achievement of students has been a crucial question addressed by studies in the past.  Many research studies reveled that Computer Assisted Instruction does have a positive effect on reading achievement.  Although the effects of CAI in many studies were not homogeneous there seems to be no particular study characteristic that might have caused the heterogenity.

            There is general agreement that reading is essential to success in our society.  The ability to read is highly valued and important for social and economic advancement. The consensus supports the belief that reading is fundamental.

            Most children learn to read fairly well.  However there are children whose educational concerns are at risk because they do not read well enough to ensure understanding or to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive economy and changing demographics.  It is the opinion of educators that not all of the children in schools are learning to read as well as they should.  Many of them are experiencing serious difficulty in learning to read and as they progress through the grades they continue to lag in reading achievement.

            Computer assisted instruction (CAI) is among the range of strategies being used to improve students achievement in school subjects including reading.  Programs for CAI have come a long way since they were first developed over two decades ago.  These programs tutor and drill students diagnose problems, keep records of students progress, and present material in print and other manifestations.  It is believed that they reflect what good teachers do in the class room.

            Students are expected to benefit from CAI.  Among the benefits that have been expected are better and more comfortable learning for students since they learn at their own pace and convenience; opportunities to work with vastly superior materials and more sophisticated problems; personalized tutoring; automatic measurement of progress, and others.

            Teachers as well are expected to gain from CAI.  Among the benefits that have been expected are better and more comfortable learning for students since they learn at as they experience less drudgery and repetition greater ease in up dating instruction materials, more accurate appraisal and documentation of students progress and more time to work directly with students.  With increasing advances in computer technology Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) is now seen by many as a method of providing relevant instruction for large number of students.

            Learning from computers encompasses approaches to CAI in which the computer is used as a means for transmitting specific subject matter, such as reading.  Te flow of information is basically from the computer to the student with the computer presenting learning material or activities for student responses.  The computer retains records of the student’s progress Through the course of study.  Based on the degree of interaction between student and computer researches have identified three levels of CAI:

DRILL AND PRACTICE:-

            The computer provides the student with exercises that reinforce the learning of specific skills taught in the class room and supplies immediate feedback on the correctness  of the response.  Used in this manner, CAI functions as a supplement to regular classroom instruction and may be especially useful when a teacher does not have the time to work individually with each student.  Drill and practice on the computer may also motivate students more than traditional work book exercises.

TUTORIAL :-

            Tutorial CAI provides some information or clarifies certain concepts in addition to providing the student with practice exercises.  In this sense the computer begins to take over actual instructional functions tailored to the student’s individual level of achievement.

DIALOGUE :-

            With this type of computer use the student takes an active role in interacting with the computer giving instructions in the form of a computer language so as to structure the student’s own curriculum.  The computer provides information, exercises and feed back Dialogue CAI is believed to come closest to actually substituting for regular instruction.

            The verdict for the use of computers in education seems to be in.  As stated by the National Center for Education statistics (NCES) computers have become an essential tool in our society.  Early exposure to computers may help students gain the computer literacy that will be crucial for future success in the workplace.  Access to computers at school and at home allows students to retrieve information, manipulate data and produce results efficiently and in innovative ways.  Examining the extent to which students have access to computers at school and at home may be an indicator of how well-prepared students will be to enter an increasingly technological work place. 

            Has computer assisted instruction CAI produced benefits that result in greater achievement for students in this case in reading?

            Soon after the introduction of CAI educational researches began to develop evaluation studies produced potentially useful information on the effects of CAI their messages were shrouded in ambiguity.  One reason for unclear messages was that each evaluation report was published separately making the total picture somewhat murky.

            Another problem had a deeper and more serious nature.  These evaluation studies were never exact replications of one another.  They differed in experimental design and execution, setting and the type of computer applications investigated.  To confound matters evaluation findings or results tended to differ from one investigation to another findings from different studies differed from each other with some studies producing contradictory results.  As well many of the reviews are typically narrative and discursive in presentation resulting in their multiplicity of findings not capable of being absorbed by the nearer without quantitative methods of reviewing.

CONCLUSIONS :-

            Alarms about a “literacy crisis” among young people have been sounded on a regular basis for more than a century.  Yet as each generation of students matures, it is able to accomplish the reading and writing tasks necessary for society to continue.  Perhaps then, rather than sounding more alarms, it is time to consider what anxieties, particularly economic anxieties, drive the perpetual literacy.

            Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is often presented as a promising learning method.  However, it is also facing some new challenges.  Apart from answering  the question of whether or not working with CSCL generates satisfying learning outcomes, it is important to determine whether or not all participants profit from collaboration, with the computer as a means of communication.

            Students whose language, ethnicity and race are not represented in a school’s dominant culture experience varying degrees of success in reading achievement, resulting in persistent gaps in reading achievement.  Culturally responsive instruction can help to close that gap.  This is teaching strategy capitalizes on the knowledge and literacy strategies students learn in their homes and communities.

            Experiments that assign intact groups (usually schools) to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research.  The design of group randomized experiments requires knowledge of the intraclass correlation  structure to compute statistical power and to determine the sample sizes required to achieve adequate power.

            Some researchers have argued that the different domains comprising language (e.g., phonology, semantics, and grammar) may influence reading development in a differential manner and at different developmental periods.  The purpose of this study was to examine proposed causal relationships among different linguistic subsystems.

S. Bharathi M.A., M.Ed.,M.Phil.,

Headmistress ( Ph.D. Scholar)

DDV Higher Secondary School,

Ramanathapuram-623504

TamilNadu.


My contact No : 09443125668 / 04567 229407/ 04567 221758

PostHeaderIcon Choosing Personal Financial Software For Students

University students handle so many concerns at the same time that, often, money management takes the back seat. More likely than not, students do not apply proper monitoring on their accounts because most of their funds either come from their parents or arrive at regular schedules from where they are employed. The result is a student who not only is faced with untraced school loan payments, but also one who has very little to no savings.

If you’re finding it difficult to find time to sit down on the status of your finances and pore over the receipts and paperwork involved, a personal financial software will definitely make the process more convenient.

Is it expensive? Most basic pda financial software, or smartphone software, are priced at $30 on the average. They can go higher or lower, depending on the features included. As a student, you will need only the basic features, such as budget tracking, financial calculator, and billing alerts. The fancier models of personal financial software include mortgage calculators, stock trading systems that you really have no use for at the moment.

Money management is necessary when you’re trying to meet financial goals. For instance, if you’re planning to take on an additional university course in the next semester, a financial planning tool will help you determine if there are areas in your current budget from where you can source funds for it. A personal financial software will tell you if an extra course is something you can afford based on your present spending habits, or if there is particular expense you will need to adjust to make this happen.

University life is already challenging as it is. You can eliminate having to stress over your finances and afford more time for other important matters by having a handy financial device with you wherever you go. Be the responsible student by learning how to manage your money on your own. Not only will you gain significant levels of convenience, your parents will also appreciate you more for learning how to control your spending.

As a student, you benefit greatly from a personal financial software because it affords you time to focus on more important academic matters, instead of poring through accounting work. Learn how to maximize your gains now.

PostHeaderIcon Jodhpur -blind Students Welfare and Development School

Vision
Human body is very important and invaluable in one’s life. Eyes are the most precious amongst the different organs. One has to face in numerable difficulties in absence of eyes. Imagine the life one has to live without seeing the beauty of rising sun, deprived  of enjoyment of observing the beauty of blooming flowers and even unable to see the face of his mother. Here one can truly realize Rajasthan proverb “The wearer knows where the shoe pinches.” It is well said that there can not be any kith and kin of a bind person except his intellectual eyes developed in him otherwise in absence of it he has to be fully dependent for every routine work upon others. Though proper training provided t the blind can not of course, provide them the eyes but can make them self reliant and self dependent. Realizing the painful sufferings of the blind This Sansthan (Society) was started, with 2 children on 15th August 1977 in this historic Suncity, Jodhpur. It has its own constitution and also anyone giving help to this society will enjoy exemption from income tax under 80-G.

Awards
The state Government awarded the best service institution of the year 2007 by Honorable Dr Pratibha Patil , Government of Rajasthan ad our lady teacher Mrs. Salma Arora awarded as best national teacher in 2004 by Honorable president of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Aims

To provide education and training to blind boys and girls, Make arrangements for Rehabilitation and efforts are made to make available the facilities provided by the govt. to these blind children.
To establish Braille press, library and cassette library for the bind
To arrange for the treatment to those, whose eyes are worth for treatment and also to provide guidance in this field.
To arrange seminars and workshops on the problems of the blind.
To arrange special surveys on the blind persons and try to solve their problems with the help of Government and the society.
To establish them in self employment by giving training in cottage industries.
To undertake all those tasks this may be related with the development and growth of intellectual eyes in the blind.

Future plan:

To start B.Ed classes.
Separate building for mentally retarded students.
Separate Building for Deaf and Dumb students.
To keep the strength for Deaf and Dumb according to norms.
To employee a P.T.I.
To keep one trained English Teacher.
To install Mini Brail Press Software.
Extension of Museum.
Extension of existing lab.
To purchase sports articles, cricket ball, foot ball and toys.
To purchase Musical Instruments
To purchase Mini Bus to carry students.

Appeal :
As present Blind School having 247 blind children and 61 deaf & dumb and mentally retarded students . Many more blind children are in need of proper care & education, but school is unable to admit them because of shortage of school & hostel accommodation, additional play grounds, additional teachers & house keeping staff, furniture and other infrastructure facilities.
Financial help which school gets from the state Government is not sufficient to meet the growing needs and expenditure of this Institute. The respected donors are the only hope for blind school to meet the gap. So blind school humbly request not only to contribute generously for upliftment of disabled persons but also to convince your nearer and dears to visit the Web Site and motivate them to contribute for this noble cause. Your support is also solicited in giving blind school suggestions for better running the NGO.

Send Donation-Charity-Subscribe Cheque/ DD in Favour of
“NETRAHEEN VIKAS SANSTHAN”
Postal Address:
D-Sector, Kamla Nehru Nagar
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342003 INDIA.

Online Bank Transfer
UNION BANK OF INDIA,
Account No. 503702010001848
Jodhpur Branch.

Founder : Mrs. Sushila Bohra (CEO)
Call Us: +91 941 413 3879, +91 291 2750423, +91 291 2751898
Mail Us: info@jodhpurblindschool.org
Visit Us: www.jodhpurblindschool.org
Description:
Jodhpur Blind School (Netraheen Vikas Sansthan) is residential school for the blind.

Mrs.Sushila Bohra

Founder (CEO)

Jodhpur Blind School

PostHeaderIcon Homeschool Options for High School Students

The number of parents in today’s world that opt for homeschooling their children is increasing on account of the many advantages that homeschooling offers. Safety concerns, quality of education, attendance issues, attitude of teachers, needs of an individual child that are not met in public schools etc; these are some of the factors that are keeping the parents away from sending their children to public schools. Home schooling children is coming up as a highly rewarding option to guide your child and watching him grow with the satisfaction that the child has got the best foundation for a successful future ahead.


The fact that homeschooling is only meant for elementary levels is misleading. High school homeschooling is becoming equally popular. High school homeschooling option is more advisable as at the high school level not just the parents but also the student or the child is big enough to make sound decisions.


Adolescents or teenagers take the decision for homeschooling to ease out the pressures at school, like bullying, peer pressure or the pressure of keeping pace with the regular school curriculum. Some high schoolers also do not like to be tied down in the regular schools and may want to take internship programs, volunteering jobs or trainings that may give them hands on experience to prepare for the struggle outside school.


Home school high schoolers have the option of getting an accredited high school diploma from online schools that takes care of all the documentation like education verification letters and comprehensive official transcripts. Selecting the right curriculum and study material plays a very important role for high school studies. Internet is a powerful tool that can provide a lot of study material and support through networking. Homeschoolers interact with each other through chats, forums and message boards. Browsing through various subject sites on the Internet also enables a high school homeschooler to locate support groups in the subjects taken up.


Homeschooling for high school equips the teenager with a better judgment and decision making ability. This makes them more responsible as they actively take part in choosing the right curriculum and creating their own methods for studying. The students have the flexibility of choosing a variety of activities that provide them with a holistic development of their personality rather than forcing themselves to pursue a fixed school curriculum.


High school homeschoolers have the option of choosing from among various internship programs and practical training programs, depending upon the field they wish to follow. Some of the different courses that can be undertaken while completing their high school diploma side by side are, computer based trainings in trouble shooting and hardware, graphics, multimedia, database management and administration, web designing, software development etc. Training in these fields leads to a better position in the future job market.


Thus high school homeschoolers have better choices and opportunities to succeed in life, as homeschooling definitely equips them with more knowledge, work experience even though they do not spend the stipulated time or hours in a traditional public school. Hence homeschoolers trade countless hours in an old fashioned class room to earn their diploma and know the true value of life.

High School Diploma Program facts and figures. Read the about the benefits of a High School Diploma and cool programs available in higher education. To learn more about earning an accredited diploma visit http://www.citizenshighschool.com/index.htm

PostHeaderIcon Middle school students learn about careers

Middle school students learn about careers
Students at Whale Branch Middle School learned all about different careers from people within the community.

Read more on WTOC 11 Savannah

PostHeaderIcon At our school there is a student printer at which students print at when they finish projects in class.. Th?

is a 10 cent fee if they mess up a page. This helps pay for the ink. The printer is a Dell 3100cn. We have a problem… when the students mess up a page they grab it before we can account for the missing page… This has become a nuisance… We already have software to monitor the computers and control them… We need some kind of software that would save all the details of each print job and a copy of what was being printed… Even if they have to have the instructor approve each printed page.

Thanks…
is a 10 cent fee if they mess up a page. This helps pay for the ink. The printer is a Dell 3100cn. We have a problem… when the students mess up a page they grab it before we can account for the missing page… This has become a nuisance… We already have software to monitor the computers and control them… We need some kind of software that would save all the details of each print job and a copy of what was being printed… Even if they have to have the instructor approve each printed page. Also this is a networked printer printing directly from a server to which the print jobs are sent before being sent to the printer…

Thanks
This is in a classroom environment so there is no option of putting it out of reach.
thanks internet cop and davros… but email is strictly forbidden. Its blocked through our SurfPartol box… even email internally… We are really looking for some software to log the pages and jobs…

PostHeaderIcon Diverse high school accounting students immerse selves in four-day college event.


Thirty-three Florida high school students from as far away as Kissimmee and Land of Lakes got a preview of college life and the exciting career opportunities afforded by a degree in accounting. It all took place when they attended the Minority Summer Residency Program (MSRP) July 13-16, 2009, offered by the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and facilitated by the School of Accounting at Florida International University (FIU).

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