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Showing posts from February, 2016

Classroom Technology: Is It Beneficial or Harmful

It is truly tempting to embed technology in the classroom especially now that every school seem to be incorporating the use of gadgets in all the subjects. But before we give in to the temptation, we must first  investigate whether technology truly help children grow as learners - achieving their academic goals. Digital reading vs. reading in reading in print - People are less likely to focus on the content when reading from a laptop or a tablet. This is because of the  distractions which come in the form of adjustments and multi-media adjustments. Distractions like these can cause decreased comprehension  and speed in reading. There are instances when  digital reading offers options for learners who need more support. For example, non-English speakers can  learn the language better with the use of  certain applications installed in tablets. Such applications allow students to touch a word on the screen and watch an interactive definition for that word. This can impact the learn

How Poverty Affects the Learning Skills of a Child

While many kids from low income families have proven that  poverty is not enough reason for them to stop school and not to excel in their studies, researches indicate that poverty affects the brain's ability to learn significantly. Below is a short list of the different ways by which poverty impacts the neurological make-up of a child.  1) Children raised in poverty speak fewer words at home compared to children raised in middle class and upper class families. Oftentimes, conversations that are rich in vocabulary words occur less in poor families. This situation provide limited opportunities  for a child's brain to develop language skills which are needed in effective communication and good classroom performance. 2) Children raised in poverty have weak oral language that lead to reading gaps. Auditory neural stimulation is required in the establishment of distinct phoneme representations, building of vocabulary, and development of age-appropriate oral language skills. Wh