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5 Ways Technology Has Incresed Literacy in Kids Around the World

Added 29th April 2022

5 Ways Technology Has Increased Literacy in Kids Around the World

Technology has increased literacy globally, allowing people to communicate more effectively. In fact, the use of technology has helped improve reading comprehension among children, according to the University of Padua. In particular, they used an app that allowed children to read texts and fill in the necessary words to complete the story. The app would provide suggestions. By contextualising words, the kids learn vocabulary faster as well.

Of course, Cloze is just one of many examples that has helped increase children's literacy around the world. Here are some other ways:

Boost children’s writing skills

When children first learn how to write, they can often make spelling or grammar mistakes. Writing is a process that takes time to master, but there have been programs developed to help students correct their grammar.

Online writing assistants like Grammarly can spot spelling and grammar mistakes when kids are typing. At times, these programs even tell the user why their grammar is wrong, thus allowing kids to learn as they write. To further help, the Grammarly for Education plan was made so that educational institutions can provide their students with the option to improve their writing skills on academic fluency, grammar, and tone.

Providing data-driven guides for teachers

Many teaching guides are developed for schools to know what specific topics and skills to teach their students. However, the best ones are created with insights gathered from data to become the most effective. NewGlobe does this with the digital teacher guides they distribute all over the world, more specifically in developing countries like India. These guides were created using the latest research on effective teaching practices and learning outcomes, boasting over one billion annual data points from the teachers that use them. As a result, reading fluency has increased from 25% to 75% in the regions they cover.


Assisting kids with learning disabilities



Children that have learning disabilities like dyslexia find it hard to keep up with traditional ways of learning. This is because they struggle to make the connection between the sound and the letter symbol for that sound.

A study from the Institute for Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has concluded that dyslexic children from Germany improved when they used a computer-guided reading program. Voice-reading and text-to-speech app NaturalReader is able to narrate text aloud while kids follow the word on the screen. It helps kids with dyslexia read, therefore improving their literacy.

Making resources easily accessible

The existence of digital libraries and e-books has made reading more accessible to children. Through virtual platforms, they are able to read and listen to multiple books, e-books, and audiobooks. The Government of Ekurhuleni in South Africa recently made an online reading corner on their website for children. The city’s librarians teamed up to record themselves reading children’s storybooks. This is to combat local research that reveals how many South African students cannot understand what they are reading.

Encouraging creativity

Blogging allows children to practice their writing skills. This is why some teachers have allowed their students to submit their assignments in the form of blog posts. Kidblog is an app where students can submit their work like blog entries, complete with pictures and videos. This allows them to organise and write information in a way that makes sense to them, practicing their comprehension skills.

Technology continues to help increase literacy in children. Here at My Future My Choice, we believe that young people have the ability and right to achieve, and technology allows them to do this.

 

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