4+Capabilities+of+Computers

1. Present Information and Activities to Students
 * 4 Capabilities Computers Can Provide **

Multimedia computers can present any type of auditory or visual materials— including speech, text, music, animations, photographs, or videos—alone or in different combinations. They can link different types of representations such as pictures with sounds, oral readings with written text, videos with subtitles, or any other combinations that might reinforce teaching and learning.

2. Assess Student’s Work

Computers can accept a variety of inputs from students, ranging from mouse clicks to written text to spoken words. (A wide variety of special input devices, such as touch screens, special keyboards, and singleswitch devices are also available for young children and students with special needs.) Computers can be programmed to check a child’s work to determine whether he or she selected the correct word or picture, typed a correct word, said the correct word, or, with recent advances in computerized speech recognition, read a passage fluently.

3. Respond to Student’s Work

In terms of responding to students’ work, computers have both some limitations and some advantages over teachers. When tasks require simple inputs, such as selecting from presented options or typing a word, computers can be programmed to immediately evaluate each response and provide appropriate feedback. This feedback can be in the form of positive messages when the child is correct, and hints, additional chances, or corrected answers when the child is incorrect. Most importantly, computers can be programmed to adjust the task presented to be based on feedback from previous performances.

4. Provide Scaffolds - such as access to word pronunciation and definitions, that help students read successfully. Computers can provide powerful scaffolds or “training wheels” for children’s reading by presenting information flexibly, assessing students’ work, and responding to students. For example, a student with limited phonics skills or vocabulary can benefit from scaffolding in the form of an online dictionary that, at the click of a mouse, can speak the word and display its meaning.