Australian school students now have their basic skill levels tested regularly - but what good does it do? Not much good for the students or the teachers it seems as I will show below. All this testing has not led to any substantial improvements in teaching or learning - the … [Read more...] about Basic Skills Test in Australia – 2012 Update – the Results are Disappointing
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Computers and Literacy
We now have as many computers in schools as we have students, BUT . . . Do Computers Actually Improve Educational Outcomes? The short answer is: there is no conclusive scientific proof either way. Some studies find positive impacts, and others find negative impacts. … [Read more...] about Computers and Literacy
Government Guidelines for Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics
International Research into Methods of Teaching Reading Because of generally poor levels of literacy among school students despite many years at school, governments of all the major English-speaking countries (including USA, UK, Canada and Australia) have recently conducted … [Read more...] about Government Guidelines for Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics
What Is Phonics?
What Is Phonics? The word ‘phonics’ comes from the ancient Greek word for ‘sound’. Since the Greeks were the first culture to develop an alphabet to represent the sounds in their language, it is fitting that in English we use the word ‘phonics’ to mean the teaching of the … [Read more...] about What Is Phonics?