Computer versus Tutor – Word-Recognition Training

As I continue to develop Phonetic Typing – a computer assisted instructional CAI learning object for teaching spelling and typing, I regularly frequent the data bases in search of relevant research. My motivation for software develop is not to replace teachers or the core curriculum, but to supplement each student with individualized leveled instruction, so he or she has relevant work while I teach small groups and assess. Well according to this article, I’m on the right track.

A group of third grade children were randomly assigned to one of three group conditions. The control group, students practiced word list alone; tutor assisted, and computer assisted. Results indicated that students practicing alone did not improve fluency, both tutor and computer assisted groups significantly improved. In fact, students receiving computer assisted instruction performed as well as students receiving individualized tutoring.

For me, this is good news for me as a teacher because the computer-assisted instruction required little teacher time or supervision. I provide my students with computer assisted instruction at their instructional level, as the Phonetic Typing program does, while I tutor and assess small groups. If you have computer access for your students, and are looking for good CAI – Phonetic Typing will improve their keyboarding skills, which will give open opportunities in word processing, and improve their spelling skills if they are at the lower developmental spelling level. http://msateaches.com/spelling

If you have an interested in this topic I recommended you read the article. It has a short literature review that details several research studies on the topic and goes into detail about the types of software that were used and the results achieved from each.

Lewandowski, L., Bageny, J., & Rogers, C., (2006) Word-recognition training: Computer versus tutor, Reading & Writing Quarterly, 22: 395-410