Many developing nations struggle with poor literacy and numeracy skills, yet education-oriented NGO Pratham designed a program to supplement classroom instruction with computer-assisted learning (CAL). Through randomized evaluations, they assessed whether this program improved student abilities over time while remaining cost-effective when compared with alternatives.
Pedagogy
Education systems in many developing nations are struggling to meet the basic learning needs of children, even those living in urban areas. Unfortunately, studies show that many children do not develop essential reading and math skills at an adequate rate. Computer-assisted learning may offer an effective supplement to traditional instruction; quality software can be reproduced cost-effectively, while well-crafted educational games keep students engaged and curious.
Computers require input to function, making them inherently interactive. Computers can be used to reinforce concepts or provide practice; students may even create their materials, such as word lists and verb charts, using these interactive programs. Such activities tend to engage learners more fully in active knowledge construction rather than passive consumption of prepackaged information, potentially improving memory and achievement scores in the process.
Computer-based pedagogy presents its own set of unique challenges. While excitement exists about its potential to increase student learning, it remains to be seen if computer-aided learning (CAL) tools will replace traditional teaching methods or provide significant additional benefits – medical schools have discovered this firsthand! CAL materials require expensive and time-consuming development efforts.
An effective pedagogical design is also crucial for successful computer-assisted learning, allowing teachers to adapt CAL products quickly and easily for use in their classrooms. Off-the-shelf templates that enable instructors to produce materials are available; however, these should still be modified or upgraded without much difficulty by less experienced members of staff.
Researchers have conducted several randomized evaluations to study the effects of CAL on learning. One such assessment by Muralidharan, Singh, and Ganimian recruited students from a Mindspark center in Delhi and randomly divided them into treatment and control groups, with the former receiving free tuition for five months; instrumental variable estimates suggest they performed 0.37 standard deviations higher in mathematics and 0.23 standard deviations higher in Hindi than their counterparts in the control group – these gains being more significant for academically weaker students.
Technology
Computer-assisted learning (CAL) is an educational method that employs computers to present, reinforce, and assess material. At its best, CAL enhances and improves instruction without replacing teachers. Instructors must strike the proper balance between using technology for instruction purposes while still permitting their students to explore and discover learning on their own.
Even with all the hype surrounding CAL, its effectiveness in low-income schools remains hard to judge. For example, 44 percent of children in India were unable to read paragraphs, and 50 percent couldn’t perform simple subtraction, even though they attended school regularly.
Education software can be easily replicated at a relatively low cost, while well-designed educational games can maintain interest and curiosity for extended periods. Computer-assisted learning (CAL) also enables teachers to monitor student progress and adjust instruction, making it particularly appealing for low-income schools. Furthermore, research suggests that computer-assisted learning may even outshine traditional methods of teaching in some instances.
Results
Computer-assisted learning in Hindi offers the potential to be an efficient and cost-effective teaching and learning method, offering improved knowledge retention, enhanced clinical judgment, reduced instruction time requirements, and cost savings compared to traditional methods of education. Furthermore, its application spans across fields like pharmacology.
Studies conducted in India to evaluate the efficacy of computer-assisted learning (CAL) software as an addition to classroom instruction have produced mixed results. One such research effort in Vadodara revealed that while CAL significantly raised math scores among its participants, it did not have an appreciable effect on Hindi ability.
Muralidharan, Singh, and Ganimian conducted another randomized evaluation by recruiting children from middle schools located in low-income areas of Delhi and randomly assigning them into treatment and control groups through a lottery. Those in the treatment group received vouchers to attend Mindspark centers free during their 4.5 month evaluation period; instrumented variable estimates suggest participants performed 0.37 standard deviations higher in mathematics (adjusting for initial test scores, gender equality level poverty and baseline attendance levels); these gains were more substantial for academically weaker pupils.
Conclusions
The authors’ instrumental variable estimates reveal that students exposed to CAI software performed 0.37 standard deviations higher in math and 0.23 standard deviations better in Hindi compared with control group students; this difference was even more marked among academically weaker pupils. Thus, adopting CAI into classroom instruction could potentially help improve educational standards in India.
The CAI package designed by the investigator is unique in that it allows students to test and receive results of their practice, providing valuable feedback regarding learning content and progress explicitly tailored to each learner’s learning situation. Furthermore, students can use computer-assisted technology to clear away doubts while learning words until they’re perfectly memorized.
Comparative to earlier technologies like overhead projectors, computers can open educators/teachers up to new ways of thinking through dynamic images and simulations that stimulate thinking processes in new ways. This makes CAI an effective teaching tool for pharmacology; one study suggests its implementation could have an immediate positive impact on student’s performance in pharmacology; however, more research needs to be conducted in this regard before conclusively proving its findings. In the meantime, teachers should encourage students to experiment with this novel method of learning.
