FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES

SEMESTER MEI 2014

HBEF 2303

TEKNOLOGI MAKLUMAT DALAM PENDIDIKAN

MATRICULATION NO : 820628015958001
IDENTITY CARD NO.

: 820628015958

TELEPHONE NO.

: 0177649260

E-MAIL

: pettyteng@hotmail.com

LEARNING CENTRE

: JOHORE LEARNING CENTER

CONTENT
RE
F
1.0

2.0

3.0

CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
PHONICS FUN
2.1 Phonics Fun Teaching Strategies
2.2 Phonics Fun Lessons
2.3 Content Coverage In each Topic
2.3.1 Lesson
2.3.2 Word Smart
2.3.3 Lets Practise
2.3.4 Lets Say It
2.4 Summary of Learning To Read With Phonics Fun
Apps
Educational Software Evaluation
3.1 Aspects of Evaluation

PAGE
2

3-8

4.0

Data Collection Instrumen

10

5.0

Phonics Fun Software Evaluation

5.1 Data Interpretation
5.1.1 Phonics Fun Apps Overall View
5.1.2 Content Score and Interpretation
5.1.3 Pedagogy Score and Interpretation
5.1.4 User Friendly Score and Interpretation
5.1.5 Graphics and Audio (Technical) Score and
Interpretation
5.1.6 Summary of Phonics Fun Apps Evaluation

6.0

Conclusion

17

7.0

References

18

8.0

Attachment 1
Attachment 2

11 - 17

19 - 20

INTRODUCTION

With the rapid proliferation of smart phone and tablet technologies, hundreds if not thousands of
android and apple (iOS) educational applications or apps are available for teachers to download
and use as Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI). Android and iOS are actually operating systems
for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. Smart phones, PDAs and tablets
operating on Android or iOS operating system are becoming the most common gadgets used by
many people in different spheres of life. Students as well use these gadgets for various purposes
in their lives. Software developers have developed various android based apps which could help
the students in their learning process especially in CAI learning environment.
The educational uses of computers that are considered to be CAI

are those cases in which

either instruction is presented through a computer program to a passive student, or the computer
is the platform for an interactive and personalized learning environment. With the advancement
of smart phones, Ipad and other tablet device technologies, many android and ios applications
are being widely used in CAI learning and teaching environments. For school-age children, a
smartphone or tablet can give them an additional learning layer, beyond the traditional
classroom or book. Smartphones and tablets provide students with multiple opportunities to
access content and engage with curriculum. They connect students to the world beyond the four
walls of their brick and mortar buildings and give them access to real world experts solving real
world problems in real time. Technology makes their learning relevant. We as teachers and
educators should always make sure our students are equipped with the right apps to use on their
mobile devices or in classroom learning environments. In this respite Phonics Fun which is in
android apps which can be used in CAI will be discussed. The software teaching strategies,
contents and summary are explained. Further more a survey and evaluation by the teachers
pertaining to this software are carried. Datas are collected, analyzed and graphs are plot out to
show the effectiveness of this apps in CAI learning environment. Writer personal opinions
pertaining to Phonics Fun Apps are also summariezed towards the end of the report.

2. PHONICS FUN
Reading can be a momentous task especially to a beginning reader or second or third language
learner. If it is incorrectly taught, reading can become a burdensome and arduous chore. Taught
2

correctly, reading motivates the child to learn more and directly or indirectly cultivate a good
reading habits. This in long term enhances the child mastering of the language. In recent years,
there has been much debate about how children should be taught to read. While the use of
phonics has generally been advocated for this, the actual approach on how it should be used has
been contentious. However, recent research carried out in the UK and elsewhere has shown that
a method called systematic synthetic phonics (as opposed to other phonics approaches, such as
analytical phonics) leads to better reading and spelling attainment among children.
Phonics Fun is the exciting new learn-to-read programme especially designed for the beginning
reader. Built on the principles of systematic synthetic phonics, Phonics Fun takes advantage of
interactive multimedia to make learning to read even more fun and stimulating. This is a fully
featured free android app that teaches beginning readers ( 5-8 year-olds ) to read, with a sample
lesson on the sounds sh (//), ch (/t/) th (//, //) and ng(//).

2.1 Phonics Funs Teaching Strategy

This Apps teaching strategy covers :

Use phonics as the primary first method to teach children to read.

Teach phonics in a systematic way across the programme.

Set lessons within a rich language environment that develops speaking and listening,
reading and writing skills.

Use a multisensory approach to teaching so that children learn using all their senses. This
is vital because all children learn differently.

2.2 The Phonics Lessons

Learners or children are exposed to three main things :

Grapheme-phoneme correspondence
Children are taught all the phonemes (the smallest sound units capable of conveying a distinct
meaning) in the English language, and ways of writing them down. These sounds are
systematically taught in a particular order. For example, the first sounds that children learn are
3

the sounds of the letters s, a, t and p.

Blending
Children are taught to blend sounds to form words. They say the sounds that make up a word
and merge the sounds together until they can hear what the word is. This skill is vital in learning
to read.

Segmenting
Children are also taught to segment, which is the opposite of blending. Children say a word and
then break it up into the phonemes that make up the word. This skill is vital in being able to spell
words.

Children also learn to recognize specific tricky words words that are not spelt or pronounced
according to the phonic rules that they are taught. There are also fun and exciting activities designed
to reinforce what is taught in the lessons.

2.3 Content Coverage In Each Topic

This app comprises 4 sections, viz.,
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
2.3.4

Lesson
Word Smart
Lets Practise
Lets Say It

2.3.1 Lesson
4

It covers 3 crucials skills:

Recognizing sound-letter relationship

Children are taught the phonemes //, /t/ //, // //, and the letters that represent them.
This knowledge is important in understanding grapheme-phoneme correspondence.

Blending sounds to form words.

Children are taught to blend sounds to form words. They say the sounds that make up
a word and merge the sounds together until they can hear what the word is. This skill
is vital in learning to read.
Example : /s/ + // + /t/ /st/ or sat

Segmenting words into individual sounds

Children are also taught to segment, which is the opposite of blending. Children say a
word and then break up the word. This skill is vital in being able to spell words.
Examples: sat /s/ + // + /t/
Children also learn to recognize specific tricky words words that are not spelt or
pronounced according to the phonic rules that they are taught.
Examples: a tap

an apple

2.3.2 Word Smart

Under this section it covers lateral expansion of literacy development: Children listen to two
tongue twisters, two rhymes,and a song. The tongue twisters, rhymes and song have sounds that
the learner has just learnt. Words are highlighted in red as they are read out.
5

2.3.3 Lets Practise

This part covers practise exercises that reinforce learning :
(a) Practise 1 : A listening skill practice that develops childrens phonemic awareness. It
tests their ability to identify and distinguish phonemes taught. Children
are required to match letters to their phonemes

(b) Practise 2 - Children first listen to a word and then break it down to its constituents
phonemes. The letters corresponding to the phonemes are then picked to
spell out the word. This is a listening skill practice that tests childrens
decoding ability.

(c) Practise 3 : A listening skill practice that challenges childrens memory. Children are
required to pair letters and their sounds.

2.3.4

Lets Say It
The last part covers sound

recognition. Six words are

introduced

for each phoneme taught. Children can tap on the words to listen to their pronunciation.

2.4 Summary of Learning To Read With Phonics Fun Apps

In order to get most impact from this apps, the child has to learn in the order below :
(a) Step 1: Learn the sounds of letters

This is covered in the section, Sounds of Letters. Here, the child learns the phonemes
(sounds) of the English language, as well as the graphemes (letters) that correspond to
those sounds.
(b) Step 2 : Learn how to blend sounds and segment words
This is the central part of learning to read, and is taught in the Lesson section. When
the child blends sounds to form a word, the child is, in effect, reading. When the child
segments a word into its constituent sounds, the child is actually spelling. Tricky words
- words that do not conform to phonics rules - are also taught in this section.
(c) Step 3 : Relate what is learnt to stories, rhymes and songs
Maintain the child's interest with some vocal activities through Word Smart. By
engaging the child in stories, rhymes and songs that have relevance to what is taught,
we accomplish two things: one, learning is reinforced; two, the child learns to
appreciate language arts.
(d) Step 4: Practise the skills learnt
Put into practice what has been taught by doing the exercises in Let's Practise. Three
practice exercises are provided per topic to strengthen the 3 basic phonics skills:
i phonemic awareness
ii blending/decoding
iii segmenting/encoding
(e) Step 5 : Apply the skills
Apply phonics skills to read new words that have the phonemes already learnt, by
following Let's Say It.
(f) Step 6 : Understand how English is used in everyday context
Learn the proper use of English (in terms of correct vocabulary, grammar, intonation
and pronunciation) in everyday situations. This is covered in Let's Speak.

3.0 EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE EVALUATION

There are approximately 20,000 educational software packages and many thousand educational
websites throughtout the world. Mattas (1985) noted that there were nearly 8,000 different
software programs available to teachers to choose from during the mid 1980s. Fifteen years
later, that number has consistently increased (Maslowski & Visshcher, 1999). According to
Gregg B.Jackson George Washington University USA in his article How To Evaluate
Educational Software and Websites there are two basic approaches in evaluation of
softwares.The first approach is to use guides to software and portals to websites that list
resources judged to be merit. The second is to undertake your own assessment of the software
and websites. The latter apporach is being applied in the evaluation of Phonics Fun Apps.
8

3.1 Educational Software Evaluation Aspects

Despite the increasing number of software titles in education, the area of educational software
evaluation has been increasingly more and more muddled because of a lack of consensus among
software evaluators (Hardin & Patrick, 1998; Huber & Guise, 1995; Zane &Cornell). Since the
1980s, many different academicians have attempted to determine what to examine when
deciding to purchase educational software and what makes software effective. According to
Jason S.Wrench in his article Educational Software Evaluation Form: Towards a New
Evaluation of Educational Software , six basic areas can be evaluated to see what software
evaluators believe are essential to effective educational software: curriculum content, instructor
use, student use, program content, program

operation, and publisher information.

When

looking at various researchers opinions of what should be examined by software evaluators,

most of them listed the curriculum as being one of the top aspects to be examined (Huber &
Guise, 1995; WD&S, 2000; Komoski, 1995; Kokol, 1991).
One component that makes educational software effective is when it is useful and collaborates
with actual curriculum besides meeting its objectives.
The second major aspects to examine when determining if educational software is
effective is to examine it from the instructors prospective. For a software to be used effectively,
a teacher must realize that he or she has a definite role to play with the softwares
implementation. One way for software to be used effectively is to provide teachers with
suggestions on how to use and integrate the software into already existing curriculum (Bitter &
Camuse, 1988). Another way to make the software more effective for the teachers is to provide
them with a master explanation of the software and its various parts. Komoski (1995) believes
that teachers who will be using software should be actively involved in the search for software
that they will be able to use the most effectively in their classrooms.
The third major consideration that needs to be examined deals with how a student will
use the software. For software to be truly effective, it must take the user into account or user
friendly. In the case of educational software, understanding the student is essential to making
software effective. Hardin and Patrick (1998) mention that for educational software to be
effective it must take into account different learning styles. Mirsha and Young Zhao (1999)
mention that first and foremost software developers must keep human concerns at the center of
all effective software development. Another major consideration when thinking about the
student, is whether the student will be able to generalize the information to contexts away from
the computer environment (Perkins, 1988). If a student is unable to generalize the information,
this means that something has gone wrong with the process of the software creation itself.
9

The fourth and fifth concepts that help make a piece of software effective concerns the
software from a software developers perspective. Software developers need to make sure that
the software components are first pleasant and second error free and easy to use. Mirsha and
Yong-Zhao (1999) note that software should be aesthetically pleasing to the people who are
going to be using the software itself. The overall quality of the software must be aesthetically
pleasing for the user. Everything that a user sees on the screen, or does not see, can affect the
way that he or she uses the software. It is for this reason that extensive testing with software is a
must before it is released to the public. As Henson (1991) wrote, effective software is one that is
built on objectives, created on a course model, then evaluated, and then modified as many times
as necessary.
A final major component that makes software effective is technology support and
verification from the publisher. When looking at software, find out what kind of options the
publisher of that software will provide individuals once the product is bought. As Henson
(1991)noted, a good software publisher is willing to work with people who buys their products
because it allows the publisher to see where the bugs in the program are and correct them when
new upgrades become available.

4.0 Data Collection Instrument

With all the above mentioned software evaluation aspects in mind, an evaluation form for the
Phonics Fun Apps is constructed with the understanding that not all teachers are technically
inclined or language expert in their field of expertise.Thus the forms are constructed and
modified in such a way that all teachers are able to understand and comprehenve what are being
asked and answer all questions with ease and accurate. It is a simple straight forward evaluation
form. Many technical terms are avoided during developing the question aires process.
The criteria developed for judging Phonics Fun are divided into Two Sections. The first section
covers the respondent background such as age, gender, educational level as well as what is his or
her language majoring. The second section includes :

Marks Allocation for each question or Degree of Importance

Software Content, Pedagogy, Ease of Use and Technical Aspects.

A sample of Phonics Fun Evaluation Form is attached as Attachment 1

10

5.0 Phonics Fun Software Survey and Evaluation

A group of 20 teachers from various age group and education background as well as field of
expertise and teaching experiences are selected to take part in this survey and evaluation
exercise. The school actually has only 2 English trained teachers out of 46 teaching staff. The
rest of English teachers are actually trained to teach Chinese but are engaged to teach English
after undergone various courses conducted by various departments. The targeted group is those
teachers teaching English for Year 1,2 and 3 pupils. A sample of a teacher completed evaluation
form is attachment as Attachment 2. The collected datas are tabulated and analysed using excel
software application.

5.1 Data Interpretation

90 - 100%
80 89%
70 79%
60 69%

Below 60%

This would be a good software decision

This piece of software is beneficial, but may have some reservations
This piece of software is probably not going to get the results desired
This piece of software is has too many reservations to adopt in its current
state
This piece of software is not tested and not beneficial

5.1.1 Phonics Fun Apps Overall Evaluation

Areas of evaluation for this software cover
11

Content
Pedagogy
User Friendly
Techincal

The average score of each aspect are as follow:

PHONICS FUN APPS CRITERIA SCORE

CONTEN
T
86%

PEDAGOG
Y
69%

EASE OF
USE
82%

TECHNICAL
QUALITY
82%

As can be seen from the above column chart, it is quite obvious the aspect of pedagogy is rather
neglected. This may be due to the fact that the resources used cannot be modified by teacher to
intergrate it with other learning activities in class. It cannot be modified may be due to copyright
infringement. Software content, user friendly and technical aspects are performance very well
and considered to be suitable and appropriate.
5.1.2 Content Score
The scores of content are obtained as follow :
CONTENT PERFORMANCE
Meets
Free of
Accurate
Educational
Curriculum
Steretotypes
Age
content
Appropriat
Standards
and Racial
Appropriate and Upe
and
Bias
to-date
Requirements
85%
88%
85%
84%
86%

12

PEDAGOGY SCORE
Motivating
Pupils

Facilitate
Learning

63%

78%

Instructional
Pupil
Resource
Strategies Guidance Modifiable
80%

81%

45%

From the above cone chart it is very obvious the content aspect of this apps is really appropriate
to be used for school going children within the age group of 5-8 years. This is the stage where
kids or children are not suppose to expose to any form of racial or gender discrimination. This
aspect obtained the highest values compare with others.

5.1.3 Pedagogy Score

13

Teaching of phonics is sometimes boring and dull because it needs numerous repeated drills and
repetition in order to hear and get the correct pronounciation and stress. As at this level some
children hearing or speaking skills may not be well developed. Children needs lots of
repetition, language or phonics drills and practise in learning the language. Teacher as far as
possible need to think ways and means to keep pupils motivated and interested in the lesson.
From the above pie chart we can detect that phonics fun apps aresources cannot be modified by
user as it may infringe copyright law or it is protected by the producer.That is the reason why it
scores only 45%. If it can be modified, it may come handy for experienced English Language to
intergrate in teaching other subjects as well. This may make the teaching lessons more lively
and effective.Motivating aspect needs to be mentioned as it scores below 70%. More songs and
nursery rhymes should be included in Phonics Fun apps in order to motivate the learners as
children love to sing and act. The other aspects are agreeable and appropriate.
5.1.4 User Friendly Score

Easy
Installati
on
91

USER FRIENDLY
Help
Easy
Guidanc Get Help
Login
e
92
71
89

Technical
Support
68

14

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

92

91

71

89
68

Phonics Fun Apps scores well in this area. At this level the children should not be required to
input any difficult or complicated tasks. The installation and login should be easy to operate.
Menu and text are easy to read and access. No wonder many respondents appreciate and give
good marks in this areas. The help section needs further clear and easy to understand instructions
and access at any stage of learning. It is rather limited to access as the lesson progress. As for the
techincal support, only the teachers are able to access. I do not think the children will be able to
ask for any technical support.

5.1.5 Graphic and Audio (Technical) Score

GRAPHIC / ICON
84

TECHNICAL QUALITY
AUDIO
FONT / TEXT
92
87

INTEREST
73

TECHNICAL
74

15

100
90

84

92

80

87
73

70

74

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
GOOD ANIMATION AND GRAPHICS
EASY TO READ FONT/TEXT
OVERALL TECHNICAL QUALITY

Phonics Fun Apps audio is very clear and good. The pronounciation is precise and easy for the
user to follow and imitate. As this is a listening and speaking skill, the audio is of paramount
important especially for the second or third language learner to get a clear and precise
pronounciation and correct intonation and stress. The animation and graphics aspects also score
very well. The songs and rhymes are lively and attractive. Same goes to the font an text which
are easy to recognize and read.
5.1.6 Phonics Fun Apps Android Software Evaluation Summary
Base on the datas tabulated and analyzed it can be concluded this software is appropriate and
easy to use in teaching of phonics. It is a good start especially for second or third language
beginner between the ages of 6 9 year-old. The lessons are easy to follow and well planned.
Overall it has the following positive and constructive features towards the learning of phonics in
English Language. The features are :
(a) Step-by-step learning method
(b) Planned structure and fast past
(c) Focuses on developing childrens capacity to
Listen
Concentrate and
Discriminate between sounds
(d) Well structured lesson plan
(e) Colourful and interactive lessons
(f) Reading/decoding, listening/encoding and spelling practices and
(g) Easy to use

16

6.0 CONCLUSION
The proliferation of cell or smart phones and tablet using android or iOS technologies has
enable many educational or instructional innovations. All these innovations may or may not be
appropriate in CAI learning environment. As teachers or educators we have to modify our
teaching and learning strategies in line with those innovations. It means to say we have to
incoperate all these innovations as far as possible

into classrooms in order to create a new

interesting, lively and effective teaching and learning platform. Educational software developers
on the hand are as far as possible try to incoperate many unnecessary and additional resources
in order to attaction attention and good sales. Thus teachers need to possess at least some basic
information

in evaluating any educational or instructional softwares in the market before

deciding whether it is suitable to be used in CAI. As pointed out by Jason S.Wrench six basic
areas can be evaluated to see what software evaluators believe are essential to effective
educational software. The areas cover : curriculum content, instructor use, student use, program
content, program operation and publisher information. Many free androids softwares are
investigated and Phonics Fun Apps is chosen to be evaluated base on the modified criterias as
pointed out by Jason S.Wrench. The software strategies, learning content and its operation are
explained as above before evaluation is carried out. A simple and straight forward evaluation
form is constructed and distributed to 20 teachers whom are targeted. The datas are tabulated
and analyzed into graphs for easy understanding and interpretation. With all the good features
of the software,it is concluded that Phonics Fun can be introduced in CAI learning in school
especially at kindergarten and lower primary level.
(3745 words)

7.0 REFERENCES :

1. Bitter, G. G., & Camuse, R. A. (1988). Using a microcomputer in the classroom (2nd
Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
2. Hardin, L., Patrick, T. B. (1998). Content review of medical educational software
assessments. Medical Teacher, 20, 207-212.
3. Henson, K. L. (1991). The use of prototyping for educational software development.
Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 24, 230-240.
17

4. Huber, J. T., & Guise, N. B. (1995). Educational software evaluation process. Journal
of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2, 259-96.
5. Komoski, K. (1995). Seven steps to responsible software selection. Educational Resources
Information Center Digest, May, 3-4.
6. Maslowski, R., & Visshcher, R. (1999). Formative evaluation in educational computing
research and development. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32, 239-256.
7. Mattas, L. L. (1985). Only the best: The discriminating software guide for preschoolgrade
Sacramento, CA: Educators News Service.
8. Mirsha, R. Young Zhao, P. (1999). From concept to software: Developing a framework
for understanding the process of software design. Journal of Research on Computing in
Education, 32, 220-239.
9. TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
10. http://www.ebay.com/gds/What-s-the-Difference-Between-iOS-andAndroid-/10000000177631975/g.html
11. http://www.e-unik.com.my/products.asp
12. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-computer-assisted-instruction.htm

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ATTACHMENT 1

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