Last night we told you about the Computer Assisted Learning programme that Restore Belize is spearheading with Taiwanese funding. It's generated a lot of interest from our viewers - and tonight we re-visit yesterday's launch to tell you a little more about how it will work:
Randy Boissonnault - Executive Director, Literacy Without Borders
"What happens is that you're going to come in; you're going to be getting a little orientation to the program. We're going to sit you down, and we going to show you - you might not know how to use a mouse. You may have never sat down in front of a computer. So, we'll show you how to use the keyboard. All you really need to do is use the mouse, and click the arrow on the screen. And what's going to happen is that we're going to get you to start a tutorial. So, there's going to be - we're just going to ask to read one sentence, and you're going to answer some questions. And you're not able to read that one sentence, the software will automatically know what to do, and it'll get you started. And so, what's going to happen is that you're going to go to another screen, and it's going just put up letter combinations, and you're going to hear some sounds. And it's going to ask you to associate the letters on the screen with the sound that you're hearing. And it's just going to build. It's going to build from a very simple sound and letter recognition exercises, to more complex words, word combinations, letter combinations. And then, depending on how much time you spend with the program, within 20 to 30 hours, you'll be up at least a grade level."
Michael Young - Learning To Read
"If anything will happen, you'll learn how to read. So, that's what I want to happen, and from what everybody is saying, this thing happened for a lot of people. And if it can happen for them, I know that it could happen for me. If it could happen for me, it could happen for anybody because; I am like this for a long time. I haven't told anybody this. This is not something that I was like, 'Oh, I just want to tell somebody this.' No, this is not something like that. I had to really think about this because if you want something to happen, you have to do it. It will not happen just like that. You have to do something about it."
Mary Vasquez - Director, Restore Belize
"This is between you and the computer. So, the issue of embarrassment is not there. The issue of sitting in a classroom and saying, 'Yes, I am 14 years-old, and I can't read', is not there. It's you and the computer. So, just the interface itself is more empowering, and it's free of any embarrassment that people do have. Adults, we're also targetting adults because we've strongly believe, a, that a literate society is an empowered society."
To access the Literacy Programme you can call Restore Belize at 223-1269...
Email
Print