Many experts are critical of the Government’s emphasis on phonics in teaching children to read and write. But as well as trying to assess the rightful place of phonics, play and home learning in the learning process, practitioners are increasingly having to consider the potential role of information and communications technology (ICT) in helping young children to become literate.
To become a reader, a child needs to learn several skills, including recognising the letters of the alphabet and the sounds associated with them, spelling patterns, decoding, as well as comprehension skills to make sense of what they have read.
Creative use of tablets and iPads can help to support all these skills and provide an often missing alternative to a narrow focus on apps that merely support phonics and grammar. The focus is on digital technologies, but the idea is to use these to enrich (not substitute) traditional teaching.
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