Can ICT help children learn to spell?

Oakley, Grace

Spelling relates to several aspects of literacy and is far more complex than many people think (Oakley 2005). Like most things, it cannot be taught or learnt well through a single strategy. Teachers need to provide a range of learning experiences for children, and the use of spelling software can be a valuable part of this repertoire.

Research has shown that ICT can play a part in helping children learn to spell, at least as effectively as traditional methods can (Torgeson and Elbourne 2002). Furthermore, the use of ICT can save precious teacher time and be highly motivational to children. Many teachers are now using spelling software in their classrooms and are finding it worthwhile.

There is a range of software available in Australia that may help children improve their spelling. In this article, I will briefly review some of this software.

Superspell--A Day at the Beach (Hoopers Multimedia)

In this program, there are many lists of words that children can learn through a variety of games. There are games that feature rock fishing games, diving, windsurfing, and sandcastle building. The words in the wordlists range from simple three letter words to much more complicated words. In addition, teachers can create customised word lists so that children can learn spelling lists that are related to their needs and interests.

Superspell (http://www.hoopers.com.au/) was created by Australian teachers and words are pronounced in Standard Australian English. There are over 3,000 words to learn in this spelling program, including options to focus on commonly misspelled words and compound words. This is essentially a drill and practice program, which gives rewards in the form of humorous animations. I have used this program in the classroom and children have found it quite engaging.

This software has been reviewed thoroughly by Sally Gill on http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/superspell.htm

Another Australian spelling program is

Aussiespell (Hoopers Multimedia),

which has been adopted in many primary schools. This program includes approximately 3000 words, which are presented through four different games.

Phonics Alive! The Sound Blender (Advanced Software) http://www.phonicsalive.com/

This is another excellent Australian software package that focuses on phonological awareness and phonics, important knowledge for children who are learning to spell. This software is easy to use and allows children to print out achievement certificates when they have finished a level. I have used this software with an ESL girl (Year 4) and she found it very engaging and exciting. A review of this program can be found at: http://wwwfp.education.tas.gov.au/english/bkswrev.htm#phonics

Easy 2 Learn Spelling (Dataworks)

Easy 2 Learn Spelling is yet another Australian program, suitable for younger children (ages 6 to 9). features words lists that are aligned to the Australian school curricula, including the 100 most commonly used words and 250 high frequency words. The Curriculum Corporation compiled word lists to help make them beneficial to Year 3 children in their benchmarking assessments.

The activities presented, as in the programs above, are in a games format, a format that is often highly motivational to children. All words are presented within the context of a sentence, which may enhance meaningfulness. There is also a version of this software for children aged 9 to 12. As well as being available on CR-ROM, this game can be played online at http://www.gamenow.com.au/game.x/easy2learnspellingages912/

Aussie Spellforce (EdAlive)

Aussie Spellforce is advertised as being suitable for grades K-12. This software features four different space-age type games and a series of graded spelling lists, composed of a massive 9000 words. Words are presented within the context of sentences and individualised word lists can be compiled. This software also tracks students' progress through an automatic tracking feature. Although such tracking features can be highly useful, unless students hop in and out of 'the hot seat' without logging in and out, in which case their records become mixed with those of other students.

Word Wizard (Macroworks)

is suitable for children in Years 1 to 7 and features a placement assessment to help children decide where to start. This program features a range of 20 games, approximately 3000 words, and 170 graded word lists. It has Australian narrations and simple animations that are not too distracting to the user. Narrated sentences are available to contextualise words from the spelling lists.

Word Wizard, like some of the other spelling software described above, features a student tracking system and also allows achievement certificates to be printed out.

To find out more about educational software, got to SOFWEB. This website, run by the Victorian Education Department provides reviews of a wide range of educational software, including many of the titles featured in this article. http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/ict/software/s4e/atoz.htm

References

Oakley, G. (2005) 'Connecting the four practices with the teaching of spelling', Practically Primary, Vol. 10, No. 2, p. 47.

Torgeson, J.K. and Elbourne, D. (2002) 'A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of information and communication technology (ICT) on the teaching of spelling', Journal of Research in Reading, Vol. 25, pp. 129-143.