Elearning System for School of the Deaf

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

No matter who you are, today is the day to learn something new. Learning is a basic function of the human mind. When we are born, we immediately begin learning. Even the simplest functions of our everyday lives were at once entirely foreign, but because of the way our minds are structured, we have an ingrained ability to capture information and use it in unique ways (Cutrell, 2014).

According to Andrade, Improving education is a huge issue (and always has been). Test scores, our perceived performance against other countries, and other factors have pushed education to the forefront of national politics, right behind healthcare reform. Technology can be used to improve teaching and learning and help our students be successful.

Technology is a big part in school, for example instead of the teacher being the only source of information or help in a classroom, students can surf the web with supervision in order to access web sites that talk about a topic they are looking for or have queries about, online tutorials, and other assisting technologies in the web. Education doesn’t stop at the end of school, rather students may have more questions that they want to ask after class, that’s when technology comes in, students can have access to teachers, resources, and assignments via the web any time. Students can also get help and tutoring at any time, whether from the teacher via email or online collaboration, or from a help web site.

According to Whiteside, Parental involvement is another factor that can increase student achievement. Most parents these days have extremely busy schedules, work different hours, and can’t always help their child with homework or come to school for conferences. Technology can help. Parents can go to a class website and see what their child is working on, they can contact teachers via email and web sites, and they can even check their child’s attendance and grades through online systems....