Abstract:
Existing studies show the effectiveness of teaching methodologies that focus on child-centered learning. Different teaching methodologies such as Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Maria Montessori and High Scopes are adopted worldwide due to their effectiveness. While adopting these methodologies, student's need should be carefully considered. The result obtained by the researcher while evaluating effectiveness of teaching methodologies is varied. In Pakistan, different teaching technologies are being used. Due to different teaching methods and non-usage of technology for preliminary (Nursery, KG and Prep), it made huge gap between urban and rural educational structure especially for preliminary school children. The main objective of this study is to evaluate a Learning Management System that will reduce the gaps in our educational system at the pre-school level. The study also focuses on comparison between conventional teaching methodologies and our proposed computer based teaching methodologies. A learning management system consisting of English, Math and drawing modules after analysis of existing teaching methodologies, toddler learning material analysis, teachers and educational specialist guidance was build. English, Math and Drawing module contain content having animations, videos and games. Animations and videos were used for teaching purpose while games were used for children assessment purpose. These modules were designed for teaching English alphabets, writing English alphabets, teaching counting, writing counting, counting objects, shapes, drawing and to recognize different colors. We conducted experiment in two schools of Islamabad Pakistan in which 182 students participated from Nursery, KG and Prep classes. These participants were selected using simple random sampling technique and were divided into two equal groups, controlled and experimental group. We treated experimental group by computer based material while controlled group was taught by class teacher using conventional teaching methodologies. After data analysis, we found that learning pace and interest of experimental was more than controlled group. We concluded that computer based learning if designed carefully is more effective in recognizing and learning English, Math, shapes and color than conventional teaching methodologies for nursery, KG and Prep class students.
