&ldquo;Agbasa&rdquo; : A Web Application in Reading Comprehension

Nancy   G. Liwanag,

“Agbasa” : A Web Application in Reading Comprehension

Discipline: Education

Abstract:

The goal of “No Child Left Behind” is to implement a statewide accountability system that ensures students will be proficient or better in reading and mathematics. The teachers and parents collaborate to do their part in the education process by instilling values and discipline at home and in school to achieve this goal. This study developed a website application in reading comprehension for Grades 4, 5, and 6 to help the learners enhance their reading comprehension using a website that uses interactive visualizations and real-time feedback. The utilization of this technology may improve the reading comprehension of language learners particularly the struggling learners. The use of technology offers various tools and approaches that can enhance reading comprehension skills and improve the learning experiences of students. The results of this study were used to determine the website's effectiveness in improving reading comprehension and to identify any areas for improvement in the website design. This study used the Developmental research, a type of research method that involves studying the change of a phenomenon over time. Using the developed evaluation form, the respondents from Grade 4 to Grade 6 students, English Teachers, and Information Technology (IT) Experts evaluated the characteristics of website based on accuracy, flexibility, reliability, graphical user interface, security, and help options. The Random Sampling Technique was utilized in getting the sample size. The data were analysed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics such as the frequency, weighted mean, and ttest. The assessment of the respondents revealed that the Website Application in Reading Comprehension is Strongly Acceptable in terms of accuracy, flexibility, reliability, graphical user interface, security, and help options. Overall, the integration of technology in the classroom promote student participation as well as increased achievement. Findings showed no significant difference among respondents’ assessment in website application in terms of accuracy, reliability, user interface design, security options, and help options. Meanwhile, there is significant differences in the assessments of the three groups of respondents on the website application as to flexibility. Further, the incorporation of additional features like dictionaries, text-to-speech, and speech-totext are very helpful to students who have difficulty in understanding difficult words is suggested.

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