Today's students have increased exposure to multimedia and pop culture technology resources. Some teachers may question whether there is any value in using these specific resources and other computer- and Internet-based activities. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology, students' computer skills are far beyond those of their teachers. These students, often referred to as the Millennials, prefer to use the Internet and seek information that is more abundant, accessible, and up-to-date. In a 2004 report, the U.S. Department of Education cited the following facts for today's students:
49 percent of students may be interested in pursuing careers in technology.
28 percent of high school students access foreign news services via the Internet.
94 percent of teens use the Internet for school-related research.
Students spend more time on the Internet than they do watching television.
The largest group of new users of the Internet from 2000–02 were 2- to 5-year-olds.
Today's students feel technology is an essential and preferred asset in every part of their lives.
Today's students are ultra communicators.
Computers can help students increase their performance on standardized tests.
Technology can increase students' motivation and improve their self-concept.
Technology promotes inclusion for students with disabilities.
For educators, it is essential to blend these facts into the teaching and learning process.
Instructional materials are critical for successful teaching in any classroom, especially in diverse and inclusive classrooms where students' skill levels, learning styles, and interests are more varied.
Conclusion When the teachers know how to grab students’ attention, teachers can provide a friendly and interesting atmosphere for the students to learn. This will encourage the students not to just learn by listening and writing what the teachers told, said and provided in the classroom, but they will find their own initiative to read and speak what they learn in order to improve their own understanding towards the lesson. Furthermore, the implementation of teaching aids and materials in teaching school children is less time consuming. As a result, the teachers will have more ample time to create enjoyable classroom activities and conduct an effective teaching and learning process.
There are many advantages in increasing the cognitive level of slow-learners by using teaching aids. A teacher must have the knowledge and literacy to operate the teaching aids. Besides, the teacher must know the cognitive level of students first so that he or she can plan his or her lessons more carefully in order to give maximum results to his or her students. Teaching aids are a crucial medium in the teaching and learning process. Teaching aids help teachers to explain the concepts related to the lesson taught while ensuring the students are able to better understand the lesson taught by the teacher. The effectiveness of teaching aids can help to increase the cognitive level of students. Therefore, it is important for these teaching aids to be used in the teaching and learning process in order to ensure the
expansion of the students’ cognitive skills.
We should differentiate the teaching aids and teaching materials.
The usage of teaching aids in teaching and learning process in the lessons bring a positive impact to students. The course work showed that the usage of electronic teaching aids attract the interest of students to pay attention in class by using videos as a means to capture the interest of students. This proved to be a successful method to be used since the students gave full attention to the lesson taught in class. Students used their cognitive skills every time they watched the video shown to them in class. This can be proved when the students are able to ask and answer questions with the teacher of the lesson taught to them. The usage of power
point slides to explain and demonstrate the steps of every activity conducted brings a positive effect to the students because it helps to stimulate the minds of the students and increase the cognitive level of the students.
The usage of electronic and non-electronic teaching aids is indeed effective. Even though non-electronic teaching aids is the more effective way of presenting the lesson more clearly, the cognitive skills of the students were well-expanded.
