The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has created many new and unprecedented challenges for people in all walks of life, and none more so than for teachers. Faced with school closures and student withdrawals, traditional education found itself in a position that merely a generation ago would have resulted in a crisis. Fortunately, today’s teachers and school systems have access to technologies that make it possible for instruction and learning to continue when daily face-to-face schooling cannot.
While email and web services allowed the distribution of work to students directly without physical contact, social media enabled direct and ongoing contact between classmates and staff. Perhaps most radically of all, video conferencing enabled teachers and students to interact – and actually see and hear each other while doing so – from anywhere!
At least, that was the dream. Any teacher knows that software use with parents and students can often lead to them assuming the mantle of tech support worker as well as educator. And most importantly, state-of-the-art software is all well and good when every student has equal access to state-of-the-art technology on which to use it. Video conferencing, for instance, comes with a whole slew of new problems – not least of which is the heavy requirements for internet bandwidth, computing power and expensive video hardware needed to use it!
Fortunately, not all vital educational software requires a home supercomputer or a hefty investment in hardware upgrades to make sure students aren’t left behind. CARS & STARS Online is a digital reading comprehension program based around the repeated application of twelve core reading strategies to make students better readers who can analyse and interpret any text at a high level of understanding. The multi-level program is designed to be entirely paper-free, with all student answers being entered directly into the software, and results being instantly recorded and corrected automatically, requiring no teacher marking.
The CARS & STARS program requires very little bandwidth, especially compared to video conferencing and other higher-demand applications that might be in use while working or learning from home. The program is also designed to work on any relatively modern device, with options to enable and disable certain higher-quality features on slower or older hardware for maximum compatibility and usability.
CARS & STARS Online is designed to work on any device with an internet connection, with no special requirements or additional hardware needed. It puts every student back into the classroom – without making their computer load the whole classroom first!
If you are interested in learning more about the CARS & STARS Online subscriptions and how they can help children to achieve better results, then sign up for a free trial to be an integral part of your child’s reading success.
