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“EXCELLENCE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE” P A G E 85 The Use of ICT Multimedia Tools to Enhance Literacy at the Elementary Level Introduction: The traditional method of teaching is common among educators. Rather than being student-centred, it caters more to the methodology of the teacher, without the context of the subject, leading to a decrease in the mental interest of the students. However, rising trends are more focused on innovative activities and knowledge acquisition. In other words, students need a creative way to acquire knowledge. Traditional teaching methods have limitations as it related to providing practical insight for students. As it pertains to the traditional teaching method, power and responsibility are held by the teacher and they play the role of instructor (in the form of lectures) and decision maker (in regards to curriculum content and specific outcomes). Students are regarded as having ‘knowledge holes’ that need to be filled with information. In short, the traditional teacher view is that the teacher causes learning to occur. Problem Statement: Since 2013, the E-Learning Jamaica Programme has outfitted over 700 Jamaican primary schools with ICT equipment. This technological support could improve teaching methodologies, especially in numeracy, where urgent support is needed. Despite the advancement of ICT tools as effective strategies for improving student educational output in numeracy, there has been a lack of wide scale implementation of ICT tools in enhancing literacy at the primary level. Low literacy rates among primary school is a cause for concern among educators in Jamaica as literacy plays a vital role in overall educational development which is directly linked to overall growth as a nation. Since the launch of the Tablet in Schools Pilot Programme, the Government of Jamaica has spent $114 million for the provision of electronic content on the tablet computers. Content is available for the subject areas of Mathematics, English Language, and the Sciences from the lower primary to the secondary level. Purpose of Study: This study will investigate the motivation factors of ICT tools, on young children’s cognitive development and academic performance. It uses a hybrid of two conceptual frameworks to determine learning outcomes and compares the traditional method of teaching to that of an ICT aided method. It also receives feedback from both parents and teachers. Furthermore, this knowledge can be used by key stakeholders that benefit from the early education sector by the integration of websites, games and mobile applications to augment literacy syllabi. Significance of Study: Although multiple studies have been conducted on theories and models of motivation, little research has been done on applications of those models in different cultures and environments. In the same way, with the rapid development of technology, the methods of communication and speed of communication are rapidly changing. Research Questions: The following research questions were used to guide the data collection and data analysis: • What is the significant difference in levels of literacy attainment when the traditional teaching method is compared with computer/multimedia assisted learning? • To what extent does interactive gaming impact students’ literacy attainment? • What is the correlation between motivation and exposure to computer/multimedia assisted learning? Lushane Jones & Sherrene Bogle School of Computing and Information Technology