Coloride Workbooks
by Rick Sulz
High technology is a wonderful thing, and, when used correctly in an educational environment, can greatly enhance learning. That's an undisputed fact. But given the fact that teachers have been teaching and students learning for countless centuries, one sometimes wonders "is it possible that there may be unique pedagogical benefits that only LOW technology can provide?" During the years of my student experience, lessons weren't taught with interactive multimedia or user-defined cognitive models, yet frequently made creative use of methods that might have been less technically advanced, but still powerfully enriching. Does curricular content have to be presented by an operating system to be effective?
Feedback Card Inc.'s Coloride Workbooks provide a hands-on means of learning subjects as diverse as music, math and language studies, clearly answering the question with a "yes!" The workbooks offer a series of problems and questions in each of several subjects that are color-coded. By matching their responses against a color-coordinated answer key, students can grade their own mastery of the materials in a fun and memorable way.
Many studies have suggested that the more senses an educational form has integrated into it, the more effective that form often ultimately is. For visual and tactilely oriented learners, the Coloride Workbooks offer an engaging learning experience reminiscent of the manipulatives approach to phonics and arithmetic, which remain self-contained and easily applied. The manufacturer states that the benefits of the program include development of fine motor skills-a fine complement to one of the few workbook oriented systems for basic music instruction.
Not only do the books communicate their material in a visual way, but, because they provide an aesthetic incentive to answer questions correct, they're self-reinforcing also. In fact, because they make it easy to gauge a student's performance, they even make it easier for parents and teachers to positively reinforce progress.
Although the publisher's site features many endorsements from primary and secondary educators, the books are also available for homeschooling parents as well. For anyone interested in a old-school instructional style in a contemporary format, more information can be obtained by logging onto the company's site at www.coloride.com.#
