Educational Media and Instruction

In the past, teachers have integrated their own methodology with either printed or audiovisual media, such as books, films, filmstrips, tape recordings, or videotapes. In evaluating the computer's usefulness, it is appropriate to compare it to these traditional media. In some cases, the computer may offer a delivery system that will promote more active and intense interaction with the subject matter on the part of students.

Will Technology Ruin Education?

"This new technology will ruin education." "No, it won't. It will make education much more efficient than it is now." "I see the problem as one of depersonalization! If this new technology is done well, it won't even be necessary to have teachers at all. Students will interact with technology rather than with human beings." "Not true! Teachers can permit students to learn basic information more efficiently from the new technology. Then the teachers will be able to use their own time to focus on individual needs. The result will be an increased quality of the interactions between students and teachers." "But almost no students or teachers know how to use the new technology. They'll be dependent on unseen technologists and mysterious forces to control their learning." "Then maybe students and teachers will have to acquire a certain degree of literacy. The benefits will be worth the effort."

This conversation between two educators took place five centuries ago. The "new technology" was the increased availability of the book. The opponent of the new technology in this anecdote had some good points. Some students are, in fact, required to read bad textbooks. Inept teachers sometimes fail to supplement weak texts. A book written for mass distribution often fails to meet the needs of an individual student in a school never seen by the author of the text. And the lack of literacy certainly inhibits the full, effective use of textbooks.

Nevertheless, it would be foolish to argue that books have been bad for education. When poor reading material presents problems, the solution is to find better materials - not to remove books from our schools. If students are not literate enough to use books, the proper procedure is to help them develop this literacy. The computer is very much like the book. Education with the book is considerably different from education without the book. Education with the computer is likely to be considerably different from education without the computer. Some of us have learned a great deal by simply sitting down and reading a good book. Some of us will also learn a great deal by sitting down alone and interacting with a computer. In the classroom, however, books are most often used as an integral part of a curriculum. Likewise, computers will most often be used in combination with textbooks, films, comments from teachers and peers, and other instructional tools to provide a complete educational experience. Computers are mysterious to many of us. What we often forget is that books were equally mysterious as they began their proliferation. We forget that for medieval people "to cast a spell" referred to the fact that people who could use written words held a mysterious power over those who could not. Used effectively, the computer has the potential to have an impact on education as beneficial as that of the book. Used unwisely, the computer can have the same negative impact as requiring students to read poor textbooks or forbidding them to use other helpful resources to supplement their reading.

Tables 1.1 and 1.2 summarize the major strengths and weaknesses of three major media for presenting instruction. Tutorials, drills, and simulations can be presented through any of these media. (Note that multimedia presentations - which can integrate film, still photos, audio and written material into motivating presentations with the aid of the computer - can sometimes help us attain the advantages and avoid the weaknesses of all three of these media.) A unit of instruction is effective not because it uses one or the other of these media, but rather because it helps students meet instructional objectives at a high rate of success.

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Table 1.1 Strengths of Three Major Media. Text Materials Audiovisual Materials Computerized Materials Computer can either control rate of presentation or leave this up to the learner. If efficiently designed, computer programs can save time by enabling learners to begin work immediately. Learner controls rate of presentation. Learner can review previous information as needed. Learner can easily stop and seek additional information as needed. Most teachers and parents know how to use text materials. Computter can make possible activities that would otherwise be dangerous, expensive, or otherwise impractical in the classroom. Graphics can be realistic and interesting. Graphics and sound can focus attention effectively. Visual and auditory tracks employ different (complimentary) modalities. Computer can rapidly link to additional relevant information, even at remote sites. Computer can permit student to review previous information. Computer can provide unique information or prompts as it is needed. Graphics can be realistic and interesting. Graphics and sound can focus attention effectively. Audio and visual tracks employ different (complementary) modalities. Computer can require interaction (eliminates passive observation). Computer can provide immediate feedback. Computer can record student performance. Computers play an active role in numerous real-life professions.

Table 1.2 Weaknesses of Three Major Media. Text Materials Materials cannot enforce rate of presentation. Graphics are static and likely to be uninteresting and inefficient in focusing attention. Learner cannot control rate of Learning is often presentation. passive. Learner cannot easily and exactly Materials are back up and review written for information. masses and are rarely attuned to individual needs. Learning is often passive. Few quick links (as is possible with hypertext) to relevant materials. Materials rarely take into account the needs of auditory learners. Audiovisual Materials Computerized Materials

More expensive than other media. Unfamiliar to some teachers and parents. Not all programs have all the above strengths. If inefficiently designed, computers can waste time by requiring learners to teachers or learners to focus on getting the program to run.

Use of Popular Media FINAL EXAMINATION Name: ____________________________________________________ Score: ___________________ Year and Section: ___________________________________________ Date: ___________________

DIRECTION: Read each item carefully. Each item contains a topic to discuss. Assume that you are the teacher who will be teaching the topic. Encircle the medium that you will use in teaching the given topic and write how you are going to use it in instruction. 10 points each. (Remember that Tables 1.1 and 1.2 discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the different media, use these as guides in selecting your instructional medium.) 1. Five Classes of Vertebrate printed pictures / chart or video clip

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Persons in the Community recorded action song or diorama

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. World War II newspaper articles or still picture of war casualties

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Undefined Terms (Points, Lines, and Planes) realia or OHP and transparencies

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Waltz (dance) movie clip or mp3 waltz music

_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________

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