Week 1 Multimedia Paper

Nate Berens

EDU 642

Weible

Week 1 Assignment

• Choose two or three principles for multimedia instruction that you find compelling in the readings. Briefly summarize your understandings of these principles. How do they work together? What tensions exist between them?

Multimedia can play a major part in earning. Most teachers, including myself use multimedia in nearly every lesson we teach because we know that various images, videos, diagrams, or screencasts can cut down the time we use to introduce the new concepts we wish to teach our kids. Allotting much more time for students to attempt, apply, and construct learning in meaningful or life like activities. The three principles for multimedia that were taken away from this week’s assigned readings were Memory and learning (Mayer),  student centered learning (Wiki) , and application multimedia matrix (Multi)

Mayer Memory and learning

Take a minute to think back to a time where you learned something new. Did you recall an image, a sound, or an experience where you constructed a new understanding of a topic or maybe how you learned the necessary steps of how to complete a new skill. Well it shouldn’t surprise you that we learn and process verbal and visual information differently, according to the author Robert Mayer this concept is called the Dual channel assumption (Mayer, 2009, p. 3). Mayer continues to explain how memory and learning are linked by discussing that we must not overload learners with too much information too quickly. Mayer borrows this concept from Baddeley whom references limited capacity assumption as (people can process only a limited amount of material in a channel at any one time” (Baddeley, 1999), It is worth speculating that motivation is the cause for limited capacity more specifically being actively involved in learning something new can be the key to remembering it come test time. Mayer found that when the students are at the center of the learning, involved in a relevant and active way that links to what they already know they nearly always performed better on a transfer test when multimedia was involved in the lesson, “ meaningful  learning occurs when learners select relevant material, organize it into a coherent structure, and integrate it with relevant prior knowledge” (Wittrock, 1989; Mayer, 2009 p. 3).  Learners performed better on transfer tests taken after the original learning when students had a choice in the multimedia tool they used to create and more importantly this led to deeper learning.

Multimedia in the classroom-

One major challenge teachers face with multimedia is how do I use this stuff. Using multimedia may be complex or arduous, but, with such a broad topic as multimedia it can be applied at varying degrees of difficulty making learning accessible for all,  and in so many different ways that matches up with a preferred learning modality of student doing the work which inevitably will lead to a better product (What is multimedia? n.d.). To me the take away here is, when economic students are learning about the different types of business out there in America instead of just reading about it and answering questions, a more effective way of teaching the same material might be by asking kids to make their own business plans answering the same guiding questions I would have had them complete from simply reading but additionally to dig deeper and create an advertising, slogan, and consider how they might differentiate their brand from competitors in the marketplace., According to the USF: What is Multimedia? knowledge received passively from a lecture or reading is less effective than the inclusion video or images to help learners apply it to their prior knowledge (What is Multimedia?, n.d.). The website also contained a very helpful Matrix that labeled categories by challenge similar to Blooms Taxonomy but went a step further  by describing what  learning goals like those to follow look like;  active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, goal directed run through a range of learning from passive to mastery. Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Infusion, and Transformation.

Wikibooks

Multimedia instruction

The use of multimedia encourages teacher/facilitators to reach for a higher order thinking skill (Instructional Technology 2015, February 6). This can be accomplished by developing complex tasks or in my case assigning complex texts based on how to analyze or synthesize meaning from them relating their topic to something they already know. These student centered learning activities allow flexibility to both the teacher and student, and focus upon a deeper understanding of the concepts. For example if you asked students to collaborate after reading a current events article followed by the task of creating a storyboard to describe  the essence of the article in pictures. Each student will bring a different understanding to the discussion and  come away with different ways the article was relevant to them.

The sentiments by the aforementioned Richard Mayer in his article, Research Based Principles for designing Multimedia instruction and also by the website Multimedia in the classroom are echoed in wikibook’s: Instructional technology page suggesting that multimedia allow teachers to be match a variety of learning styles while offering a central location to house the tools they may use to do their learning (Instructional Technology 2015, February 6). By using the learning management system schoology my fellow teachers and I in the social studies department are able to collect and share resources for our students encouraging communication and collaboration using multimedia.

• Describe how these principles can be used to support learner-centered approaches to learning, knowledge construction, and meaningful learning.

Mayer

The Mayer article described using chunking or segmenting when assimilating multimedia in classroom instruction to not overwhelm the students with information a ton of text and video. Additionally, the use conversational language in instruction was suggest to help build relevance and it is important to mention it is believed that spoken word resonates more than words passively read (Mayer, 2009 p. 6).

Multimedia Instruction

Multimedia based lessons are highly adaptable to accommodate multiple intelligences, allow students to take the reins of being responsible for their own learning and create lesson plans that are both authentic and meaningful to learners while at the same time reach for the higher levels of Blooms taxonomy (contrasting and synthesis) (What is Multimedia?, n.d.) .

Wikibooks

By blending content and multimedia tools teachers can help build much needed digital literacy skills and simple technological awareness to best equip our learners to be job ready or college ready when the time comes to use them (Instructional Technology 2015, February 6).

• How could these principles be applied to a specific content area or context in a learning environment in which you teach or develop instruction or training?

As a social studies teacher I am always using digital articles, online sources, video clips, webquests, and a variety of digital templates to drive my student centered instrution. Multimedia is at the center of that lesson planning process to reflect what I know about student learning and memory.

Multimedia can easily mean better more succinct powerpoints used to introduce or teach new concepts while making learning relevant, and collaborative. The various themes of social studies are essential to understanding humanity, behavior, and the perpetuation of civilization but it is difficult to keep my students motivated in what they are asked to learn or the way they are asked to apply what they know. Multimedia can help educators build better lessons that match up with each child’s learning style in a way the is more motivational than the traditional sit and get lecture model. As educators it is common knowledge our kids minds are being wired differently thanks to education including the attention span so I choose to embrace that fact and structure lessons accordingly. It is a department wide practice that we all use powerpoint to project up our objective and lesson itinerary for the day to help focus kids on what we are learning, how we expect them to learn it, and some form of assessment to check for understanding. We all win when teachers fit the content into a platform or activity students can relate to and where they can have a little fun doing it.

• How has this information changed the way you view instruction and learning?

It is a breath of fresh air than in the era of high stakes testing and harsh teacher evaluation practices that what it is being done in my classroom aligns with the best practices discussed and evidenced by research.  One of directives that I took away was the need for more inquiry based learning and the use of real life (applicable examples) assignments that relate to the world the student knows. Multimedia can also help educators structure lessons that reflect real life scenarios that are relatable as we see with the practice pre-training directions to activate prior knowledge.

• What concerns or confusion do you have about the material that you read?

None.

Works Cited in APA Style

Richard Mayer (2009). Research-Based Principles for Designing Multimedia Instruction. Retrieved from http://hilt.harvard.edu/files/hilt/files/background_reading.pdf

Instructional Technology. (n. d.). In Wikibooks. Retrieved from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Instructional_Technology/Technology_Information_Literacy#Multimedia_Instruction

What is Multimedia?. (n.d.) In Mulitmedia in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/TeachingAndLearningResources/Technology/Multimedia/