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Multimedia
Value of Multimedia Programs for Learning It is important for students to demonstrate what they have learned. In the past this might have occurred with the student standing at the head of the class reading a report. The "A" students, on the front row, might have listened carefully or would certainly have given that impression, but others would daydream, sleep, or disrupt the class. The result was that no one was getting much out of it. Even the author of the report was probably reading text copied from one encyclopedia and could not wait to end the oral report ordeal. More recently students would supplement their reports with posters filled with images to support the text material being read to slightly interested peers. Today students have technology tools (not toys) to support them in building a multimedia presentation. After much careful and detailed work, students can present what they have learned while sitting at the back of the room watching their peers gape bug eyed at their creation. Programs like HyperStudio and Kid Pix offer excellent tools for kids to showcase their learning. With these programs, students can create multimedia presentations filled with valuable content and supported by visually stimulating images, sound, and even animation. One of the greatest values of these programs is their open ended nature. Students decide what to present and how it should be designed. Students select everything from background and text colors to the order and method of presentation. Students can follow a logical framework (presented below) for proceeding with the task of creating a formal presentation to share what they have learned with others.
Conducting this process holds many advantages for students. They are allowed to be as creative as they wish, within acceptable limits. It supports the development of organizational skills as they decide, with appropriate supervision, what material to include, how it should be presented, and what order it should follow. Students must learn and be encouraged to glean knowledge from many sources as they synthesize that data into a workable whole. Other students become ones most ardent critics as they assess the content and presentation. A healthy competition can add energy to the project and improve the results. Teaching others by means of a multimedia presentation is a great way for a student to construct knowledge for himself. One learns best what one must teach. |
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