Join our class discussion as we investigate innovate ways to incorporate mew media technologies in K-12 education
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What is multimedia?
What does multimedia mean? Why is it significant in education? Why does it benefit our profession? Please avoid the obvious when responding to this question..
We know the obvious reasons why using multimedia tools in your classroom is beneficial to your students. But think outside the box here and tell us why you think multimedia authorship is a critical skill for both students and teachers. Support your post with as much evidence as necessary.
Recently I attended a conference where David Warlick provided the opening remarks. One of the more salient remarks he made reminded the audience that we are preparing students for their future not our past. Previous pedagogy that relied on the teacher to impart his or her wisdom on the class, is no longer an appropriate method of delivering instruction. Since students have immediate access to information, it is the teachers responsibility to challenge the student to think critically and innovatively with respect to information. As a result, multimedia becomes a necessity for the delivery of instruction. Given the ever changing reality of technology, the students willingness to adapt to this technology and think critically about how to share this knowledge in innovative ways becomes critical. Students who demonstrate this ability are far more likely to succeed in the workplace given that we are preparing many of them for jobs that do not even exist yet. However, the use of mulimedia allows the student to develop these skills that call on them to constantly adapt, and think critically. Those students who demonstrate this flexibility and congnitive prowess are far more likely to succeed in a global workplace where success will increasingly rely on one's ability to be innovative.
"When technology shifts, it bends the culture." Recently I caught myself displaying a digital literacy I had developed unknowingly. I was surveying a new website I wanted to use and instead of reading the About section for a description of the site's purpose and features I was looking for a video with screen captures walking me through the site. Just last year I would have been content with a written description, but with the proliferation of online video and screen casting I wanted a more visual tutorial. Our "screen literacy" is evolving, it is being written about in the New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/dl6xwg) as well as other publications. "We are now in the middle of a second Gutenberg shift — from book fluency to screen fluency, from literacy to visuality." I envision a future of digital portfolios for students. Students will have to prove their learning trough dynamic web pages. Student web pages will be constantly updated through their school careers. Students will need a literacy where they can combine and mix different media to demonstrate learning, narrative and creativity. It opens the possibility of putting more accountability on the student for their learning.
The underlying themes in these posts reflect an emphasis on future success and accountability. If this technology is native to our kids then where did the adaptation occur? How does a student become accountable for their learning using multimedia? How do we assess their performance?
As educators, we tend to avoid confrontation. We are afraid to offend others. We need to be honest and open to criticism of our beliefs. That is how we get to the root of our statements and that is what opens up the dialogue. For example, nobody would argue with the statement "every kid can learn". But can every kid learn physics? What criteria do you use to evaluate his learning? What performance indicators do you use? Will equity be an issue? This can go on and on.
In the next 2 weeks, pick up a copy of Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future and read Part 1 - The Conceptual Age. I want to start to set the frame in which we discuss why these multimedia tools are valuable to our students and ourselves.
Multimedia is a form of visual and audio information being presented; especially associated with technology and a mixture of other materials. When teachers use multimedia in their classrooms they usually tend to do so because they are looking for a non-standard way to teach. Other reasons why teachers find it helpful to use multimedia in their classrooms are to: ➢ Engage students of the 21st century, who use technology several times a day. ➢ Create interactive lessons that will lead to involvement and enjoyment of topics. ➢ Better prepare students for future job and career opportunities -- Currently statisticians say that there will be a 32% increase of jobs that specialize in computers by 2016 and that 2/3 of jobs will require some minimal computer skills. ➢ Make teaching and learning more interesting. ➢ Allow 24/7 access to certain media. With today’s fast pace environment using multimedia in the classroom will definitely benefit students in their future, but we also have to think about how multimedia affects them presently; after all students are just children who need a fun and energizing way in which they can learn.
"Technological literacy must become the standard in our country. Preparing children for a lifetime of computer use is just as essential today as teaching them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic." - Bill Clinton. We are aware that this technological shift has become important in educating the future generation. As teachers, we might start to become more facilitators of learning and mentors as we lead students along a learning path using the multimedia and technology they already know and use on a daily basis. The students are starting to become their own providers of information and understanding. As teachers who integrate various modalities of technology and multimedia, we are continuing to motivate students and adapt to their preferred learning styles. Perhaps the best use of multimedia in the classroom is when students are using their knowledge to create their own multimedia publications, such as movies, interactive magazines and newsletters, websites, digital portfolios, and the list goes on. This shift of students becoming more digitally literate will benefit them in the future of a technologically developed world.
With respect to the question on how we assess students' performance with using multimedia, I have found this to be a question that our district (and I would assume many districts) are struggling with. The reality is that there is an enormous continuum of technological skills and comfort with colleagues.
There are teachers who are always early adopters and seamlessly utilize technology into their daily instruction, and those who are still struggling to open up a Word document. Given this reality, it can become challenging to define benchmarks or expectations of technological skills at each grade level.
One of the many things I like about the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is that they not only provide benchmarks for students, but also for teachers. I think that before we can begin to discuss how we assess student performance we need to clearly define expectations for teachers. I am amazed that in my own district, which is a high performing district in Westchester with a highly educated staff, I have an incredible number of colleagues that lack basic computer skills. How can we assess our students, if we haven't clearly defined to out staff what is expected?
I agree, there are many teachers, usually the older teachers, who fail to have technology skills and even worse refuse to learn them. If we want to adopt a 21st century way of teaching, then is there any way districts can require that a teacher instill this in students or should they wait until these teachers retire and slowly phase out? But even then there are still young teachers who do not use multimedia simply because it is just "easier" to prepare without it, in their case.
We know the obvious reasons why using multimedia tools in your classroom is beneficial to your students. But think outside the box here and tell us why you think multimedia authorship is a critical skill for both students and teachers. Support your post with as much evidence as necessary.
ReplyDeleteRecently I attended a conference where David Warlick provided the opening remarks. One of the more salient remarks he made reminded the audience that we are preparing students for their future not our past. Previous pedagogy that relied on the teacher to impart his or her wisdom on the class, is no longer an appropriate method of delivering instruction. Since students have immediate access to information, it is the teachers responsibility to challenge the student to think critically and innovatively with respect to information. As a result, multimedia becomes a necessity for the delivery of instruction. Given the ever changing reality of technology, the students willingness to adapt to this technology and think critically about how to share this knowledge in innovative ways becomes critical. Students who demonstrate this ability are far more likely to succeed in the workplace given that we are preparing many of them for jobs that do not even exist yet. However, the use of mulimedia allows the student to develop these skills that call on them to constantly adapt, and think critically. Those students who demonstrate this flexibility and congnitive prowess are far more likely to succeed in a global workplace where success will increasingly rely on one's ability to be innovative.
ReplyDelete"When technology shifts, it bends the culture." Recently I caught myself displaying a digital literacy I had developed unknowingly. I was surveying a new website I wanted to use and instead of reading the About section for a description of the site's purpose and features I was looking for a video with screen captures walking me through the site. Just last year I would have been content with a written description, but with the proliferation of online video and screen casting I wanted a more visual tutorial. Our "screen literacy" is evolving, it is being written about in the New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/dl6xwg) as well as other publications. "We are now in the middle of a second Gutenberg shift — from book fluency to screen fluency, from literacy to visuality." I envision a future of digital portfolios for students. Students will have to prove their learning trough dynamic web pages. Student web pages will be constantly updated through their school careers. Students will need a literacy where they can combine and mix different media to demonstrate learning, narrative and creativity. It opens the possibility of putting more accountability on the student for their learning.
ReplyDeleteThe underlying themes in these posts reflect an emphasis on future success and accountability. If this technology is native to our kids then where did the adaptation occur? How does a student become accountable for their learning using multimedia? How do we assess their performance?
ReplyDeleteAs educators, we tend to avoid confrontation. We are afraid to offend others. We need to be honest and open to criticism of our beliefs. That is how we get to the root of our statements and that is what opens up the dialogue. For example, nobody would argue with the statement "every kid can learn". But can every kid learn physics? What criteria do you use to evaluate his learning? What performance indicators do you use? Will equity be an issue? This can go on and on.
In the next 2 weeks, pick up a copy of Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future and read Part 1 - The Conceptual Age. I want to start to set the frame in which we discuss why these multimedia tools are valuable to our students and ourselves.
Multimedia is a form of visual and audio information being presented; especially associated with technology and a mixture of other materials. When teachers use multimedia in their classrooms they usually tend to do so because they are looking for a non-standard way to teach. Other reasons why teachers find it helpful to use multimedia in their classrooms are to:
ReplyDelete➢ Engage students of the 21st century, who use technology several times a day.
➢ Create interactive lessons that will lead to involvement and enjoyment of topics.
➢ Better prepare students for future job and career opportunities
-- Currently statisticians say that there will be a 32% increase of jobs that specialize in computers by 2016 and that 2/3 of jobs will require some minimal computer skills.
➢ Make teaching and learning more interesting.
➢ Allow 24/7 access to certain media.
With today’s fast pace environment using multimedia in the classroom will definitely benefit students in their future, but we also have to think about how multimedia affects them presently; after all students are just children who need a fun and energizing way in which they can learn.
"Technological literacy must become the standard in our country. Preparing children for a lifetime of computer use is just as essential today as teaching them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic." - Bill Clinton. We are aware that this technological shift has become important in educating the future generation. As teachers, we might start to become more facilitators of learning and mentors as we lead students along a learning path using the multimedia and technology they already know and use on a daily basis. The students are starting to become their own providers of information and understanding. As teachers who integrate various modalities of technology and multimedia, we are continuing to motivate students and adapt to their preferred learning styles. Perhaps the best use of multimedia in the classroom is when students are using their knowledge to create their own multimedia publications, such as movies, interactive magazines and newsletters, websites, digital portfolios, and the list goes on. This shift of students becoming more digitally literate will benefit them in the future of a technologically developed world.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to the question on how we assess students' performance with using multimedia, I have found this to be a question that our district (and I would assume many districts) are struggling with. The reality is that there is an enormous continuum of technological skills and comfort with colleagues.
ReplyDeleteThere are teachers who are always early adopters and seamlessly utilize technology into their daily instruction, and those who are still struggling to open up a Word document. Given this reality, it can become challenging to define benchmarks or expectations of technological skills at each grade level.
One of the many things I like about the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is that they not only provide benchmarks for students, but also for teachers. I think that before we can begin to discuss how we assess student performance we need to clearly define expectations for teachers. I am amazed that in my own district, which is a high performing district in Westchester with a highly educated staff, I have an incredible number of colleagues that lack basic computer skills. How can we assess our students, if we haven't clearly defined to out staff what is expected?
I agree, there are many teachers, usually the older teachers, who fail to have technology skills and even worse refuse to learn them. If we want to adopt a 21st century way of teaching, then is there any way districts can require that a teacher instill this in students or should they wait until these teachers retire and slowly phase out? But even then there are still young teachers who do not use multimedia simply because it is just "easier" to prepare without it, in their case.
ReplyDelete