Teaching Media Chapter 5 - VISUAL PRINCIPLES

TEACHING MEDIA – CHAPTER 1

MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, AND LEARNING

LEARNING

Learning is the development of new knowledge, skills, or attitude as an individual interacts with information and the environment. Thus, the learning process involves the selection, arrangement, and delivery of information in an appropriate environment and the way learners interact with that information.

Psychological Perspectives on Learning

Behaviorist Perspective.

In the mind 1950s, the focus of learning research started to shift from stimulus design (communication) to learner response to stimuli.

Cognitivist Perspective.

Behaviorists refuse to speculate on what goes on internally when learning takes place. The three key concepts of mental development in Piaget’s work are schemata, assimilation, and accommodation (Piaget, 1977).

Schemata.

Schemata (singular, schema) are the mental structures by which individuals organize their perceived environment.

Assimilation.

Assimilation is the cognitive process by which a learner integrates new information and experiences into existing schemata.

Accommodation.

The process of modifying existing schemata of creating new ones is called accommodation.

Constructivist Perspective.

Constructivism is a movement that extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist. It considers the engagement of students in meaningful experiences as the essence of learning.

Social-Psychological Perspective.

Social psycology is another well-established tradition in the study of instruction and learning. Social psychologists look at the effects of the social organization of the classroom on learning.

Approaches to Instruction

Instruction is the arragement of information and environment to facilitate learning. By environment we mean not only where instruction takes place but also the methods, media, and technology needed to convey information and guide the learner’s study.

Finding a Middle Ground

Successful instructional practices have features that are supported by virtually all the various perspectives:

• Active participation.
• Practice.
• Individual differences.
• Feedback.
• Realistic contexts.
• Social interaction.

A Philosophical Perspective on Learning

If teachers perceive learners as machines, they will treat them as such, with or without the use of istructional media and technology. If teachers perceive their students as human beings with rights, privileges, and motivations of their own, with or without the aid of media and technology, they will view students as people engaged in learning. In other words, it is the way that media and technology are used, not the media and technology themselves, that tend to mechanize people. Put another way, what is important is not so much what technologies are present in the classroom but rather how the teacher guides students in their use.

MEDIA

A medium (plural, media) is a channel of communication. Derived from the Latin word meaning “between,” the term refers to anything that carries information between a source and a receiver.

The Concrete-Abstract Continuum

Intructional media that incorporate concrete experiences help students integrate prior experience and thus facilitate learning of abstract concepts.

Decisions regarding trade-offs between the concreteness of learning experiences and time constraints have to be made continually by the instructor. In 1946, Edgar Dale developed the “Cone of Experience” (Dale, 1969)

In the Cone of Experience we start with the learner as participant in the actual experience, then move to the learner as observer of the actual event, to the learner as observer of an event presented through some medium, and finally to the learner observing symbols that represent an event. Dale contended that learners could make profitable use of more abstract instructional activities to the extend that they had built up a stock of more concrete experiences to give meaning to the more abstract representation of reality.

Psychologist Jerome Bruner, working from a different perspective, devised a descriptive scheme for labeling intructional activities that parallels Dale’s. In developing his theory of instruction, Bruner proposed that instruction should proceed from enactive (direct) experience to iconic representation of experience (such as the use of pictures and videotapes) to symbolic representation (such as the use of words). He further stated that the sequence in which learners encounter materials has a direct effect on their achieving mastery of the task (Bruner, 1966). Bruner pointed out that this applies to all learners, not just children. When a learning task is presented to adults who have no relevant experiences on which to draw, learning is facilitated when an intructon follows a sequence from actual experience to iconic representation to symbolic or abstract representation. Bruner’s concept of enactive, iconic, and symbolic learning may be superimposed on Dale’s Cone of Experience.

THE ROLES OF MEDIA IN LEARNING

Instructor-Directed Instruction

The most common use of media in an instructional situation is for supplemental support of the “live” instructor in the classroom. Certainly properly designed instructional media can enchance and promote learning and support teacher-based instruction. But their effectiveness depends on the instructor. Advance organizers can be effective instruments for ensuring thatmedia play their proper role as supplemental supporters of instruction. 

Instructor-Independent Instruction

Media can be used effectively in formal education situations where a teacher is not available or is working with other students. Media are often “packaged” for this purpose: objectives are listed, guidance in achieving objectives in given, materials are assembled, and self-evaluation guidelines are provided. In informal educational settings, media such as videocassettes and computer courseware can be used by trainees at the worksite or at home. In some instances an instructor may be available for consultation via telephone.

This is not to say that instructional technology can or should replace the teacher, but rather that media can help teachers become creative managers of the learning experience instead of merely dispensers of information. Today there are many online resources available to learners and even courses offered through distance learning.

Media Portfolios  

A portfolio is a collection of students work that illustrates growth over a period of time. Portfolios often include such artifacts as student-produced illustrated books, videos, and audiovisual presentations. 

Portfolios allow students to do the following:

• Gather, organize, and share information
• Analysed relationships
• Test hypotheses
• Communicate the results effectively
• Record a variety of performances
• Reflect on their learning and activities
• Emphasize their goals, outcomes, and priorities
• Demonstrate their creativity and personality

Portfolio could contain the following artifacts:

• Written documents such as poems, stories, or research papers
• Media presentations, such as slide sets or photo essay
• Audio recordings of debates, panel discussions, or oral presentations
• Video recordings of students’ athletic, musical, or dancing skills
• Computer multimedia projects incorporating print, data, graphics, and moving images

Electronic Portfolios  

 The use of computer work-stations which video and audio digitizing cards, printers, scanners, and digital cameras allow students to produce electronic or digital portfolio. Electronic portfolios are a means of organizing, designing, and viewing traditional styles of portfolios. They are a way of assessing student learning using technology. Phisical and social development can be measure as well (Campbell, 1996). 

Electronic portfolios have advantages over traditional portfolios in the way they are created and navigated. First, creating electronic portfolio can expand the sizee of audience to include other teaches, principals, parents, and students. Navigation is another advantage—electronic portfolios are generally better organized and interconnected, allow for multiple paths, are more appealing, and are easily viewed from remote locations (main office, counselor’s office, principal’s office). Electronic portfolios commonly have a table of contents that make viewing them easier.

Thematic Instruction

Many teachers are now organizing their instruction around themes or anchors. Elementary teachers in particular are integrating content and skills from many subjects. At the secondary level, teams of teachers from different content areas are working together to show the overlap of their course content. 

A good anchor or theme must capture and hold students’ attention, provide problem-solving experiences, support interdisciplinary activities, and include a variety of media and technology.

Distance Education

Distance education is a rapidly developing approach to instruction wordwide. The approach has been widely used by business, industrial, and medical organizations.

The distinguishing characteristic of distance education is the separation of the instructional team and students during the learning process.

The media may be primarily print (books and paper and pencil tests), as in traditional correspondence courses. Or, it might involve a variety o media, including audio-cassettes, videotapes, videodiscs, and computer courseware sent to individual students. In addition, radio, broadcast television, and teleconferences are utilized for “live” distance education. In addition there are chatrooms, bulletin boards, and listservs to support distance learning Computer networks and online courses can be used for distance education.

Education for Exceptional Students

Media play an important role in the education of students with exceptionalities. Children with disabilities in particular need special instructional treatment. Children with mental retardation need highly structured learning situations because their prior knowledge and ability to incorporate messages into mental constructs is limited. They need to have much of the message placed within a context with which they are familiar. Students who are hearing impaired, blind, or visually impaired require different kinds of learning materials.

METHODS 

Methods are the procedures of instruction selected to help learners achieve the objectives or to internalize the content or message.

Ten Method Categories

The general categories of method are presentation, demonstration, discussion, drill-and-practice, tutorial, cooperative learning, gaming, simulation, discovery, and problem solving.

• Presentation

In the presentation method, a source tells, dramatized, or otherwise disseminated information to learners. It is a one-way communication controlled by the source, with no immediate response from or interaction with learners. The source may be a textbook, an audiotape, a videotape, a film, an instructor, and so forth.

• Demonstration 

In this method of instruction, learners view a real or lifelike example of the skill or procedure to be learned. Demonstrations may be recorded and played back by means of media such as video.

• Discussion

As a method, discussion involves the exchange of ideas and opinions among students or among students and teacher. It can be used at any stage of the instruction/learning process, and in small or large groups.

• Drill-and-Practice

In drill-and-practice learners are led through a series of practice exercises designed to increase fluency in a new skill or to refresh an existing one. 

Drill-and-practice is used commonly for such tasks as studying math facts, learning a foreign language, a building a vocabulary. 

• Tutorial

A tutor—in the form of a person, computer software, or special printed materials—presents the content, poses a question or problem, requests a learner’s response, analyze her response, supplies appropriate feedback, and provide practice until the learner demonstrates a predetermined level of competency.

• Cooperative Learning

A growing body of research supports the claim that students learn from each other when they work on project as a team (Slavin, 1989-1990). Students can learn cooperatively not only by discussing texts and biewing media but also by producing media. 

• Gaming

Gaming provides a playful environment in which learners follow prescribed rules as they strive to attain a challenging goal. It is a highly motivating technique, especially for tedious and repetitive content. The game may involve one learner or a group of learners.

• Simulation

Simulation involves learners confronting a scaled-down version of real-life situation. It allows realistic practice without the expense or risks otherwise involved. The simulation may involve participant dialog, manipulation of materials and equipment, or interaction with a computer.

• Discovery

The discovery method uses an inductive, or inquiry, approach to learning; it present problems to be solved through trial and error. The aim of the discovery method is to foster a deeper understanding of the content through involvement with it.

• Problem Solving

Lifelike prolems can provide the starting point for learning. In the process of grappling with the real-world challenges, students can acquire the knowledge and skills needed in the real world after graduation.

Problem solving involves placing students in the active role of being confronted with a novel problem situated in the real world.

TECHNOLOGY

The word technology has always had a variety of connotations, ranging from mere hardware to a way of solving problems. 

Over time, many technologies for learning have been developed. Some, such as interactive video, computer-based instruction, and hypermedia, rely on mechanical and electronic devices for their delivery.