In the
face of rapid technology advancement, educators in this age of digital
information and technology not only have to be proficiently knowledgeable in
the field(s) that they are teaching, but must also be skilled in the
technologies that are being used to convey the educational content.
As a
result, in the educational arena today, there is an emerging breed of
technologically proficient educators who are using the information and
communication technology to create a better teaching and learning environment.
The marriage of content and technology not only provides the teacher with a
more effective way to transfer knowledge and information to students, but also
enables them to learn in a more productive way. It is fast gaining popularity
as a powerful instructional tool for disseminating knowledge and information to
the learners.
In the traditional education realm, the role of the teacher is to
provide content and information to students. This can be done in the form of
many instructional media, such as notes, diagrams, overhead transparencies,
models and more. The information or content that is presented is based on the
teacher's curriculum and other relevant information for the class. With
technology, especially with multimedia authoring technology, the very same
content can be converted into the electronic form and presented on the PC. The
multimedia technologies used will transform the traditional materials into an
interactive multimedia courseware.
When you think of
e-learning, you probably might envision students using computers to take online
classes. But online learning can be much more than simply studying on a laptop
in a dorm room. Today's e-earning tools go beyond computers to include MP3
players, podcasts, blogs and more.
Net
generation students are well versed in technology, often
arriving on campus adept at communicating by text message, e-mail and message
board and armed with laptops, MP3 players, smartphones and PDAs. Many have
years of experience with online social networks, blogging and downloading music
and video. They're looking to apply their technology and skills to learning,
and schools are finding ways to meet those needs with online courses and
hybrids that bring new technology to traditional teaching.
These students can take online classes on their personal computers, but they
also can download podcasts of course lectures and professors' audio study notes
to their laptops or smartphones to review wherever and whenever they want to.
Also, they can check and copy information from the professor's daily or weekly
blog, including the course syllabus, assignment changes, study notes and other
important information.
E-mail or
text message friends to set up study sessions and get answers to each other's
questions about the material they're studying. They can even send instant
messages to professors with quick questions or to set up a time to talk more
extensively by phone.
The list
is in exhaustive and here are a few more
· - Log in to an online forum or visit a
private chat room to discuss the topics being studied with the professor and
other students in the class.
· - Take notes, photos or video with an iPod or
smartphone during lab experiments or in the field to use later as part of
papers, presentations or test preparation.
· - Bring work home from campus, share information for
a collaborative project or submit a project to a professor with a USB flash
drive.
· - Buy and use educational software available for PDAs
to review the subject they're studying.
· - Complete written, video or presentation assignments
and hand them in via e-mail to the professor.
·
With this transformation, multimedia is changing the way we communicate
with each other. The way we send and receive messages is more effectively done
and better comprehended. The inclusion of media elements reinforces the message
and the delivery, which leads to a better learning and teaching environment.
The power of multimedia lies in the fact that it is multi-sensory, stimulating
the many senses of the audience, which consequently leads to better attention
and retention rates.
As such, many are turning to multimedia as a means to better
communicate their message and to foster better feedback on the information
exchanged. For many years, multimedia and multimedia developers were housed in
selected industries such as advertising, entertainment and edutainment, games
and corporate computer-based training (CBT) systems. However, multimedia is now
penetrating the education field and changing the way teachers teach and
students learn. With the advent of multimedia and technology in the classrooms,
teachers can equip themselves with these technological skills and become better
communicators of their content materials, and thus enabling the students to
learn in a more productive way.
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