Most of us
grew up in a world where instruction was generally delivered by a
lecture and a textbook. Perhaps a workbook based on behaviorist
principles was used as well. When another medium was used it was
generally strictly under the control of the instructor, such as a
filmstrip or a video. Today, with multimedia technology we can make
the classroom a far more interesting place.
With
multimedia you can liven up your instruction with student-centered
techniques that take full advantage of modern technology. Students
can use tools such as digital cameras, scanners, video cameras,
audio recorders and presentation tools such as PowerPoint to create
portfolios, presentations and websites that can tools for
collaboration and authentic assessment.
Digital Photos:
Inexpensive digital cameras have a great deal of value as a tool for
education. You can use them to document your classroom activities
and events or use as an icebreaker for class introductions and the
like. They can also be powerful tools to collect data in visual
form. When you look at how visual information is used in so many
diverse disciplines such as anthropology, journalism and engineering
you can see how you can develop a means to introduce low-cost
digital photography in your class as well. You’ll find that digital
cameras have many more applications than you’ve imagined once you
start using them.
Scanners
Scanners
allow you to take images or text and put them in digital form so you
can manipulate, store and distribute them using a computer. You can
scan in text using OCR software that will allow you to save it for
use in a word processor and images can be saved for editing in
graphics software.
A scanner
allows you to use the power of digital technology to share physical
artifacts such as images and text that currently are only available
in a fixed form such as a book or print. You’ll find this is
particularly useful in sharing materials with students that might
normally not be available to them. Students can use scanners
themselves to include various sources in their presentations as
well.
Digital Audio
Audio is one
of the things that people tend not to think about when they first
use multimedia, but you should consider it as one of the best tools
available to you. With simple audio recording equipment you can
record a narration for a presentation that you can make available
on-line. You can also introduce methodologies such as the oral
history to your classes or creative uses such as student
performances of poetry and the like. It can also be a useful tool
for taking notes in the field and recording debates and interactions
that take place in the lab or classroom. Audio can also be a great
tool to introduce multiple perspectives and counter-narratives to a
given course of investigation.
Digital Video
Digital
video is a technology that allows you to shoot, edit and distribute
audiovisual materials. While the digital camcorder is perhaps
familiar to you it is not the end point of digital video, just the
start. Editing digital video, a task more often than not done on a
computer, allows you to take the raw materials that you’ve shot and
gathered by other means and give them meaning through montage and
add graphics, sounds and effects. Editing isn’t just taking out the
materials you don’t want; it is also about combining and contrasting
audiovisual materials to enhance their effectiveness and meaning.
One of the
more exciting aspects of digital video is the flexibility in
distribution. While shooting with a digital camcorder is very
similar to shooting with an analog one digital video as a means for
distribution allows for far more flexibility and broader use than
earlier analog methods. Digital video can be put on a server to be
distributed via the Internet, burned onto a CD or DVD, used as an
element in PowerPoint and can even now be delivered to a cell phone.
It can even be delivered live for remote monitoring, such as is the
case with a web cam or a teleconference. Digital video can be an
excellent tool for nearly every discipline.
Presentation Tools
Most of us
are familiar with presentation tools such as PowerPoint, but we
often aren’t aware of the full capabilities of this particular tool
as well as related tools that can also be quite effective.
PowerPoint
can be extended to include image files, graphics, video and audio
clips. It can also be made into a stand-alone application that can
be distributed for people to use outside of a class or lecture. With
Impatica you can put your PowerPoint presentations on the Internet
and make them small enough to be shared easily with your students
even if they are using a dial-up connection.
Presentation
tools are particularly effective if you allow students to use them
to build project presentations, portfolios and the like. One of the
particularly powerful features of presentation tools is that they
can serve as the “envelope” for other digital media.
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