Media vs. Method

1. Media vs. Method Which Matters More and Why Should We Care?

2. Defining the Debate • Media • Media, in its simplest form, refers to the means or channels by which information is communicated. • In an educational sense, media can be anything from a textbook to interactive computer software. • Different types of media may be preferable due to their attributes. https://edutechdebate.org/low-cost-ict-devices/lets-focus-on-educational-media-not-ict-devices/

3. Defining the Debate • Method • Method, as discussed in this presentation, refers to teaching strategy and content. • Teaching strategies range from direct instruction to interactive discussions and beyond. Strategies can be aimed to address different learning styles. • Content is the information that is transmitted through the teaching process. No matter what media is chosen, the content to be delivered through it must be sound. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q2su1CEbjTc/Tc6wpYZjSBI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/jVHp15Wgr0I/s1600/multiple+ints.gif

4. Defining the Debate • Media vs. Method • The debate is not a question of whether one is needed and the other not. • The question is whether certain media should be afforded extra importance due to irreplaceable qualities that cannot be duplicated without the media, regardless of the methods employed. • Some of the qualities frequently quoted are interactivity and information on demand. These are easily provided through software and electronic devices. • If method is most important then the same qualities should be able to be replicated with sound teaching strategies.

5. Ask the Experts • Richard Clark (Method) • Clark believes that method is more important than media. • In his view, media is like a delivery truck. The vehicle that delivers your groceries to the store does not impact what you buy. The vehicles that deliver education should have little impact on what you learn. • Clark would argue that qualities such as interactivity and information on demand are part of teaching strategy and can be duplicated absent of certain media.

6. Ask the Experts http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q2su1CEbjTc/Tc6wpYZjSBI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/jVHp15Wgr0I/s1600/multiple+ints.gif

7. Ask the Experts • Robert Kozma (Media) • Certain media are valuable for inherent abilities that are not duplicable without that type of media regardless of teacher effort. • Kozma would argue that items such as very high levels of interactivity may not be duplicable absent of media geared toward that interactivity regardless of teacher effort. • Kozma would point to multiple studies that seem to show a correlation between certain types of media and high degrees of learning.

8. Ask the Experts http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01310f869aeb970c-320wi

9. Answering the Studies • Three Dangers • Poorly Designed Studies (Different Methods) • The experimental and control group cannot be taught with different strategies or the study is invalid. • Differences in Content • Any difference between the content and forms of content between experimental and control groups can make the study invalid. • Newness (Coolness Factor) • Certain media is so cutting edge that students just want to use it but repeated use can make this effect wear off.

10. Answering the Studies http://alexblakeblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/whiteboardimage.jpg Interactive Whiteboard: Day 1

11. Answering the Studies http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_478/1266282148XLNCEf.jpg Interactive Whiteboard: Day 168

12. Replaceability • Replaceability Test • The simplest way to settle the argument is through the this easy test. • Think of a given media and its best attributes and ask if you could replace the media and still somehow duplicate the attributes. • Interactivity and information on demand may be difficult to reproduce but I can think of multiple way even with pencil and paper work that one could reproduce both desired effects. • The issue is simply how time consuming duplicating some effects can be without the media.

13. Conclusions • Media is Subordinate to Method • Studies supporting media superiority can be discounted. • Replaceability is possible even if it requires a large amount of effort. • Sound teaching strategy and sound content are more crucial to teaching than the media used. • Media is great and makes some aspects of teaching and learning far easier but it does not change the principles of teaching and learning.

14. Conclusions • Washing machines are great but they don’t change the principle that a cleaning agent mixed with water and provided sufficient agitation will clean clothing. • Washing machines make cleaning clothes easier but clothes washing would still take place without them. • Media is much the same. It makes teaching and learning easier but the same strategies and principles would still be applied without the media. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/LGwashingmachine.jpg/220px-LGwashingmachine.jpg

15. So What? • If method is most important and certain media is just a means of carrying out that method then just throwing new forms of technology and media at students will not improve learning. • A former administrator loved technology and the new forms of media that came with it. He demanded the use of technology even when it was not necessary. • Some teachers began haphazardly writing the word interactive whiteboard, blog, or computer lab on their lesson plans to gain his approval.

16. So What? • If method is what really determines the quality of learning then the absence of some technology/media does not mean that quality learning can’t take place. • I have know some teachers that desire a certain media so much that they act as though the can’t adequately teach without it. • I love media and request as much as I can get but I can still produce quality learning experiences even without everything on my wishlist.

17. I can’t teach. I don’t have the best media. http://adriansinnott.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/CavemanMan.jpg

18. References • Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media. Review of Educational Research, 53(4), 445. • Clark, R. E. (1993). Dangers in the evaluation of instructional media. Academic Medicine, 67(12), 819-20. • Clark, R. E. (1994). Media Will Never Influence Learning. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 42(2), 21. • Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research Review of Educational Research J1 – Review of Educational Research, 61(2), 179. • Kozma, R. B. (1994). Will Media Influence Learning? Reframing the Debate.Educational Technology, Research and Development, 42(2), 7.