Multimedia

1. Multimedia Created by Cynthia Spenner EETT Construction Zone Training

2. Multimedia…What is it? Multimedia includes a combination of • Text • Audio • Still images • Animation, • Video • Interactivity

3. Student Created Multimedia Students who produce artifacts of learning including sound, motion, color, image, video and/or animation to demonstrate understanding of content are engaging in student created multimedia.

4. Is the use of multimedia really an effective teaching strategy?

5. Student use of Web 2.0 skills such as wikis, blogs, digital video, social networking, and e-mail, use their acquired knowledge to create learning artifacts and then solicit feedback from others by presenting or that artifact to a wider audience.

6. In one study conducted by Liu Min, a population of fourth graders increased their cognitive skills through the use of multimedia. At the fourth grade level, these students were found to be significantly better at understanding: • planning • steps to a process • collaboration (Min, 2003).

7. They also were shown to be more creative! (Min, 2003).

8. Researchers Fan and Orey asked 47, 7th grade students to create multimedia as part of a writing project. The experimental group achieved at a higher rate. (Fan & Orey, 2001)

9. When students are given the opportunity to create multimedia, there is an increase in: • motivation • peer interaction • peer coaching. (Swartz, Balkin & Philllips, 2003)

10. The use of student created multimedia was shown to be an excellent way to turn students into producers of information, rather than just consumers of information. (Swartz, Balkin & Philllips, 2003)

11. Class management was found to be less of a problem as well. (Swartz, Balkin & Philllips, 2003)

12. Freedman and Heafner, 2008, created a student created multimedia study using ninth grade World History students. The students did not benefit from this use of student created multimedia because the task was too large and they did only what was required to finish it instead of using the experience to research the topic in depth. In this case, the researchers concluded that cognitive overload was evident. The students just could not process that much information and thereby, did not achieve as expected (Freedman &Heafner, 2008).

13. The use of student created multimedia has been shown to be an effective learning strategy throughout the research. However, the research is unclear as to the real reason behind the success of this strategy.

14. Why? Many of the research studies there were discussions of the importance of motivation and engagement. • This appeared to be the variable that most researchers had difficulty controlling.

15. Possible Reasons for Higher Achievement Researchers noted • Increased motivation due to the novelty of the computer • Ability to self pace • Increased amount of time engaged in the activity

16. The use of multimedia as a tool for increasing student achievement has been studied and the results have shown that in its many forms it is an effective tool. But there is more research that needs to be done.

17. References Fan, H., & Orey, M. (2001). Multimedia in the Classroom: Its Effect on Student Writing Ability. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 33(5), Retrieved from ERIC database. Friedman, A., & Heafner, T. (2008). Finding and Contextualizing Resources: A Digital Literacy Tool's Impact in Ninth-Grade World History. Clearing House, 82(2), 82-86. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Min, L. (2003). Enhancing Learners' Cognitive Skills Through Multimedia Design. Interactive Learning Environments, 11(1), 23. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database. Swartz, J., Balkin, R., & Phillips, M. (2003). A CASE STUDY OF PROJECT-BASED COMPUTER INSTRUCTION IN ONE MIDDLE SCHOOL. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 32(1), 47-70. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.