Introduction to Multimedia Projects

1. Introduction to Multimedia Projects A PowerPoint Presentation Managing the Digital Classroom

2. original images clipart Multimedia Projects Basic Text Graphical Text and Animation Multimediais the integration of media objects such as text, graphics, video, animation, and sound to represent and convey information. Click on each image below to see examples. Note you must be in “presentation mode.” video sound

3. Multimedia Projects • There are a number of creative ways in which multimedia can be used in the classroom. Examples of multimedia products include: • Creating a Web page or site (covered in week 5) • Creating a presentation using a software application • Producing a computer generated movie or short video • The majority of uses in the K-12 educational setting focus on presentations. Typical presentation software used include Kid Pix (Broderbund software) for elementary years, Hyperstudio for elementary and middle school, and PowerPoint, which can be used from elementary through high school. Each has it’s own interface and functionality and some are more advanced than others. For instance, since KidPix is for early elementary school students, it’s functionality is only limited to linear slide shows. Hyperstudio has a kid-friendly interface and good drawing tools, but looks “less professional” than PowerPoint and doesn’t have as many capabilities.

4. Multimedia Projects Sample Kid Pix slides from a Comparatives/ Superlatives lesson and a unit on animals and their habitats.

5. Multimedia Projects Sample slides from Hyperstudio stacks on Entertainment and Canada

6. Multimedia ProjectsSample Slides from PowerPoint projects Child Labor Unit Latino Unsung Champions Digital Poetry Lesson on the Stock Market

7. Multimedia Projects • Too often many multimedia projects produced by students lack some basic elements. Or students get caught up in the “bells and whistles” of the application and lose sight of the content. • There are some key elements of Multimedia projects to keep in mind: • Design • Mechanics • Presentation • Content • References • In addition, students should learn a little bit about media literacy before attempting to create a multimedia project. Some important questions to consider: • What is the purpose of this presentation (to inform, disseminate, to illustrate, etc.?) • Who is my audience? What do I know about them and how will the presentation be interpreted? • How do my multimedia elements (graphics, transitions, animation, sound, design), enhance the content or text, not distract from my presentation?

8. Multimedia Projects • Some additional elements to consider…. • Too often, we see multimedia presentations use the same “canned” clip art images or sound clips over and over and over again. Many of these sounds and images have nothing to do with the content of presentation, and can be distracting and annoying. • Use of Images: Encourage students to use their creativity in designing their presentations, using original images such as digital or scanned drawings, images from the Internet, digital photographs, or images from the web. Be creative with the images, such as using them as background on a slide with text floating over the image (see Week 1 presentation for example). • Use of Sound: Did you know that in most presentation software, original sound can be recorded, such as a student’s voice, or music or other sound can be used? Consider how these kinds of sounds may enhance a presentation rather than using the same typical sound files that come with the program such as a “chime” or “clapping” or “clicking” noise.

9. Multimedia Projects • Some additional elements to consider…. • Linearity v. Non Linearity • A linear presentation is one in which the user goes from slide to slide in a non linear way, much like the way in which most of the slides in this course have been used (with some exceptions). But designing a presentation in a non-linear way can have tremendous advantages: • Non-lineaer presentations: • Allow the user or presenter to “customize” the way in which the presentation will be viewed (through internal links). • Allow links to other presentations or applications (such as Word, Excel, the web) to illustrate additional concepts or highlight related ideas. (external links). These links are just like hyperlinks on the web, and can be in the form of buttons, text or graphics. • Designing a non-linear presentation can be much more complex than simply creating a linear presentation. Much like designing a web page, it is important to storyboard your presentation and consider how slides will link to other slides or external links.

10. Multimedia Projects: Storyboarding Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Microsoft Word Research Paper Slide #2 Slide #3 First slide Slide #8 Slide #4 Slide #7 Slide #6 Slide #5 World Wide Web

11. Multimedia Projects • Some final considerations: • Some teachers ask “what’s the point” of nonlinear presentations? One significant benefit is for those students who do not have access to the web. They can create projects that mimic a web site, such as a digital portfolio. The other obvious benefit is the control the author has in presenting the information during an oral presentation, or the control of the user when viewing the presentation. If a presentation is set up with a main page or table of contents (much like a home page on the web), the author can customize the presentation based on what the audience wants to learn about or explore, making the presentation much more dynamic and engaging. • We could spend an entire course discussing how to create effective multimedia presentations in the classroom. Highlighted here were just some key concepts to keep in mind. If you are interested in learning more about how to create multimedia projects, conduct your own research and explore some of the resources provided in the Week 6 resources section. This section also includes resources on assessment strategies for multimedia projects, since there are unique elements to consider when grading these kinds of assignments.