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> Teaching & Learning Resources > Technology
Classroom Technology
Using Instructional Media at Montana State University
Bill Freese
Department of Education
Montana State University
What is
instructional media?
Any method
of communicating information from instructor to student is an instructional
medium. Currently popular examples include whiteboards, overhead
transparencies, slides, video, projected computer images and standing at the
front of a room talking in a loud voice. Instructional media is also known as
audiovisual media or AV.
Do I have
to use a variety of instructional media?
No. People
have changed the world using nothing more than their own loud voices and a few
hand gestures.
Should I
use a variety of instructional media?
Probably.
Research has consistently shown that a diverse group of students will retain
more of the information presented if it is presented through diverse media.
Multiple channels of delivery improve the chance of successful communication.
Some concepts are easier to convey graphically than verbally. Some students
learn better through non-verbal means. Some promotion and tenure committees are
attracted by bright, shiny objects and jazzy sound effects.
What is the
key to successful use of instructional media?
Have fun.
If you have fun using instructional media, you will continue to use it. If you
don't have fun, you will stop using it. The more experience you have using
instructional media, the easier it will be to apply it as a teaching tool.
How can I
have fun with instructional media?
Plan ahead.
The first time you use any unfamiliar technology it can be frustrating. If the
frustrating moment comes while a classroom full of students is waiting
impatiently for the show to begin, it becomes a nightmare. Try the technology
out in advance. Get comfortable with it, both with the software and the
hardware you will actually be using during your presentation. Then, when you
know you can make it work, try it out in front of the class. Oh, and have a
fallback plan, just in case things don't work. You should know how you will get
to work if your car doesn't start in the morning. And you should know what you
will do with the class if the projector doesn't come on.
Where can I
learn about instructional media?
-Ask
someone in your department who already uses media to help you. Perhaps the
people in your department are not instructional media specialists. But they are
specialists in teaching in your subject area. They may have experience with
what works in your field. They may know which media work well in the classrooms
you will be using. They may know which file cabinet drawer the extension cord
is stored in, or which corner of the department's projector you have to tap
gently three times to get that annoying hum to go away. And their offices are
not far from yours. If you get one of those colleagues who despises all damned
gadgets, go ask someone else. Perhaps the Luddite will see you doing something
effective with instructional media next year and you will be the one giving
advice.
-Ask the
instructional media equipment manager in your building or department. Not all
buildings or departments have such a person, but many do.
- Ask
someone at one of the instructional media related services on campus. The
Information Technology Center, www.montana.edu/wwwitc/, is in charge of smart
podiums with computers, video players and projectors in many of the larger
classrooms. The Burns Telecommunication Center, btc.montana.edu/, provides
media training, including WebCT to put your course online. The Media Service,
www.homepage.montana.edu/~iedbf/MediaSrv/, provides equipment, assistance, and
answers to AV questions.
- Thumb
through a book on the subject. Try "Instructional Media and Technologies
for Learning" by Robert Heinich, Michael Molenda, James D. Russell and
Sharon E. Smaldino. Or "Planning, Producing, and Using Instructional
Media" by Jerrold E. Kemp and Don C. Smellie. Things change fast in the AV
business, so get the latest edition, which for both of these works is the
seventh. Copies are available in the Teachers' Resource Center and in the
Instructional Media Lab, both in Reid Hall.
- Browse the web. This is the only place you will find
information which is really up to date. A nice starting point is the
"Related Links:" button on this page.
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