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ALEAR.'iI :'lG RESOURCESTEACHE R'SGUIDE TO THEPRO DUCTIO !"i'OF L'\'TER.'1ET;\IVLTl\IEDIACURRJCULU"-I(j(\'ITS
By
Dou glasJohnFurey.B.A.•B.Sc.(H ), B.Ed.
This internshipreportsu b mi ttedto theScho olof Grad uateSt udies
illpart ialfulfilmen tcrrhe req uirem en tsfor the degree of
)Iaster ofEducancu
Facultyof Edu ca lion
;\Iemorial Unive n ityof Newf ou nd bnd July1997
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ABSTRACT
The purposeofthisreportistopresent theresultsofan internshipstudyand assoc iateddevelopmentprojec t.Theobjectiveofmyinternshipwas personalprofessional development throug h observ at ionand assumptionof the dual roles of seco ndary school learning resourcesteacherandcurriculum software designerBased upon myexperiences in thes eroles.aguide for teacherdesignofInternet multimed ia curriculum lessonswas produced Peer critiqueofthis guideduringmyinternship fac ilitateditsdevelopment
Chapter One explainsthe rat ionale for the choiceof internshipsetting.outlinesthe internship experiences, describestheevaluation and supervisionprocedures andprovides bad , groundinformationforthe resea rchcomponent. Chapter Two is a review of the literatureon Internethomepage and multimediadesignwithrespecttoimpo rtant aspects of educationalpedagogy.andin particular therelationships betweencomputer-basedmultimedia and the theory of multipleintelligences Chapter Three descri besthe InternetMultimedia Curriculum DesignGuide(seeenclosedcompact disc) - thepro ductofliterature reviews, teacher interviews ,peer collaborationand classroom observations. It isthis guidethatsets fonhthe designprinciples forteaching via Internetand multimediaincorporation in classroom environmentsThischapterincludes twoexamplesdesignedbasedonthephilosophy set forth in theL\1 CD guide - a plate tectonicslesson relatingto faulting and folding,and anEarthDay lessonIsea....engerhunt.Teacher reactionto the IMCD guide and student reactionto thetwo example lessons isprovided. ChapterFourdiscussestheinterns hipexperience andthe role ofthelearningresourcescomputerspecialist inaninfo rmatio ntechnology environ ment
ACKNOWLEDGEM EN T S
The completionofthisrepo rt wouldnothave been possible withoutthesupport and sacrificeof myfamilywho encouragedme to finishthe project bydenyingmeinteresting opportunitieselsewhere Thankyou Doug(Sr.),MargandKim
Iamgrateful10 Mr.AllisterDyke then the actingvice-principalat Bishop's College and Dr. EdBrownoftheMemorial UniversityDepartment ofComputerScience.Itwastheir vision which createdthe;\.!UN!Bishops CollegeMultimediaTeaching Strategies Projectand generositywhichallowedme to adopt a specificrolewithinthatgreater purpose
I amespeciallygratefulto my teachers-Rob CassoFred Boulos. JasonAueand Brian Kerr -andthedays and nights wespent in "themultimediapit." Each of these stude nts contributedgreatlyto myunderst andingof computer-basedmultimediatechnolog ythrough theirconversationand expertise
r
wouldliketo acknowledge thoseinterestingconversa tionsand wonderfu l opportunitiesprovidedby Ms.AllisonMews.Heracceptance of meinto the Curriculum MaterialsCent reprovidedme withopportunitiesto have countless conversations withmy felloweducation studentsconcerningthe roleofcomputer- basedmultimediainprimary schooleducationIwould liketo acknowledgethe support of Ms.DaphneButler who welcomedme intothe BishopsCollegelearning resourcescentreandprovided me with opportu nitiesto workwith students and teachers.Inasimilar manner.Iwouldliketo acknowledgeMarij ke Straghnofthe AtlantaInternationalSchoolwhoprovided similar opportunities in a different
iii
TA BL EOFCONT E~TS
ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...
CHA PTER1:OVE RV1E WOF THE INTERNSH IP Introduct ion...
Definingthe InternshipRole ResearcherHistoryand PossibleBiases Rationaleforthe ChoiceofInternshipSetting On-SiteSupervision
TheResearchIProdu ction Component... Limitationsof the Internshipand Report Methodof Self-Eva luation...
Criteria forInterns hip Evaluation
Page
iii
10
"
CHA PTER2:A LITERAT UREREVIEWOFCHANGING ROL ES ANDMEDIA
The LearningResourcesIlnformanonTeacher. Teac hing and"Life- Long" Learning...
ConstructingInformationLiteracySkills...
MultipleInt elligences...
TraditionalMediaandComputer-Based Multimedia..
Multimedia HardwareandSoft ware
17 19 20
"
TABLE OFCO NT E NTS(Cent"d.]
Disad vantages ofComputer- Based Multimedia .
Advanta gesofComputer-B asedMultimedi a Computer-BasedMultimediaand Multiple lnrellige nces TheInte rnetas aRoad toInq uiry..
MultimediaTeaching Strategies..
23
25
'6
CHAPT ERJ:THE lNTERNETsnn,TlMEDfACt; RRICUlU:\IDESIG:\ Gl;IDE
Introduc tio n. 29
TheInte rnet MuhimediaCurriculumDesign (I\1CD)Guide 30
TheIMCD GuideMenus - DirectedHFree Browsing 3:!
Design Principlesand CurriculumConcems.. 33
Design Tipsand Tricks 38
Reactionsto theIMCD Guide 39
AppliedDesign Using Eart hScienceLesscns.. 42
A Plate Tecto nicsLesso n - Faultingand Folding.. 43
AnEarthDay LessonIScavenger Hunt 46
Reaction s to theEart hScie nceExamples . ..47
CHAPTER 4:INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES AND [SSI GHTS Introd uction...
Exper iences andInsights..
50 51
TABLE OF CONTENTS(C o nt'd.)
TheLea rning ResourcesComputer Specialist 52
The Information Technology Curriculum... 54
Conclusion 55
REFERENCES... 56
APPENDIX A.THEINTER.'!ET.\f liLTfl\tlEOIACVRRICVL L'.\1 GUIDE 63
Inte rnetSection.. 67
MultimediaSection. 79
CurriculumSecncn. 118
APPENDIXB:PLATETECTO NIC S CLJRRICli l.U.\ !U;-":IT 126
Faulting&FoldingLesson 136
AP PEi\'O IXC:EARTH DAYSCAVE:-':GER HUNT.. 155
APPENDIX0:MUL TIMEDfATEACHING $TRATEGIESWORKSHOP 172 APPENDIXE INTERNSHIP E·MAILCOMMUNICATIO NS lS I
AP PEND IXF COMP ACT DISC VERSION IS7
...ii
CH.-\PTER ONE
OVERVIEWOF THE INTERNSHIP Introd uct ion
This openingchapterdefinetermsrelatedtomy internship thereby charac terizing the role[sought.As a researc her assuming a participantIobserver role my personalbiasesand educational philosophyarepresented.My preferenceinresearch methodo logyand self-imposed limitatio ns helpedto define the scopeand magnitudeof thework.and defined the type ofinternshipsetting required A descriptionofthe internship sitesand personnel definesmy possibilitiesfor personalprofessional development Thischapteralso includes a description ofmy self-evaluatio nprocedure and suggestions onhow 1 believeothe rscould critique myexperience
DefiningtheInter nsh ip Role
My professionaldevelopmentwas based upon assuming specific roles duringa five month period. The roleoflearningresourcesspecialist isknown by manynamesacross CanadaandtheUnited States,andinthe literature - schoollibrarian, teacher-librar ian, library media specialist and infonn ationtechnology specialist The term"learningresources specialist"in ourprovince means thatpersonwho managesschool-basedtext andmedia collections, and who more recentlymanagescommunicationsto externalinformation collectionssuch asthe Internet.Theterms"Internet"and"worldWideweb"areconsidered to besynonymous
Forthe purposeof thisreport, theterm"technology" means the useof computers, CD~ROt\4,laser disc, digitalvideo,satellitecommunications,telecomrrv.nicarionsand other electronicmedia,aswell as accessto theInternet."Information technology" has a different meaning - the use of traditional and electronicmeans to collect,analyse and present informatio n
"Multimedia"encompasses those "traditionalmedia" orresources which have existed inlearning resource centres since the [970s•texts, periodicals, videotapes. casset tes.reafia, etc.• and"computer-based multimedia"suchas hypertex t.digita lphotograp hs, animatio ns, JAVA applets.etc."Hypermedia" and "computer- basedmultimedia"havethe samemeaning The product of my internshipis a teacher's reference or guide called TheInternet Multimedia CurriculumDesign Guide. or the [~IC Dguide This guidediscusses theuse of computer-based multimedia,andit is hopedthatteachers usingthe guide will understand my interns hip by workingthrough myprocess of designingInternet multimedialessons
A"curriculum softwaredesigner" is someone who incorporates theuse of technology intoexistingcurriculafor computer-assistedinstruct ion(CAl) Myrole was to specifically considertheuse of computer-basedmultimediaand the Internet in curric ulalesson design
Hen ce, theinternship wasan opportu nity toadopt the roleof a learningresources specialistknowledgeable in curriculumdesignusing compute r-basedandInte rnetmultimedia Throughout the internshipI gainedexperiencein using theInternet asaforumfor instruction, selectionof resourcesfor computer-b asedmultimedialesse n plans.use oftechno logytools suchasimage scanners.CD-RO ~lvideo cameras, etc
Resea rch erHistory andPossibl eBiases
Itis important for a teacher to have a concept of"self","profession","learning"and
"leaching".Accordingtomypersonalexperience,these definitionshavechangedconstantly whenexposedtolearningenvironments filledwithfellowstud entsandteachers of ditTering beliefs and philosophies.I believe thatlearningis based upon subjectinterestand individual motivation Teachingrequires someonewho not onlyunderstandssubjectcontent butis able to communicateImotivate interest
As classroomteacher. Ihave advocated the needfo r studentsto integratenewcontent intoexisting kno wledge webs and theacquisition of skillsrequiredtoconductresearch in computer-basedmultimed iaenvironments.such asthe Internetorasseenin CD-ROM technology Their success now depends uponblendingnewer technologyskillsandexisting mforrnarion skills already taug ht acrossschoolcurricula This "integration philosophy"
directedmyrationale torthe choiceofinternshipsettingand experiencesIwanted toacquire Learningresourcesdesign based uponstudentinteraction withInternet hornepages waschosen becauseIhave someexperiencewith thismedia (am enthusiasticaboutthe possibilitiesandbiasedtowards its use;an insiderwithan understandingof thecontextand self-interestin actingon theresults;a person who fitsCalhoun'sdefinitionofrcollaboranve actionresearch" (1994.p9).Theresearcherisalso a prop onen tofPersonalized Systemof Instruction (PSI)and ComputerAssisted Instructio n.(C Al )lessons.whichare designed tobe reacberlessand relyon studentself-educatio n.Theseorientationsand valuesmayinfluence myresearch;however,likeCar r&Kennsis (1986,p.159 j,Ibelievethat"the source of
programsforeducation and actiondesignedforenlightenmentmustsurelybe in the participants[teachers]themselves,notcritical investigat ors "
Ihavebeena participant in listservs (LM_NET.BIGSlX)and newsgroupsdiscussing thevalue of the Internet asa teac hing toot.This is where the battlesare beingfought over what isimportanttostudentsand whoshouldhave a say.Thereare no autho ritiesorexperts innewsgroups and theyarenot sociallystructured Anyone isableto offer anopinion Howeve r,itshould benotedthatnewsgroupparticipants areonlya percentage of the teachingpopulation; and.the percentageof the populationthat isInternetliterat eandactive
Rationa lefor theCho iceofInter nship Setting
Thisinternship wasanopportunity10 obtainpracticalexperiences through observing a learnin gresources teacher,a software design specialist.theirenvironmentsand exercise some professional responsibilitiesassociatedwith theroles.Bishops College wasanideal sett ingbecause theschool'sdevelopmentplan wasdesigned10 emphasizetheuse of information technologyacross thehigh schoolcurriculumand instudentresearc h activities
Bishops Collegehas as itsmajor focustheconceptof information,assisting students intheacquisitionof skills,knowledgeandbehavioursrelated to assessing.managing.processingandcommunicat inginformation.Withinthis COntexttechnology[has]...becomea tool tohelpstudentsmanage the large amounts of informati onavailable.(Dibbon, 1995.p.l1 )
Thisplan. theVision2000Model School Project(V200 0)-was designedtobe implementedinthree phases.PhaseI, completedduring 1994·1 995 schoolyear.gave all students andteachers directaccess totheInternet through alocal areanetwork(LAN)file
server located adjacent tothelearning Resources centre; Phase2involvedan extensionof the computer networkandpossible accessfrom home;and, Phase 3:to developBisho ps College asaresou rce schoo lforother schoo lsin the province,usingtechnology to pilot province-wide classes through video-co nferencing and distance education
AlthoughBishops Collegewas a sitewhere itsstaff provided me an unde rstandingof therealityof the roleofleamingresources specialist,theaspects whichwere of most personal interest werethedevelopment of computer-basedmultimedia lessonsasreq uestedbythe teachingstaff To concentrateon this aspect,one-half of thenormalinternship time was spent in theMemorial University Depart ment of ComputerScienceswithDrEd Brownwho is developinga computer-basedmultimedia"how to" kit forteachersTheMultimediaTeaching StrategiesProjec t(MTSP)is a jointMemorial University ComputerScienceIBishops College projectto promote resource-base dlearningthroughthe invesngarion ofteacher preparationandcurricularuse of multimedialesson plans. Thefacilitiesand technical expertiseexistentthere madeitanideal site for programdesignand quality centro!
The internship link withthe Facultyof Educationwasthephilosophicalbasisfor using computer-basedmultimedia ineducation CD~ROMtechnologyandtheInternet are entertaining;however their truevaluelie in the edu cational possibilitiesassociatedwiththe multiplicitycf ways in whichstudentslearn.To guide me throughthe changingroles of the learning resourcesteach er,Iasked Dr.JeanBrown to supervisemy internship
Thiswasnot a typicalinternshipinwhicha student teachershadowed a cooperating teacher"Mypro fession aldevelopmentwas designedtoincludeavarietyof experiencesin
two differentenviro ments and involvingat least eight differentpeople
On-SiteSupervision
Bishop s CoUege is asite whichuses current technologyand has resource-basedstaff experienced in itsapplication,"Onething thatisveryobvious at BishopsCollegeis that teachers are enthusiasticaboutacquiringnew skillsandintegrat ing them intotheirteaching"
(Dibbon . 1995.p.18).This siteprovidestheoppo rtunity towork withMr.Allister Dyke.
whohas been a leaderin theupgrading ofschoolinformationservices.Ms.DaphneButler.
who has years of experienceandknowledgeinorganizingand operatingaschoo l resource center.andMr.MontySmith, whohasmorethan ten years ofteaching experiencein thefield ofearthscienceIgeology
Supervision wassimply a matter ofkeepingintouchwith Jean.Ed and Allisteron a regular basistoinform them of the progr essof my work.Initial emailcommunica tion(for examples seeAppendixE)kept allinformedofnew ideas andmyprogr ess.Astile internship progressedandbecamemore"technolo gy-design"and"learn ing resou rces"specific.
communication became morepersonal throug hfrequen tscheduledandimpro mptumeetings Daily contact withJeanduringtheinitialplanningand proposal stages helped guide mythinkingaboutthe scopeofthe project.Weeklymeetings withEd.Allister andthe
"multimedia group"(studentsand assist antsactively producing material fortheMemorialI Bishop sMultimediaTeaching Strategies Project)keptthe IMCD guide design on track and
provided aforumforconstructivecriticism Dailylearningresou rces experienceswith Daphneinsuredexposure[0teacherand .slmknltechnologyissuesandfrequentmeetings with Montywere held to plan the designexamples
TheResearchIProductionCo m po ne nt
The internship was spent inbotha learningresources and a computer-based multimedia production environment At the most fundamentallevel, professional develop mentexperienceswere the research component. Through observingday-to-day routinesandbeing involvedinnoveland problem-solvingsituationsasthey arose,Ihave qualitativelyevaluatedthe rolesoflearning resources specialist andcurriculumsoftware designer.
Experiences ranged from hardware adjustmentsinsidethe computer,to peripherals, basic computerskills.filemanagement. installing software.internet multimedia,HTML page building.capturi nggraphics.manipulatingdisplay,image mapping. JAVA and animation production. videoandaudio streaming.web servers,softwareauthoringskills,hardware skills using the video camera,VCR, scanner,sound andvideo cards
Accumulatedexperiences and skillswerereproduced as an instrument designed to intro duceteachers to the creationof internet multimedialessons,the IMCD guide. Two exampleswereproducedtoillustrate the principles outlined inthe guide and aid teac hers understanding.There were manyopportunities for discussionswithteachersand studentsand feedback about the effectiveness of these designs.
Hence,fulfillingthe research componentof theinternshipinvolved:
(I) a comprehensive review of thelitera turerelatingcomputer-based multimediaandpedagogy;
(2) accumulationofresource- and design-basedexpeiences.
(3) participation in V2000phase 3 throughthejointMemorialIBishops CollegeMultimediaTeachingStrategies Project
(4) producti on ofaninstrument (theIMCD guide;Appendix A) to conununicate internshipexperiences.ideasandpitfalls;
(S) participationinaBishopsCollegeteacher trainingsession(Appendix
D u
end,(6) peer evaluationofthe instrumentseffectiveness
This "participant-observation" internship wasseentohave many of the experie nces associatedwith qualitative research -combining observation.participation andongoing modificatio nofthe internshipdesign As Glesne&Peshkin (1992)suggest. "planswill probablychangeas thefieldwork progressesandtheopportunitiesin thefield emerge"
(p_14)_In truth.the above listgrew andwasmodified as theinternshipprogressed Iacceptedthat my viev...s. biases and"insider"knowledgecontinuallyinfluenced the experienceas I soughttounderstandtherolesfrom theviewpoints ofmy supervisors -a self-analysisandreflectivepathwayto professional development "T heresearcher becomes the mainresearch instrument asheorshe observes, asks questions. and interactswith research participants....To dojusticetothe complexity.qualitativeresearchersimmerse themselvesin the setting"(Glesne&Peshkin.1992.p.e).Thisis the typecr'understanding"Isought
Effo rtsweremadeto insureresearch credibility throughliteratur esearchesand triangulationandpeer debriefing.The relationshipbetweenMemorialand BishopsCollege
(theMTSP)permittedtesting of transferabilityof computer-based multimediaideas from originto application. Ideas generated in"the multimediapit-were based onlogical jntrepretarionsofliterature and judged appropriate and dependableby mypeers.However, thisresearch did notseek toconfirmresultsbeyond the judgementsoffellow learning resourcesspecialistsandtechnologycoordinators.
Limitationsof theIntern ship and Report
Thefieldsofleamingresources and software design are broadwithmanypracticioners andresearchers.Noattemptwasmade togain experience inallthe facetsof, oruncover all theissues ofconcern to indi'..-idualsworkinginthesefields In addition.many learning resourcesteachers are experimentingwithtechnologyfromdiffering backgroundsand with differentphilosophies.Thisinternshipislimitedto myconceptsandtheir evolutionthrough conversations with otherswhoreadilysharedtheir vision andundersta ndings
The rapidchangeswitnessedin technology. computer-based multimedia, learning resourcescentersandourschoolswilldatethisinternshipto "cutting edge"concepts as of 1996/1997. Personalgrowthreflectedin theIMCD Guide and thisreport arepartof a
"life-longlearning" process.I haveseendevelopmentssincetheinternship whichmay be includedina [MCD guideve-sion 2.Tocomplete thisreport Ineededtolimit the internship to aspecific timeframe
Because my goal was to obtainprofessional developmentexperience.I participated only in activitiesalreadyongoing atthe schoolsites.Approvalfrom the EthicsConunittee
10
wasneitherrequestedor grantedsinceitwas notmy intentto collect data foreither qualitativeorquantative analysis,and no such study wasundert aken.However,carewas taken toprotect theconfidentialityofallmembersof the school community
This reponisnot seenasagraduate thesis butas a reflectionof theexperiences accwnuIatedduringa five monthperiodduringthe winter andspringsemestersof 1996.No attemptwasmade to quantify or qualifyresearch beyondexposingpee rs tomy collectedideas andconsta ntlypressingforfeed bac k to aidtheguidedesign andmydevelopment.Many research possibilites wereimag ined, especiallylinking computer-basedmultimediaand multiple intelligence.howevertheseinvestigations were recognized as beyondthe timeframe and scope ofan internship.This reportshould be judgedin thatcontext
Methodof Self-Evaluation
To evaluate progressandcompletion.IkepianE-mailcorrespondencejournal Examplecommunicationsbetween myself.peersand supervisors havebeen collected as AppendixE.This journalwas meansof reflectingonexperiences and elicitingfeedback.
Amajorcomponent of self-evaluationwas a checklistof stages in thedevelopment ofthe IMCDguide.This dynamicchecklistwas constant lychangingas my concept ofthe internshipchanged and as new resourcesweresuccessfullyuncoveredand otherpossibilities turnedinto pitfalls. Thechecklist was a tool10 evaluateprogress. work completed and project planning.One aspectoftheWeDguidewas to produce examplesof work based uponitsprinciples.Thechecklistforthe PlateTectonicLesson Design Plan included
II
(I)conversationswith Mr.Harvey Weir and Mr.Wilbur Boone to place the geology unit in the context of the new Atlantic Canada Science Curriculum.
(2) browse through other provincial geology curricula,
(3) initial meetings with Mr. Monty Smith to define the geology problem as a necessary focus on current, local content; for example, Newfoundland examples definingthe plate tectonic unit through slides and field trips;
(4) print literature, newsgroup and Internet search10uncover the parallels between cognitive theories oflearning, multiple intelligences and multimedia; and Newfoundland geology;
(5)set an agenda with Mr Monty Smith. and make contacts for Avalonfield trips; rebuild old public exams as an interactive, multi-intelligence teaching aid,
(6) design and storyboard the lesson;w'ire the lesson including the multimedia aspects;
(7) helping set up access to 32-bit environment through Windows 95 and Netscape 2 0 to make possible inclusion of Java animation;
(8) become familiar with multimedia software and hardware used in the production; and,
(9) the production stage
Upon completion of theinternship, Ihad plannedto submit(I)the Internet Multimedia Curriculum Design (IMCD) Guide. with examples, and advice on successesto look for and pitfallstoavoid. and (2) this report. including a review of the literature,my methodology, findings, recommendations and references Howe ver,this report like the guide are secondary to the professional de....elopment itself This report is being written one year after the internship in the light of additional learning resources and design experiences
12 Myevaluat ion of'theinternshipis simple-itwasaspecialtime setasideto examine my philcsoji:;yregardinginfo rmationtec hnology andIhave continued10benefit fromthose experiences.Assuch,itwas a success.Product ion oftheguide gavemeaforumto express myideas andexperiences
Cri te ria rorInternship Eval uati on
This report shouldbe evaluatedintheproper light-not thatof athesis,butof a writtenaccountofexperience.Itwas1lO1possibleto record all thelearning experiences.For example.itis difficu lt todescribe thejoy of capturinga segmentof videoafter three days of tech nical problemsolving;thedisappointment of students interestedonly ingreater entertainmentvalueafter designingpages withmultiplepresentatio n formats;and the pride ofpresentingideasforcritiqueatpeerconferencesafterweeksofconstructive workwithout feedback. However.theseexperiences werefundamental totheinternship
Internshipsareindividuallearning experiences Evaluation ofindividual learnin g experiencesshouldcompare individuals beforeandafterthe experiences to judgeifiearni ng hastaken place.Alternatively.evaluationcan bebased on expressionsofthoselearnin g experiencesbythe individual.suchas the IMC D guide and examples Althoughtheguideis secondarytothe actual professionaldevelopment,itdoes reflectmyexperiences and allow an opportunityto displaypersonalevaluation.Othertea chershave alreadybeenaskedto evaluatethe guideand have,in effect.commented indirect lyupon myinternship experiences
13 Eva luation of computer-based multimedia requires a multimedia approach Examination of the primedpagesof theL\lCD guide(AppendixA).the plate tectonics (Appendix B)or EarthDay (Appe ndix C) examplelessonsdoe s not dojusticetothe
"multimedia"natureof thiswork.JAVA appletswillnotprint;annimations and videoimages have beenfrozen; audioclipsarestrangely silentwhenmerelyturningthese pages A compactdiscve rsio noftheguidehas been includedforevaluationanditis only there that the
"multimedia"nature
or
tileproduc tionandresearchwillbeunderstoodlnsumm ary,thisreportwill besucce ssfulif itdemonstra testhattheinterns hipwas atimeoflearnin g To demonstratethatlearni ngoccured,( have presented the IMCD Guide whichis a compilation of ideas and experiences devel opedduring thatlime
CHAPTERTIVO
ALIT ER\.TUREREVIEW OfCHANG L."'1G ROLESAND "'IEDI A TheLearningResou rcesIInform ation Specialist
Learning Resource Centresweremultimediaor"multiplemedia" environmentsbefore the advent cf computer-basedtechnclogy . collections of non- fictionbooks.biograph iesand fictionbooks;referencematerialssuch as dictionaries.thesauruses encyclo paedias. world book; periodicalssuch asnewspapersand magazines;special collectio ns relatingtoFrench materials.localinterest.oversizedtexts.reservedmaterials orspecific authors . teac hers and departments;and audiovisualmaterials suchas35mm sidecollections. videotape.filmstrips, movies.cassettetapes.audioCDs.LPrecords.etc. Insome respectstheadditionof computerstolearning resources centre has merelyadded anothe rcategory of computer-based media:compute r CDs. dis kettes.audioand videotiles.animatio ns.3Dand VRl\1L(virtual reality) graphics.Internet access and prints.interactive feedba ck. on-line challenges. ere
Fromanotherpoint of view.the secondary schoollibrariesof the1970s and school resource centresof the 1980s are becomingtheinformation centresof the 1990s "The1990s have broughtimponamnew conceptsto school librarianshipThe concept of a self-contained collectionisgiving waytotheconcept ofconnectionto an extensive information networkand the concept of thevirtuallibrary" (Kuhlthau,1995,p.2) Electronicaccesstolocal and remoteon-line networks.in-houseuse of CD- ROMdatabases.and interactive mediaare necessary for alllibrarymedia centres (Craver.(995).
According toJacobso n(1995)successfultransition from alearningresource centretoanintormancncentredepends upon, beyond funding andstaffing.Internetresearch
use by students,teachers andlearning resourcesstaff; acceptanceof the fluidrolesbetween students,tea che rs and learning resourcesstaff, and a "do-what-you -have-to.do-to-make-it- happen"(p.2})altitude. Beca use of theincreasingccrnplexiryofinfonnationsystems.the role of the learningresourcesteacherhas grown to include responsibilitiesforteaching researc h methods courses,incorporatingtheInternet intoschool activities,developing curriculumunits and leading staff developmentprojects
Aninformationcentreaffects anentireschool. As teachers shin from content-specific toinformatio n skills.learning resourcesteachersmust"broaden their focus from teaching stude ntsto helping teachersintegr ateinformationskills traininginto classroomcurriculum"
(Piche. Berna rd,Daigle.Don en,Gauthier.Hughesetal,199 5.pII)because theyare ina
"primeinstructional position to assiststudentsand facultywith newapproaches tosearching theseelectro nic resou rces" (Craver,199 5,p 17).Hence, learning reso urces teachers need knowledgeandexpertisein theareas of communicationsne tworks.diversemedia,copyright andethicaluse of informationandinfo rmation technologymanagement
Tofulfil[t he ir}role,teacher-librarians need advanced knowledgeand expertisein all aspects of teach ing,including curric ulum.learning strategies, cognitivedevelopmentandlearning styles to takeresponsibilityfor planning,developingand managing informationreso urces and technology withinschools (Picheetal.,1995,p.12)
Teach e rs and"Lire- Lo ng"Learnin g
I recalla secondary schoolteacher whoproudlytoldmethat he had struggledatfirst with new course material but afterthefirstthreeyears of teachingfelthe had the SUbject
16
conquered learning envircnmemsare changing so rapidlytodaylhalitisimportant10 re-eval uate the roleof the teac her.
Teachingin an age of unlimiled information will bemuch different [han teachingin thepast....Teachers will notbeprofessionalinformation givers:
instead,they willserveascreativeclimate maker shelping learners understan d that access tounlimited amounts ofdata andinfo rmatio nis worthlessunless itcan be usedtocreate knowledgeand wisdom. (See.1994,p.JI) Theinteg ration ofinfonnat ion skills acrossthe curric ulumisrequiring teachersto assumeresponsibilityforinfo rmatio n skills instruction "Integr at ing informatio nskills [raining into thecurriculumrequiresthatteachers,rathertha n reacher-librarians.beaccountable for helpingstud entsbecome infor mation literate"(Picheet al.199 5.PII ) However.thetask ofmodelling skills to encourageactivelearni ngusing differentkinds of informalio nsources requires learningand preparat iontime Most teache rsare caughtup in so many chang esthat ellenthoug h theywould liketolearn more abouttech nology theydon'thavethe time
Laszlo&Castro (1995)suggestthatforhund redsof rearsthe role of educationhas beento produce knowers insteadofl eam ers;however.thedays of separation whenteachers leachandstudents studyappearto beo..'er.It wouldnotbedifficu lttofindsecondaryschool students who attributetheir understandingof coursemate rial and academicsuccessto the ir involvement inpeertutorials.Asteacherswehave alwaysencouraged our studentslearn by thechallenge of passingontheir knowledge ina clearmanner likewise.as I writethis report.I am surroundedbyteacher sworking ontermpa pe rs andstudying torapproaching finalexams Myteac he rpee rsare constantlyta lking abou thom ewor kassignment s. "allthe work and effo rt- theyareputtinginto graduate courses,and their plansfor subseq uent
I7
doctoralwork.Thosewhoare norfinishing univer'sitydegreesthis summerarepartakingin certificate programs. seminar courses andworksho p1. Ilappearsthat.for these people,
ThephiJosophy of ~leamngas aIife..k>o:gprocess-is changingthewaysteach ers leach inschools."LearrengsIciIls-have become the most importanttoolswithwhicha studentcan grad uate. These skillsdevelopbecause teachersplan andorganizelearni ngexpe riences . actingas facilitators andworktogether withstude nts using a wide varietyof resourc es.
Content or subject-matter isimportant in itself.but also asarelevant context in which learningstrategies andskillsaretaught
Theeducational processplacesemphasis on the developmentof our capacit ies tolearn as themeansthrough whichwe acquireknowledge and skills In orde rtoproduce learne rs,the paradigmmustbeinverted: wemust see knowledgeandskillsas the means throughwhichwe exerciseandextend the range ofour capacitiesforlearning.(laszlo&.Castro, 1995.p_1) Thistypeofleaming involvesselectingtopics. uncovering sources of information.,compiling.
interpretingandevaluatingtheinfomwion. andprepara tio nof appropriatepresentations In tcdey's society.these learningskillsare"hfeskills."
Construcling Infonn ation Lneraey Skills
Recent educationalliterature appears to focus on developing "information literacy"
instudents giving students the toolstheyneed ineducationaldevelopment throughoutlife (Dyrli&Kinnaman,1994 ) Piche et31.(199 5)regard informationliteracyastheabilityto acquire.aitically evaluate.select.use.create andcommunicate informationinways thatlead
18 to knowledg e andwisdom
Itencompasses allothe rforms ofliteracy-traditionalliteracy(theability to read andwrite)andmedialiteracy (t he ability10critically evaluate andcrea te media.suchastelevision,advertising.news Stories andmovies) and numerical literacy(the abilitytounderstand andsolve proble ms wit hdataandnum bers)
(Piche etal.,1995,p-i)
Kuhlthau(1995)suggests thattheconceptof informationliteracyand informationskillsis an expansionof libraryskills
Libra ryskillspreparestudents tolocate materialsin alibra!")Infcrrnario n skillspreparestudents tolearn in aninformat ion-rich environment...The process ofleamingfrom informationis thekey concept for the schoollibrary media centreintheinformatio nschoolage.(p2)
Thetraditionalresearch skillsofcritical thinking,definingquestions.validatingandselecting thebest sourcesof information, andevaluatingto detectfaces,biases,opinionsand value work inbo t hlea rningreso urces and informationneeworkenvironments It is thiskindof thinking which changes learning resources centresinto schoolinfo rmatio ncent res
The philosophyof~IIfe-longlearning"blendswell withtheco nst ructivistpersp ect ive as heldin educa tionpedagogy. thatmeaningfullearn ing orunderstanding is construct edin the mindofthelea rne r as a resultofinteg rating new sensory datainto previouslyknown co nce pts(Pa rke r,1995).The success of studentsonincorpor atingne w experiences into existingknowledgewebsor structuresmay dependuponthose"learningskills" Thelearning environmentast ude nt enco unterswhenfaced byanew pieceof softwareis a golden opportunitytolearn, to gainexperiencein acceptingpersonalresponsibilityfor learning,and 10 practicethe gen eralideas ofco nst ructivism (Moursund, 199 5)
I.
The Internetandcomputer ..basedmuIti~iaformassociationsor-linksbyusing diffmngpresentaJ:ionformats. c:onsttuetingorcodingmeaningbetweenideas. Moo re,Myers
&Bunco (1994) areinterested in dual coding.thestorage ofinformat ioninlcog -tem memoryasbothvebelstringsandimages.Itappearstha tstudents canlinkwordstoimages.
nwsic.,spoken words, movies . etc.to illustrate andcommunica te richandcomplicatedideas (D'Ignazio .199 3b).and reac hers ca n usecomputers effectivelyto engagestudents oftwo differentlearning stylestoworkccllaborativeiyon problem-solving(Reisman.1993)
Multiple Inld ligencts
Howknowledge is constructed andhow welearnmaydependuponwhich
~intdligence·we use.Atleast thisisthe theoryset:forthbyDr.Howard GardnerinFrames ofMind:TheTheoryofMlIlIip/~ lt1ldlig~"ces(1983) Intelligence is seen asthewayof beingableto solveproblems andto createaproduct •Aperson maybequite talented in one intelligence areaandhavelitt letalentinanother. Each person has theirownprofile of intelligences- (Moursund.1994,p.5) . Gardner&Ha tch (1989) suggest thatseven independe ntfonns of inte lligence orinforma tionprocess ingcanbe desc ribed:verbalor lingu istic.logicalor mathematical. visua l orspatial.kinesthet ic ormanipulativ e.musical.
interpersonal. and intraper son alorstude nt-centred In addition ,Irecall watchinga
eBe
televisionbroa dcastinthe Fallof 1995 inwhich Gardnerdescribed an eighthintelligence describedas"of or relatin g tonature"or instinct.
20 If Gardneris correct and there are different waysin whichstudentsteam,then effectiveteachingdependsupon the communication method between teacherandstudent
"Gettin gthemessage acro ss "toavarietyor multitude of stud ent s mayrequire a knowledge of multiplepresenta tiontec hniques or media.Successin the roleofclassroomteacher may dependuponmatchingcommunicat ion strengths with students' intelligences.That some students learn bett erbylisteningtoexplanati on s. orworkingout problem s, orcopying sketchesdrawnonchalkboards,or performing experime nts.or through group work,orqu iet introspectivereflectionis no secre t toanyteacher . Using preparationlimetoincorpora teas manywaysoflearningas possible intoeachles so n hasbeen the challenge.
TraditionalMedia and Computer-BasedMu lt imedia
I havealready suggested thatthe term "multimedia"refers10 traditional non-computer-based mediasuchastexts,periodicals. audiocassettes.realia.etc.whichhave existedin learning resourcecentressincethe[9705.Theseresourceshavebeenusedby studentstodevelopthe traditional,numerical and media lireraciesdescribedby Piche eta1. (1995,pAl;these resourceshavebeenused bystudents of differing"intelligences" as described byGardner&Hatch(1989)
"Computer-basedmultimedia",such ashypertext,digitalphotographs,animations, JAVAapplets, audiofiles.CD~ROMencyclopaedias, on-linelibrari es,etc.presentthe same information as traditionalornon-co mputer-basedmedia.The EncyclopaediaBritannica on-lineandthe printcopyboth have the same definitionsfor"student", "teacher"and"media";
21 a35mmphotograp handajpg fileof the Eiffel To·verwouldboth display the same informa tion;anaudiocassetterendit ionandan audiowayfileofROCanada"would still conside rthe true nort htobe strongand free;and.a stude nt wor king onare searc hpape r wou ldobtainthe sameinfo rmatio nregardlessifhe/ sh e obtaine ditfroma traditio nalor computer -base dsource
MultimediaHardw are and Softwar e
Aneffectivemultimediapersonalcomputer must haveamonit o r,processor,harddisk drive,CD~ROMdrive,microphone,speakers.soundcard andlots of memory.Thisinte rnship andmostof myexperiencehasbeenon a PC-typemultimediasystem.althoughan Applewas availableandwell used in "themultimediapit- Today'sPCsystems use theWindows operatingsystem software, whichcomeswithfive multimediaprograms:Sound Recorder, 10 recordandplaybac k sounds;Med iaPlayer. 10 playanimation,video and soundfiles;Object Packager.to embed sound orvid eo filesin a document;MID IMapper.10controlkeyboard or musical instrument input:and Sound.10 assign sounds10different systemevents
Purchased "au thoringsoftwar e"isused toassembleall theindividual elementsof multimediainto aco he sive presentation,Linear presentationsareasortof aslid e show on a computerscreenin wh ich user involveme ntis limited to advancingtothe next infonnation screenor going backtoview thepreviou s one Intera ctivemultime dia putsyou in control andletsyousteer freelythroughthe labyrinthof images.sound andvideo clipsina program Clickingonapredefin ed areasknown aslinks willdisplay anoth erfileinaprogram.suc has
22 asound file.a videoclipor a windo wfilledwithnew information(Collin.1994 )
DisadvantagesofCom puter- Based Mult imed ia
Theeducationalliteratur erecognizestwodominantdisadvantages of computer-based multimedia - relativeexpense and relativeeffectiveness.Relativeexpenseis a realconcern.
Madian(1995)believesthaiwhenweevaluate the educational valueof computer-based multimedia,we shouldcompare itwith otherpossible educationalmedia, suchas gardens.
telescopes. hands-on sciencelabs. andartists'studios In my position as atec hnology coordinator I have had teachers complainthatmybudget items of S1500 donot even compareto their expenses,usually two orders of magnitudeless Recently,a Spanish teacher suggestedshe couldpurchaseclassroomsets of dictionaries.an encyclopaedia.a collection of audiotapes,acollectionof travelguides. subscribe to a Mexicannewspaper and present a SpanishDay concert andmealfor less thancost of purchasinga new computertousethe Spanish language multimed iaCDs
Chiou(1995)believesthat screen-based multimedia learning is not an exampleof true experience-based learning.which challengesa student'simagination.Personally,I am an advocate of experience-based learning and have used the example of examining a piece of graniteor diamond on thecomputer screenversestheexperience of a stude ntholdingit in their hand.In my opinion. there is nocomparison. I believethat a student'sexperience when attendinga Shakes pearianplayis of much higher quality thanwatchingthe same play on a computermonitorortelevisio nscreen
23 Exper iencehas taught me that someteacherswill allow theirstudents to visitthe compute rlabWjU5tforfun"and not becauseof curriculumobjectives. Dyrli&Kinnaman (1994)suggest that beforeapiece of softwareis usedinthe classroom,teachers must askif itfits the curriculum objectivesand whether theclassroom activityis best accomplished through techn ology.
Advanta ges crCcm puter- BesedMult imedia
Computer-based multimediaalso have advantages over traditional media Computer-basedmedia are"catalogued" andcan be searched together.mosttimes by typing a single wordinto a searchengine. Forexample.a searchin GrohersEncyclopaed iaonthe word"pres ide nt" willlocatetext.audio clips.photosandvideo clips Using theInternet searchengine AltaVista, a search ontheword"president" will do thesamething, exceptoffer an almost unlimitednumber of references
Impracticalor unsafe topicsinlaboratory experimentsand field trips are accessible.
A field trip toManualsRivertoexamineCambrian-agedtrilobitefossilsmay be a possibility for a localteacher;a field[rip tothesurfaceof Marstoexploreancientriver beds isnot, As Iwritethis report, computer-basedmultimediatransmissionsfromMars arethis month's "hot topic" for science teachers
All the media are deliveredthroughone toolandthere is noneed to set up a VCRor projection screen,searchthroughfilingcabinetsfor periodicalsor trackdowna missing textbook.Have you everhadto findthatoverheadprojector,despite booki ngittwoweeks
24 in advance? "One of the reasons [computer-based] multimedia is both a powerful and complex instructional tool is thatitcombines methods, media, and materials simultaneously"
(Carlson, 1994, p.SS).
Computer work stations provide anon-threatening environment where students of all abilities and backgrounds can [earn at their own paces and make mistakes without embarrassment. In the same regard, information technologies can accommodate students with advanced skills who wishto explore information far beyond the limitations of the classroom (Piche et al., 1995, p 6)
Dede (1992) suggests that multimedia presentations that are well designed and implemented have the following characteristics: (1)new methods of structured discovery;
(2)address a range of learning styles;(3) motivate students;(4)arenon-linear, presenting interconnected knowledge rather than disparate facts; (5) empower students to createtheir own materials. and,(6)enable evaluationofleaming
Com p ute r- Base d Multimedia and MultipleIntelligen ces
Computer-basedmultimedia offers the possibility of presenting the curriculum to the best advantage of students who learn based on different combinations of these intelligences Personal learning plans may be designedtostimulate students who learn visually,bytouch (typing), through reading text,through creating their own productions, by listening,through group interaction,etc D'Ignazio (1994b) envisions future classrooms as multimedia knOWledge theme parks in which students create portfolios and exhibits to demonstrate their understanding of different curricular topics "It's an opportunity for all of us to be artists,
25
musician s, sculptors, compo sers -and readers andwriters!" (D'Ignazio,1993b,p_53 )Itis easyto visualizestude nt multimedia project s, suchas CD- RO Myearbo oks. multiculturaJ learning, expressing real-life situations. interactive scienc e,high lightinghistory, inspired musician s,etc.
The reisthe luxury ofofferingindivid ual studen tsterminal shavingadedicatedtape record er,videoplayer. text edito r,globe.etc, "Computers areuniqueinthatthey can transfo nn one symbolsysteminto anot her. Fo r example. textmaybechang edto voice,and num ber s changedto visualgraphs"(Moo re.Myers&Burto n,1994, p.33) ,Chiou(1995) suggest s tha i human activitie saremult imediaactivities,andweneed multimedia-o rientat ed computertechnologiestomatch withour multimedia-o rient ated humanenvironment.
"Combinedwithoff-computertechniques,computersoftwareca n enrichaholistic approach toworkin g with students" (Eic hlea y&Kilro y, 1993,p.39)
TheInt ern et as a Road 10 Inquiry
Recentdevelopments incommunicat ionstechnologyhavenetw o rked computers around theworld as a global libra ry ordatabase. The depthandscope of topicsavailableto users is unknown andunimaginable.Theability foranyoneusing E-mailto communica te with expertsinsubject areas isincre dible. Newsgro upsand discus sionsinvo lve the global communityinexpandingand critiquingkno wledgeata pacelimited only bythe speedof tho ught ortransmission . Library printmaterial inresear chtields is outd ateddaily
Introd ucing the Inte rnetinto schools pro videsanopport unity for st udentsto inquire
26 sun.As well,studentsgel10 participate in discussions Because everyone is interestedin something,the possibility of learningshouldappeal to all students.Using the Internet stimulatescuriosity and eagerness to learn, a prerequisite forlearning tolakeplace 'T hefun oftelecommunicatingonthe Internetisquitea motivat or - (Muller,1994. p.)
SocietyandtheInternet? Televisionand newspapers seemto indicatethat theInternet isan advance for society;eventha titis"cool to be wired."Boo kstoresarecro wded with textsexplaininghowthe Internet works and whyitisimportantto everyone."Any K·1 2 student whodoes norlearn how to access usefulinformation via the Internetwillbeata great disadvantage lo r future high-wageemploymentandsuccessfullife-longlearning"(Muller, 1994,p I). Using Internetresou rces in the schools providesa"globalawareness that is necessaryforunderstanding one'splaceintheglobal community"(Muller,1994,p9)
Mult imedia TeachingStr ategies
Can teachers effect learningthrough the use multimedia software?"Good teachers have alwaysusedmultimedia.Their classroo ms have beenfilled withmanyobject s -from high techtolowtech,fromrobots to books"(Carlson,1994,p.53) Computer -based multimediatechnology has foreverchanged the waystudentsaccess,process,and communicate information(See, 1994). Teacherseverywhere arecreatingtheir own instructio nal multimedialessons combining audio,video, animation,textand graph ics (Spender&Hilgenfeld, (994) Imagineteacherswith theabilityto designindividuallessons forindividual students based on the student'sneeds (Laszlo&Castro,199;).The use of
fo r individual studentsbased on thestudent's needs (Laszlo&Castro.1995) The useof computerscanhelpteachersadaptteaching str ategies to indi..idualstudentintelligences.
whether they leambestvisually,kineticallyorthrough interpersonal groups O'ignazio(1993.11)talksof 'fast-food"multimedia He likensthe creat ion of multimediapresentations to cooking and suggests that if wekeep ourlessonplan objectives simpleandprecisethen multimediacould be producedalmostasrapidlyas ideas He warns that multimediadoes not meanthesimultaneous consta ntuscof allmedia.butappropriate usecrtwc or threemedia usedto support each other
Anytime we~blitz~studentswith toomud t sensory inputanddon't.11110\"
time forreflection,discussion.analysis.anddigestionof informalion. weare using media inappropriatelyandturning the classroommrca trainingground forbrain-numbcouch potatoes.[D'Ignazio,1993c.p5~)
Thekeyis to use media inshortspurts. thenswitchimmediately toperiods of classroom discussion.writingandcritique Wewarnto use media 10 stimulate thinking.not overwhelmit reservingplentyoftimefor studentsto think about whattheyha..·e seen and heard.{D'Ignazio.I99Jc.p5S)
Teache rs'beliefs abouttechnology'splace in the curriculum isa majorfactorinits effective use "Linking those beliefs10 multimediatools is perhapsthe most criticalaspect oftheentire process ofleaming how to usemulti media ~(Carlson.199-l. pH).King(1996) suggeststhat there is a crisisof informationand skill reintegrationinvolvedwithchange
"Changein teaching musthappen ona personal level Changemayinvolve newmaterials, newapproach esand newbeliefs. orsome combinationofall of these" (p 2),Shesuggests thatsuccessfulchangeis teacher-specific.inwhich regular en-goingtraining and personal development of materia lssupplements classroom assistance fromproject personnel
28 Teachers' answers to "Howcan I use this" willbe based on their degree of confidence in using the technology comfortably. their knowledge of the capabilities of equipment and software, and the possibilitiesthey see for the technology'suse in their own classroo ms. (Carlson, 1994, p.SS)
The internshipInternet Multimedia Curriculum Desig n (IMCD)guide has been designed to be used in teacher's own schoolswiththe equipment they will beusing with students, However, in truth.ifteachers are notenthusiastic about using computer-based multimedia in their classrooms, Piche etal.(1995) suggest we encourage the students and then stand back
CHAPTER THRE E
THElNT E RN ETi\IULT L.'\ I EDlA CURRICUL UMDESIGNGUIDE Int r od uct io n
Thehypothesisbe hind thisinternship is thatmultimedia is aneffective tooltoaid a variety of studentswho learn through differentmeans. A simulta neousinteractivelesson with avarietyofmedia componentswill givethe studenta betterchanc etoco nstruc t knowledge based upon his/herpreferred method ofJeaming
Thespecific designincludedsuchelementsas reading comprehensionquizzes and word/cro sswo rd games to challengestudentswholearn through verbal/lingu isticmeans Students....-ith stronglogical/mathematicalabilitiesshould be ableto enjoypro blem-so lving situations, simu latio ns and animation Maps, charts, diagrams.picturesandvide owe re used to aidtho se stude ntswho learnbestspatiallywhileinterv iews and rhymeschemeswillaid thosewith strongmusicalintelligence.Keyboardi ng,animated graph icsandthe abilityto mo veobject s aroundthe screenappealedto learnerswith high kinaestheticability,and students were asked to complete off-screenactivitiesto progressthro ug hon-screen problems Some acn..-ine s required interp ersonalskills, suc h as E-mail discussions,group decis ion-making,and two-player games "Studies showthat groups of studentsworking togetheron computersmakemuchgreaterprogress thanwhenindivid ual Students work alone atthe mac hines" (Dickinson,1994, pA6), Self-paced tutorialsections andcomp uter challengesweredes ignedfortheintrapersonallearn e r
30 The Internet Multimedia Curriculum Design(IMeD)Guide Facto rs suc h astheincreasing roleofcompute rsinOUTsociety, the need forour students to acquire basic information technology skills and the availability ofcomputers in schools arechanging the role ofclassroom"computer" teac hers.Those few briefyears when
"computer teachers"taught"computercourses" with packaged software are coming to a close.Today's kinderg arten teacherdownload s the lyrics ofThe LionKingfrom the Disney Site whilesitting between alanguageteacherbrowsing Shakespeare andan elementary scienceteacher capt uring dino sauranimation s and image sof Jupiter
Theincreased speedat whichknowledg eis becomingavailableis forcing teachersto modifYclasses andtutorials to keepcurrent.Regardlessofwhether a teacherever des ign san Internetlesso n, the irtechno logyandresea rchskills mustbe kept up-to- date tobeable to access recentinformation intheirfields.Itappears thattoday'shistory teacherneedstolearn asmuch abouthowto conductInternetresearchas he/she need s tolearn aboutthe American Civil War or Aristotle's theories
Designing Internet multimediatutorials requir es anadditio nalsetof skills.Tea chers areathletes, artists and scientistswho have an inte restin communication.Assuch,teac hers mustbe concern edwith bothcontentandpresentati on .The purpose of this guide isto comment on the skillsrequiredandgiveexamples ofthe curriculumpossibilitiestotea che rs who wishtointegr at eInternet multimediatechnology into dailyclasses. To aid these teachers. theguide has beendivided into three sections:(I)theInternet;(2) multimedia con siderat ion s;and(3) ped agogy orcurriculumdesignissues
Jl
TheInternetSectionpresents: ([) general informationon how to searc hfo r. download and installthe recommended software; and (2) designconsiderations necessary whendeciding which multimedia elementsto include on your hornepages Basicnetsearch skillsare necessarytofind programs and materials10 supplement personal curriculumresources Collecting involvesdownloadingor"ITPing" froma remotecomputer10yo ur system.Most stored programs are compressed or zipped to save space andmust be unzippe dandinstalled onyour hard disk or server to be useableA knowled ge ofU:-":IX is notessential.but alittle know-how maymake rome set-uptaskseasier. An example of a32-bit environmentis Windows 95.Someof multimedia elements. suchas JAVA.will net operateunder atc-bit systemsuchas Windo ws 3.1,Netscap e3 and some plugins are necessary to pe rmitthe auto maticuse orst reamingof video andaudio
TheMultimediaSectionpresentsbrieftutorialson ho wtoprodu ce your own ho mepage resources, such as video;andeditingtips relating topagelayouts. filereduction andincreasing the speed ofyour presentations Available multimedia forInte rnet presentations includetee.backgrounds. "painted"or drawn images,animated images,photos
!slides,movies. audioclips, soundfilesandJAVA applers JAVAapplets are small individual programswhich maybeincluded on yourpagesto animated objects.scroll picture s. require user interaction,etc.A commondesign mistake is to include every "catchy gimmick " ortype of media ona single page and cause aco mmunica tio ns overload fo rthe reader.Overload ing pages also dramatically slowsdown page transmissio novertelephonelines Considera tion of layout sand formats is essentialtoa successfulpresent ation
32
The purpose of the Curr iculumSection is to considerteach ing skillswhich may be included in your pagedesign.Althoughbeautifullayouts and abundantmediamay increase student interest in your lessons,there are pedagogicalaspectswhich can be consideredto structurepages as "learningexperiences"orlessons,How teachers structurepageflcwand permitstudents to advancein a lesson can be designed 10 both increase desire to interactwith the materialand provide essential entertainment.Itis inthe CurriculumSection that the basic design principlesarepUIforward in thelightof curriculumdevelopment concerns
The I:\-[CDGui de Menu a -.Directed\'SFreeBrowsin g Browsinghasbeen facilitatedthrough menu design The "instant access""multi-layer"
system allows theuser toeasily move within and betweenlevelsofthe guide.Forexample. thetri-level structure allow-stheusertoquickly jumpbetweenthe~IultimediaAnimatio n Still GIF Library pageto the Curriculumpage withone mou seclick.Menushave alsobeen designedfor the user toinstantlyrecognize his/herlocationAlarger fontprim isused 10 indicate the pathwaytaken10the current page.In addition, sectionshave been co lour-cod ed lnteme tblue,multimediapink and curriculumgreen
Thenumbering systemlocatedon themenusis an aid to teachers wishingto use the guide as a self-instructiontutoria lThe major sectionsandpages withineach sectionhave been sequencedin a recommendedbrowsingorderwhichmayrepresenta progressionof easier tomore difficultskills.orbasic to more advanced topicsforthe beginningteacher.A usermight typicallyfirstlocate(The lmeme r-I] , produce (Multimedia-Z]and then integrate
33 (CWTicu1wn-3)resources whendesigningpages.For example, within theMultimediaSection, a teachernewtopage designmightwant[0stan byproduc ingtext(I ).links (2)andphotos (3) and leavinganimation(4), video (5).audio(6)and JAVAapplets (7) tillla ter.Where numberin g is absent.users areadvised10browse allthepages and decideforthemselves where to start.
Two bunonsare universallylocated throughoutthe guide. the Help andExitbutto ns TheHelp buttongivesexplanations to the guide usersimilartothis sectionof thereport.The Exit buttonwilltake you to mypersonal homepage.In thenormaldesign of a tutorialorunit this butt on maylead theuser to aschool or organizationhomepage.Becauseof the men u struct ureof this guidethere is noneed to savea particularpageURL torestart.However.
for students workinginside a designed lesson.this is whereinformation aboutrestart ingthe tutorialwouldbenecessary
Design Princi plesandCur ri culu mConce rns
The designof the multimediaunit drew heavilyupon research discoveredbythe litera ture review.Forexamp le.Moore,Myers&Burton(1994)haveoutlinedinstructional principlesthatcouldbecriticaltothedesign.development.and effectivenessof computer based programs.They suggestthat reviews of relevanI information, precise,audience-tailored language.high ratesof student success,clearand concisedirections,monitoring of assigrunents andactivitiesandspecific feedbackof bothcorrect and incorrectresponses are allessentialto an effective program.Theyfoundthat"learnerswho had little or no contro l
34 over the instructionalsequenceof aninstruc tional program performed betterthanstudents using interactive programs whohad controlover theinstructio nal path" (Moo re. Myers&
Burton,1994,p.37).
In addition,Dickinson(1994)suggeststhat"inreractivityisakeyelementofa positive,nurturing, and stimulating[earningenvironrnen.i.Hypermedia. whichallows learners to jump fromone concept,image.or sound to anotherwhileinvestigating a topic adds inreracnviry" (p42 ) Students anticipatorythinking willbe challengedbystoppi ng avideo midwayfor discussionaboutwhat might happen next.Large(199 5)suggests that semantic overlap between non-t extmediaand text.andthe linksconstructedbetween thetwo media isthe most important facto r
TheCurriculum Sectionof theIMCD guidehas beendivided intodiscussionson (I) teachingand learning. (2) motivation,(3)tutorials.(4)lesson structure and (5)practice and testing In additionthere aretwo pages whichpresent gener al design tips
The basis ofteaching and learningintheInternet multimedia environment isthe same as it is inthe classroom. Teachers want to helpstudents integrate newideas intoexisting knowledgesothat theywillretain more Avariety ofclassroo m methodsare used torelate toavarietyof students,Research seemstoindicate thatsome studentslearn bettervisually whileothersprefer text-basedorvocal instruction,Some students need tosee a fault or starfish whileothers onlyneed to read a descriptionto"know" whatone lookslikeHence.
teac hers consistently bring pictures,slides.audiotapes,overheads,sound tracs.models, reaha, etc,into theirclassrooms
35 Teachers uscmultimedia The advantagesofcomputermultimedia alsorelate to stude nt learning.dual coding andmultipleintelligencetheo ry.Use of video.JAVA, audio.
animation.text, etc. is simplyan attempt to duplicatecommon teachingactivities.Hence.
whendesigningHTMLpagesitisimportanttokeepyour audience inmind.Do yourstudents learn betterbywatchingvideoor being challengedbyquestions,by listening to audio clips orbrowsingthroughmaterials?Well-designed tutorials canbe usedbyavariet yof students, adapti ngto thelearner.drawing on his/her strengthsand givingextra helpwhereneeded.
Studentmotivationappearstobea functionof theirabilitytorelate tothe materialand contro l lesson flow.andtheentertainment or'fun"factor.Designingpages to be relevantto studentsis no differentthan writinggoodlesson plans(fyo u r studentsprefer to work quietly on theirown,theymaynot beenthusias ticabouthaving a rigidly-st ructured tutorial Onthe othe rhand.if theyprefera clearste p-by-stepdevelopment of thesubject. the computer tutorial might be thebestinventionsincethe microchip!
Studentcontrolimprovesmotivationbecause progress andreviewisindependent of fellowclassmatesand theteacher.Personal attention tomaterialallowstimeto exploreits relevanceandforthestudent to developconfidence.Techniquesdeveloped for videogames can also"involve" thestudentinthematerial. Well-designed"fantasies"challengethe student'sability[0learn and theircuriosityconcerning what will happen next.Students encouraged to imaginethatthey are geologistssearchingforThelost MineofDoom develop a strongerdesire to completethetutorial thanstudents reviewing evidenceof platetectonics Theimagination canplacestude ntsinsituationswhere theyneed to use informatio n
36 Tutoriallesso nspresent information andchallengestudents tolearn.They integra te four stylesof teaching -information presentation. simulationIdemonstration,practiceIdrill, andquestioningIproblem-solving.They differ bas edupon emphasison amount of control, page sequencing. presentation,learning style targeted,abilitytomaintain motivation, challenge, etc.
Tuto rialscan begin with atitlepage that invokescuriosityby stimulatingprior knowledge andlinkingit10 the "unknownfantastic".Interested studentswillwant to know whatthe Jessonisabout.the objectivesandhowitis relevant tothem.Studentswill also want directionson how tousethe tutorial.Computerscan automaticallydisplaydirections whenevera lesson beginsand universallyon everypage duringthe tutorial.Closingpages are recognizableendsof lessons, A summary of the lessonpurpose orlists of major points may beprinted or copiedinto a notebook.Otherpages in this Curriculum Section contain hints of howtodevelop the les sonbetween the titleandclosingpages
Lessonstructureor"page flow" isconcerned withstudent progressthroughalesso n.
Should studemswanderthrough thelesson choosinginterestingpage sor be requiredtoread certain pages tocompletethetuto rial?Itiseasytodesign a simplelinear sequencethat progresses from onetopic ro thenext throughpages of increasinglymore difficult information.Betterdesignsallow for branchingforw ard tomorechallenging material.
backwardrorepeatinstru ctionandsidewaysforsim plerexplanationsor paraphrasing.
Navigationshouldincludeco ntrols for forward progression.backward pagingfor review, accesstodirectionsIhelpand tutorialtermination
31 ComoIsshouldbeconsisrentlyplacedonthelOPand/orbottomofeachpage.Inthis waythe usercan becomefamiliarwithlesson structureand concentrate oncontent.Simple menus aretheidealifpage sequence isnotaitica1and atri-levelmenu is able todispla y lo wer.presentandhigher"leve ls inyourhierarchy.Duplica tingthe menuatthetopand bottomofpages simplifieslinking when scrolling. Som etimesit'snecessary for astudent to exitwithoutcompletingthe tutorialandthe designermust decideifhe/shemayrestartat the pagewheretheyleft:off. or whetherrestartingrequiresbeginningagain. Onepossibleway to restart in the middleofanInternettutorialisfor the st udent towritedown theURLof the pagewherehe/ she exited.
Pract iceandtest ingarethemeansbywhichthe studen tand teacherascertai ntbar conenisbeinglearned.Because $looms don't alwaysmaster informat iononfirstexposure, application, activity and repealedpracticeare requiredtoconstructthe knowledgelinks from -old10 new".Question s scen er ed throughtutorials forc e stud en ts toread pages for content
andevaluatehowwdItheyrecalland urv:lerstand information.Questions also provide breaks betweencontentIpresentationpagesandhelpthestudent deal avoidinformation overload Muhiple-cboieequestio ns appear tobelogisticallyeasiesttouse onHTMLpages as respondingmerelyrequiresa mousedid.Useof multimedia inthe questioningcreatesmany possibilitiesfor teachers•<a)text. (b) sound clip,(c)animationand(d)picture.
Correct studentresponsescan linkto continue the lesson, while incorrect answersmay
lead10rephrasedquestions orreview.Correctivepositivefeedbackshouldattempttoexplain
to studentswhyspecificresponsescan notbecorrectandlocatetheinformationthestudent
38 needs tomakethe right judgement.Alternatively. thetutorialmay supplythestudentwith runtsor emphasizekeyphrasesinthequestionfor a secondopportu nity to solve the problem.
Question pages shouldalwayshavehetp andexitoptions
Designs Tipsand Tricks
Apagedesign is alesson planwith illustrations, demonstrationsandinteractio ns.The followinghintsshouldhelp theteacher design effectivepages and lessons.
There shouldbean option to repeat animations. If animatio nscannot be designed to loop automatically.the stude ntshou ldbemadeaware ofthe Reload Butto non thebrowsermain menu
Content helporparaphrasedpagesshould be available when difficult concepts are introduced.How manytimesmust a classroomteac he r rephrase an explana tio n to ensu re the message isunderst ood?
Directio nsor procedural help shouldbe constantlyavailable Exam ples shouldfollow rules.Students quicklypass by information unlessthey arechallenged.One waytoslo wthem downis to requirethem to think aboutand applythe presentedinformation.
An Exit Buttonoroptionshou ldalways be available,along with instructionsof how the studentmay restartthe tutorial at a later time
Important featurescanbemarked on picturesusinga paint program, to make surethatstudentsdonot mis-identify definitionsand content
Major sectionscan be distinguis hedby some son ofvisible change, such as a persistenticon or a specificcoloured backgrounds. Note the colours used forthe sections ofthisguide
Menus or buttons shouldbeloca ted at thetop and bottom of a page.
Menuslocated along the topare excellentfor navigatingthrough atutori al or lesson hierarchy and canbeutilizedquicklywitho utwaiting fortherem ainder of the page to download.Butto nslocated atthebottom ofthe page forcethe userto scroll do wnto locatethem.Howe ver,some users ignore contentwhile scrolIing iffocu sed onfinding the buttons
39 A student'sperceptionof concepts on a HTML page maybe influencedbydetail, sound.colour.fontsize,animation.positionof screen elements,etc. andmay be confused bycompeting stimuli. Some pages suffer from"o verkill" whe re there is suc hvariety thatthe"messag e" islost.
Scro llingshouldbeavoided.Experienc ehasshownthat peopleprefer 10 clickforward as opposed to scrollingdownward. Pagesmaybeevaluated basedupon initial visible contentalone.
Step-by-stepskills are best listed or tabled.Activities canbe photographed instagesof completion
Student interaction shouldbeencoura ged oneach pagebyrequiring himlher toanswer aquestion.point to aspecificfeature.takenoteof vocabulary fo rlateruse. etc
Ruction to theIMCDGuide
The guidewaspresented toteachersin twodifferent ways (I)onaone-to-on e basis withdetailedexplanations anddescrip tion s of my objectives and philosoph y; and(2) to groups.suchas a graduateeducationclass.a teache r in-serviceheld at Bishop s College, and the monthlymeeting ofthe Atlanta Technol ogy CoordinatorsAssoc iation
Duringthewritingoftheguidefee db ack from fellowgraduat estu de ntsoccurredon an almost-dailybasis.They suggested thatthe guide shouldbeplacedon-linewhile it was being written asan aidto their productionof pagesforccursewo rk. These requestsled to thefollowing statementonthethird page of theguide: "Thispreliminarydraft of theskills manualis beingwrittenonlineandpages willbere-designed.re-ed ited andre-thought almost on adailybasis.Oneofthereaso nsforsuch an open approachtothecrea tion of this guide isthat a number of myfellow graduatest udentsand teachershave expr essedan interestin upgrad ing theirskills duringthesummer break.~
40 Impres sions ofthe CurriculumSection suggest edthat nonehadthoughtof the elementsof designbeforewhendesigningwebpages.Moststudents were impressedby structuressuchas merusequencing10createrutorialsandsectionconsistencybybackground colour.Alternatively,itwassuggestedona rwnberofoccasionsthatsome ofmypageswere
"oved oaded"withtext,breaking oneof my owndesignsugg estions.Also,itwas through one-to-onefeedbackthat someone suggestedlinks to softwaresourcesshouldbeincluded Thegeneral impression wasthaiexplanationsfor how tousemultimedia should be keptas sim pleas possible.with[OIS of exam ples
Perhapsthe mostdetailed one-on-one inspections ofthelMeDGuideinvolved conversat ionsabouttechnical aspects ofthe multimedia sectionwith fello w membersfrom
"themultimedia pit--Rob CessandJason Auc. Jasonreviewed theentire guideand suggestedchangesto make aspects of...ideo prod uction andJAVAapplets more easily understood Both recom mend edthe VIVOprogramfor screaming videoandavoiding excessivedownloadwaittimes.Thefinalresultwas thaimorethantwenty of the guide pages,includingallof the curricul um designpages, were chosen to beincorpo ratedintothe Memorial!Bishops CollegeMultimediaTeaching Strategies Project.
ThelMCD guidewas presented toagroup of approximatelyfiftee n reacher sduring aJulymultimediaworkshop offered.111 Bishops Collegein 1996 Thehajf-hour presentation stressedthephiloso phythat pagesshouldbe"designed"and notmerelywriuen.That tobe effective teachingtools.as much timehad tobedevotedtopagedesignas creatinglesson plans orsettinguplaboratorydemonstrations.Feedback sugg estedthattheguide was
detailedand comprehensive;maybe too muchso for teachers just learning:how to conduct Internet searches anduse a video camera.However .many teachers liked it as a supplement to further augmentskills learnedthrough"hands-o n- experience
The topics forthe October[996 AtlantaTechnology Coordinators Association monthlymeeting were the IMCD Guide, and aWebsite ValidationProjectauthoredbyDr Jean Brown'sgraduate class inteacherlibrarianship This three hour meetingof rhmv-five coordinatorswas organized as two sessions. each with ahalf-hour presentation,"hands-o n"
experience and discussion The general reactioninthisgroup was extremelypositive \lany hadalreadyencouraged teachers 10 teach informat iontechnologyskills based uponInternet experience and were eagerforany discussion abou tvalidity However,fewhad thought about design elements tobeincorporated in pages tobeused in teaching Groups of teachers chose specifictopicssuch as animation,audioand picture editingand worked withthe (\ ICO Guide to produceand enhance theirown pages
Coordinators at this meetinglikedthe menu choice of choosing specifictopicsor usingit as a numberedtutorial Itwas suggestedthatthe [\1CDGuide not be kept to teachers buthe accessible10 secondary school students Itwas generally felt that the curriculumsection was onlya beginningandthatmany otheraspects of effectiveteaching couldbe examinedwith respect 10design. The resu ltof the meeting was that many coordinators decided to promotetheIMCD Guide and refer their reachers and students to my website
