MULTIMEDIA – AS A TOOL IN ENHANCING HIGHER EDUCATION
A.Tholappan R. Segamalam @ Vaanathi
Abstract Education lays the foundation of our future citizens, civilization and society at large. The concept of learning throughout life is emerging as one of the key aspects of 21st Century learning. It has a key role in formulating and achieving a future vision. The vision of future of all the nation is reaching the sustainable Economic and Social development through education. The ratio of enrolment in Higher Education is a major factor in determining the economic status of the countries. The percentage of 30 to 40 of the young person of a country of the age group between 18 and 23 is in the college and university is considered as providing for mass higher education. If this percentage goes above 70 to 80 that country is providing universal higher education. Today Colifornia on USA is approaching universal higher education. The Western Europe are approaching the state of mass higher education. In India we are in the state of Mass Secondary Education and Universal Primary Education. Even though the present 13% Enrolment ratio in Higher Education, we may take about 30 years to reach the state of Mass Higher Education and about 50 years to reach the state of Universal Higher Education. Knowledge in doubling in a period of about 10 years and thus it will become roughly ten times of what it is today by the end of the country. The Indian educational system has to meet the challenges of knowledge explosion and its requirement of increased enrolment in Higher Education. Computer and technology plays a predominant role to meet out its challenges. Recent innovative educational approache recommend self and sensory oriented instruction. Computer based multimedia is a tool rich enough to enhancing the knowledge and skills. INTRODUCTION
Hardware approach or media approach of Educational Technology, in the field of education is developing at a remarkable rate in recent years. Its demand is increasingly day by day. In continuation, the use of media and multimedia proves itself to be an indispensable part of system analysis too. It can be used in the process of teachinglearning as well as evaluation. In order to use multimedia effectively in teaching and
learning process, the teachers should be well acquainted with its uses, practice and technical aspects during their professional practices so that they can be mentally equipped for its preparation and effective use in the actual classroom as well as in distance education. It is the need for the hour to teachers to equip their knowledge about role of multimedia in Higher Education.
Teachers primarily require access to learning resources, which can support concept development by learners in a variety of ways to meet individual learning needs. The development of multimedia technologies for learning offers new ways in which learning can take place in schools and home. Enabling teachers to have access to multimedia learning resources, allows the teacher to focus more on being a facilitator of learning while working with individual students. Extending the use of multimedia learning resources to the home represents an educational opportunity with the potential to improve student learning.
DEFINITIONS
“Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio, video, animation in addition to traditional media (i.e., text, graphics, drawing, images)”.
“Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, audio and any other media where every types of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and processed digitally”.
APPROACHES IN MULTIMEDIA LEARNING
Multimedia represents a potentially powerful learning technology, that is, a system for human learning. A practical goal of research on multimedia is to device design principles for multimedia presentations. In addressing the goals, it is useful to distinguish between to two approaches to multimedia design;
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Technology – Centered Approach and
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Learner – Centered Approach.
Technology-Centered Approach Technology-centered approach begins with the functional capabilities of multimedia and these capabilities can be used in designing multimedia presentation. The focus is on how to incorporate multimedia into emerging communication technologies.
Learner-Centered Approach Learner-centered approaches offer an important alternative to technologycentered approaches. Learner-centered approaches begin with an understanding of how the human minds works and adopt multimedia to enhance human learning. The focus is on using multimedia technology as an aid to human cognition.
The Elements of Multimedia in Education It is very tempting to use the latest computer wizardry to represent information and develop computer enhanced learning materials. However, the instructional design of these systems should be based on a careful examination and analysis of the many factors, both human and technical, relating to visual learning. Students must be able to select appropriate multimedia tools and apply them to the learning task within the learning environment in order for effective learning to take place. A Multimedia Learning environment involves a number of components or elements in order to enable learning to take place. Hardware and software are only part of the requirement. As mentioned earlier, multimedia learning integrates five types of media to provide flexibility in expressing the creativity of a student and in exchanging ideas. CHARACTERISTICS OF MULTIMEDIA
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Multimedia storage and retrieval systems contains more information than any human training agent can possibly embrace and have many terminals through
which students have access to the information. ●
The development of multimedia instructional and support systems have provided the tools for creating learning centres in which a very large number of models of learning can be actualized over a great range of content with considerable variation in complexity.
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By employing media technology as support systems, we can offer to the students a large number of ways to learn a large number of things.
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What multimedia systems promise is a form which permits the delivery of a range or instructional and informational supports.
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Multimedia systems are not restricted to a single type of learning or instructional mode; they represent a support for a range of them.
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The capability of multimedia systems is markedly greater than that of ordinary classroom practice, in creating a variety of learning models.
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This multimedia device is striking because it provides the opportunity to learn exceedingly complex skills which are related to sets of diverse and precise theoretical knowledge bases.
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The development of multimedia educational systems permit many models of education that otherwise are inconceivable as long as we think of the classroom and the teacher as the primarily mediator of instruction.
PRE-REQUISITES FOR DEVELOPING MULTIMEDIA INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY
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Planning
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Designing the Media
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Production of the Media
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Follow-up
CRITERIA FOR MEDIA SELECTION Many media technologies are their own set of selection criteria. The factors for media selection are given under five groups. They are:
i.
Task Factors
ii.
Leaner Factors
iii.
Physical Attributes
iv.
Instructional Factors and
v.
Economics Factors
Task Factors include:
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Objectives of the content
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Content Variables
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Learning outcomes and
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Learner capability
Learner Factors include:
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Group size
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Student interest
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Age
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Individual differences and
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Physical Disabilities of the learner
Physical Attributes include:
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Visual Media
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Audio Media
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Motion and Colour Pictures and
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Real
Instrucational (Management) Factors include:
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Instructional Strategy
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Degree of Teacher Control
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Teaching-Learning Styles
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Use of Media Taxonomies and
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Instructional Events
Economic Factors include:
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Cost Effectiveness
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Availability
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Time
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Resources and
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Practicability
BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY IN INSTRUCTION
Research provides a multitude of information supporting the use of technology in education at all levels. The four most cited benefits of technology use include:
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Increased Student Learning
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Improved Organizational Strategies by Instructors
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Enhanced Teaching Resources and
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Increased Communication
DESIRABLE FEATURES FOR MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS
The following are the desirable features for multimedia systems:
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Very High Processing Power
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Multimedia Capable File System
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Data Representations / File Formats that Support Multimedia
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Efficient and High Input / Output
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Special Operating System
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Storage and Memory
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Network Support and
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Software Tools
APPLICATIONS
Multimedia applications include:
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World Wide Web
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Hypermedia Courseware
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Video Conferencing
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Video-on-demand
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Interactive TV
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Groupware
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Home Shopping
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Games
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Virtual Reality
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Digital Video Editing and Production Systems and
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Multimedia Database Systems
TRENDS IN MULTIMEDIA Current big applications areas in Multimedia include:
World Wide Web ●
Hypermedia systems - embrace nearly all multimedia technologies and application areas. Ever increasing popularity.
MBone ●
Multicast Backbone: Equivalent of conventional TV and Radio on the
Internet.
Enabling Technologies ●
Developing at a rapid rate to support ever increasing need for Multimedia. Carrier, Switching, Protocol, Application, Coding/Compression, Database, Processing, and System Integration Technologies at the forefront of this.
ROLE OF TEACHERS
Teaching is one of the most complex human endeavors imaginable. Teachers arrange content information around organizing ideas, determine appropriateness of available resources, and make judgment about the people involved. The teacher is often the primary information source, unless the teacher functions solely as a facilitator of information. The complexity of instruction increases when the teacher is considered as facilitator rather than as a sole source of information. As facilitator, the teacher arranges the classroom interaction so as to motivate the leaner and to direct the learner to different ways of knowing. The role of a teacher requires an ever increasing ability to individualize learning, arrange optimal group situations, promote critical thinking and select important content information so as to reach the un-reached pupils provided with developed multimedia packages and make the learners satisfied.
CONCLUSION
Integrating and applying technologies is a complicated issue. We have to make known the benefits associated with technology use. We have to address the barriers that increase the use of technology. There exists a wide range of information regarding technology integration on the Internet, via television and media, in textbooks and from researchers worldwide.
The formation of multimedia groups within universities is a healthy indicator of staff commitment to developing high quality Computer Assisted Learning materials.
In the 21st century, technology plays an ever increasing role in higher education. Institutions have to adopt technologies that will change the way students learn, communicate, produce, collaborate, and study, as well as improve interactions between faculty, staff, and students.
Now it is high time to adopt multimedia systems etc., to enable the teacher to communicate to large groups of students in Indian classroom situations.
REFERENCES
Erickson, Carlton, W.H., and Kent, C. Gustafson, (1972), “Fundamentals of Teaching with Audio Visual Technology”, Mac Millan Company, New York.
Romiszowski, A. J., (1974)., “The Selection and Use of Instructional Media”, London: Kogan Page.
Kemp, E. Jerrold , Dayton, K. D. et al., (1980), “Planning and Producing Instructional Media”, 5th Edition, Harper and Row Pule, New York.
Reiser, R. and Gagne, R. M., (1983), “Selecting Media for Instruction”, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Educational Tech., Publication.
Kemp, E. Jerrold, (1985), “The Instructional Design Process”, Harper and Row, New York.
Romizowski, A. J., (1986), “The Instructional Development – I Producing Instructional
Materials”, Kogan Page, London.
Robert Heinich, Michael Molenda and James D.Russell, (1990), “Instructional Media and New Technologies of Instruction”, Mac Millan Publ., New York.
Lowe, D and Hall, (1999), “Hypermedia and the Web: An Engineering Approach”, Willey and Sons Publications.
Charles M. Reigeluth, “Instructional Design Theories and Models – An Overview of their Current Status”, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London.
Vemon, S., Gerlack, Donald, P. Ely, and Rob. Malnick, “Teaching and Media A Systematic Approach”, Englewoold Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, Inc.
A.Tholappan, Assistant Professor Dept. of Education, Centre for Distance Education, Bhrathidasan University, Tamil Nadu R. Segamalam @ Vaanathi, Assistant Professor Directorate of Distance Education, Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu
