Multimedia Technology in Teaching and Learning process
Posted by Wilfred Onineh | 2 years ago | 1,602 times
Multimedia is new in the teaching and learning process; which has been interpreted by different people in different ways to mean different things. Some people see multimedia as just computer based instruction. It goes beyond this.
The name ‘multi’ in multimedia means ‘many’, this implies that many media are put together to form a single medium of instruction which is facilitated through the use of the computer. The computer acts as the compiler. Another word that could be used is ‘integration’ of different media to form a single medium. “Multimedia is the exciting combination of computer hardware and software that allows you to integrate video, animation, audio, graphics, and test resources to develop effective presentations on an affordable desktop computer”
We hear people talk about technology, and sometimes we say it too. Why is there so much stress on technology today both within and outside the educational cycle? The popularity of it means there is something peculiar with the term.
Teaching is a term that is technically heard everyday. The term is used both formally and informally. Teachers are those who help learners to learn, usually in school. The teachers need to pass through some processes so as to be able to help the learners learn properly. These processes which the teacher undergoes are what is referred to as ‘teaching’ that is the process of direction or impartation.
Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skill through study, experience or teaching. It is a process that depends on experience and leads to long-term changes in behavior potential.
Multimedia Technology (MMT) supports the use of a computer connected to a Multimedia Projector (MMP), this allows large or small images to be projected onto a standard white board. Multimedia Technology is very useful in the classroom environment. Some people feel that the use of multimedia in teaching may render the teacher jobless. This concept is contrary to the true concept of multimedia in teaching. Multimedia has a lot of benefits for the teacher. It enhances the job of the teacher, allows creativity, saves time, learners contact time is increased, ineffective learning activities are replaced. Why is Multimedia Technology used in the classroom? When a computer is connected to a multimedia projector, it gives opportunity for the whole class delivery of information, allows equality access of information, enables the use of multimedia files to enhance understanding of ideas and concepts such as text, pictures, animations, graphs, sound and video files, supports a high level of interactive lesson with supportive lesson Materials, enhance the delivery of differentiated learning opportunities through the extended activities. In addition to knowing why Multimedia Technology is used in the
classroom; it is also important that we know how Multimedia Technology can be used in the Classroom.
There are different ways Multimedia Technology can be used in the classroom; it all depends on the learning intention or behavioral objectives of the lesson. It is the class teacher that needs to decide how best to support the lesson. Supportive media are available in the form of text, ‘files’, held on CDs, the Internet and floppy/flash disk. The use of any of these depends on the class requirement. Whereby the teacher is using commercially produced software, he/she may choose to use the learners own work to support the learning intention. In order to allow the class teacher to deliver an interactive lesson, the chosen media need to be in a format that will allow it to be adapted or
customized by the class teacher, that is to say that the prepared lesson material runs in parallel with the media being displayed. The following shows the various ways in which files could be selected: Text, Sound files, Animation files, Pictures/Maps/Charts and Video files, File Integration.
Knowing the terms used in multimedia for teaching and learning would help the teacher to understand the depth of what is required in the course of production and utilization of multimedia. It is therefore important for you as a teacher for an effective teaching and learning process to take place, to understand all the integrity involved in multimedia technology for teaching and learning in our classrooms.
