CHAPTER 1: MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING

A. LEARNING

Learning is the development of new knowledge, skills or attitudes as an interact with information and the environment. The learning environment includes the physical facilities, the psychological atmosphere, instructional methods, media and technology.

1. Psychological Perspectives on Learning

• Behaviorist Perspective

In the mid 1950s the focus of learning research started to shift from from stimulus design (communication) to learner response to stimuli. At the forefront of the movement was B.F. Skinner. He based his learning theory, known as reinforcement theory, on a series of experiment with pigeons, and he reasoned that the same procedures could be used with humans. The result was the emergence of programmed instruction, a technique of leading a learner through a series of instructional steps to a desired level of performance.

• Cognitive Perspective

Cognitivists create a mental model of short-term and long term memory. New information is stored in short-term memory, where it is “rehearsed” until ready to be stored in long-term memory. If the information is not rehearsed, it fades from short-term memory.

Learners then combine the information and skills in long-term memory to develop cognitive strategies, or skills for dealing with complex tasks. Cognitivists have a broader perception of independent learning than that held by behaviorists. A close look at the work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget illustrates how a cognitive psychologist views the mental processes individuals use in responding to their environment. The three key concepts of mental development in Piaget’s work are schemata, assimilation, and accommodation (Piaget, 1977).

• Schemata 

Schemata (singular, schema) are the mental structures by which individuals organize their perceived environment. Schemata are adapted or changed during mental development and learning. They are used to identify, process, and store incoming information and can be thought of as categories individuals use to classify specific information and experiences.

Very young children learn to distinguish between mother and father. They soon separate dogs from cats and later become aware of different varieties of dogs: These differentiations based on experience lead to the development of schemata, or the ability to classify objects by their significant characteristics.

• Assimilation 

Assimilation is the cognitive process by which a learner integrates new information and experiences into existing schemata. Piaget borrowed the term from biology, where it refers to the process by which an organism eats food, digests it, and then assimilates or changes it into a usable form.

During learning, assimilation results from experiences. With new experiences, the schema expands in size but does not change its basic structure. Using the process of assimilation, the individual attempts to place new concepts into existing schemata.

• Accommodation

The process of modifying existing or creating new ones is called accommodation. Because schemata change with experience, adult learners have a broader and more elaborate range of schemata than do children. When dealing with a new concept or experience, the learner attempts to assimilate it into existing schemata. There are two possible responses:

1. The learner can create a new schema into which the new stimulus is placed, or
2. The existing schema can be modified so that the new stimulus will fit. Both of these process are form of accommodation.

• Constructivist Perspective

Constructivism is a movement that extends beyond the beliefs of the cognitivist.  It considers as the essence of learning. The shift is from passive transfer of information to active problem solving. Constructivists emphasize that learners create their own interpretations of the world of information. The constructivist believes that learning occurs most effectively when students are engaged in authentic tasks that relate to meaningful contexts. The ultimate measure of learning is therefore based on the ability of the student to use knowledge to facilitate thinking in real life.

• Social-Psychological Perspective

Social psychology is another well-established tradition in the study of instruction and learning. Social psychologists look at the effects of the social organization of the classroom on learning. In recent years, researchers such as Robert Slavin have taken the position that cooperative learning is both more effective and more socially beneficial than competitive and individualistic learning (Slavin, 1990). Slavin developed a set of cooperative learning techniques that embodies the principles of small-group collaboration, learner-controlled instruction, and rewards based on group achievement.

Approaches to Instruction

Instruction is the arrangement of information and environment to facilitate learning. By environment we mean not only where instruction takes place but also the methods, media, and technology needed to convey information and guide the learner’s study. Instructions and instructional designers need to develop an eclectic attitude toward competing schools of learning psychology.

Finding a Middle Ground

Inspired by each of the psychological perspectives, designers have developed powerful frameworks for instruction. Indeed, successful instructional practices have features that are supported by virtually all the various perspectives:

• Active participations
• Practice
• Individual differences
• Feedback
• Realistic contexts
• Social interaction

The learning frameworks that we will examine in detail all attempt to incorporate a number of these pedagogical features.

2. Philosophical Perspective on Learning

If teachers perceive learners as machines, they will treat them as such, with or without the use of instructional media and technology. If teachers perceive their students as human beings with rights, privileges, and motivations of their own, with or without the aid of media and technology, they will view students as people engaged in learning. In other words, it is the way that media and technology are used, not the media and technology themselves, that tend to mechanize people.

Students with a high level of anxiety are prone to make mistakes and to learn less efficiently when under pressure. Many times, stressful learning situations for high- anxiety students make it difficult for them to succeed. Given the same sequence of instruction mediated through technology that will continue only at the command of the students, it may be possible to reduce the pressure.

B. MEDIA

A medium (plural, media) is a channel of communication. Derived from the Latin word meaning “between”, the term refers to anything that carries information between a source and a receiver. The purpose of media is to facilitate communication.

Since the turn of the century, teachers have used various types of audio and visual aids to help them teach. Recently, teachers have expanded their repertoire of materials and procedures to include the new technologies for learning. The newer techniques include the use of computers, compact discs, digital videodiscs (DVDs), satellite communication, and the internet.

The Concrete-Abstract Continuum

In general, as you move up Dale’s Cone of Experience toward the more abstract media, more information can be compressed into a shorter period of time. It takes more time for students to engage in a direct purposeful experience, a contrived experience, or a dramatized experience than it does to present the same information in a videotape, a recording, a series of visual symbols, or a series of verbal symbols.

C. THE ROLES OF MEDIA IN LEARNING

Media can serve many roles in learning. The instruction may be dependent on the presence of a teacher (instructor directed). Even in this situation, media may be heavily used by the teacher. On the other hand, the instruction may not require a teacher. Such student-directed instruction is often called “self-instruction” even though it is in fact guided by whoever designed the media.

• Instructor-Directed Instruction

The most common use of media in an instructional situation is for supplemental support of the “live” instructor in the classroom. Certainly, properly designed instructional media can enhance and promote learning and support teacher-based instruction. But their effectiveness depends on the instructor.

Research has long indicated the importance of the instructor’s role in effective use of instructional media. For example, early studies showed that when teachers introduced films, relating them to learning objectives, the amount of information students gained from films increased (Wittich & Fowlkes, 1946).

Advance organizers can be effective instruments for ensuring that media play their proper role as supplemental supporters of instruction. Many commercially available materials today have built-in advance organizers, which may be used as is or adapted by the instructor. Specific examples from this text include the photo essays at the beginning of each chapter, the chapter outlines, lexicons, and the chapter organization chart.

• Instructor-Independent Instruction

The use of self-instructional materials allows teachers to spend more of their time diagnosing and correcting students problems, consulting with individual students, and teaching  one on one and in small groups. Indeed, under certain circumstances, the entire instructional task can be left to the media. Experimental programs have demonstrated, for example, that an entire course in high svhool physics can be successfully taught through the use of videotapes and workbooks without direct classroom intervention  by the teacher. Successful computer-based courses in calculus have been developed for use by able students whose high schools have no such course.

• Media Portfolios

A portfolio is a collection of student work that illustrates growth over a period of time. Portfolios often include such artifacts as student-produced illustrated books, videos, and audiovisual presentations. Portfolios allow students to do the following:

a) Gather, organize, and share information
b) Analyze relationships
c) Test hypotheses
d) Communicate the result effectively
e) Record a variety of performances
f) Reflect on their learning and activities
g) Emphasize their goals, outcomes, and priorities
h) Demonstrate their creativity and personality

Portfolios could contain the following artifacts:
1. Written documents such as poems, stories, or research papers.
2. Media presentations, such as slide sets or photo essays.
3. Audio recordings of debates, panel discussions, or oral presentations.
4. Video recordings of students’ athletic, musical, or dancing skills.
5. Computer multimedia projects incorporating print, data, graphics, and moving images.

Portfolio assessment is consistent with the constructivist philosophy, which emphasizes that what is important is the knowledge that students themselves construct. The idea of portfolio assessment, then, is to measure students’ achievement by their ability to create tangible products exemplifying their accomplishments in term of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Portfolios provide a broad picture of what students know and can do. They can portray both the process and products of student works, as well as demonstrate student growth. Students reflection should be an important component of portfolios. Self-reflection actively involves students in assessing their own learning and actively promotes reflection on their work and abilities.

• Electronic Portfolios

Electronic portfolios are a means of organizing, designing, and viewing traditional styles of portfolios. They are was assessing student learning using technology. Physical and social development can be measured as well (Campbell, 1996). Electronic portfolios have advantages over traditional portfolios in the way they are created and navigated. Creating electronic portfolios can expand the size of the audience to include other teachers, principals, parents, and students.

To create electronic portfolios with full capabilities hardware is needed: a computer with audio and video capabilities, video camera, digital camera, color scanner, software program and internet accessibility.

• Distance Education

Distance education is a rapidly developing approach to instruction worldwide. The approach has been widely used by business, industrial, and medical organizations. The distinguishing characteristics of distance education is the separation of the instructional team and student’s during the learning process. As a consequence, the course content must be delivered by instructional media. In addition, radio, broadcast television, and teleconferences are utilized for “live” distance education.

• Education for Exceptional Students

Media play an important role in the education of students with exceptionalities. Adapted and specially designed media can contribute enormously to effective instruction of all students an can help them achieve at their highest potential regardless of their innate abilities. Adjusting instruction for all exceptional groups requires heavy reliance on media and materials and the appropriate selection of these materials to fit specific purposes.

D. METHOD

Instructional methods have been described as “presentation form” such as lecturers and discussions. Method are the procedures of instruction selected to help learners achieve the objectives or to internalize the content or message. Media then, as already defined, are carriers of information between a source and a receiver.

Ten Method Categories

• Presentation

In the presentation method, a source tells, dramatizes or otherwise disseminators in formation to learners. It is a one way communication controlled by the source, with no immediate response from or interaction with learners. The source may be a textbook, an audiotape, a videotape, a film, an instructor, and so forth. Reading a book, listening to an audiotape, viewing a videotape, and attending a lecture are examples of the presentation method.

• Demonstration

Demonstrations may be recorded and played back by means of media such as video. If two-way interaction or learner practice with feedback is desired, a live instructor or a tutor is needed.

• Discussion

Discussion involves the exchange of ideas and opinions among students or among students and teacher. It can be used at any stage of the instruction/learning process, and in small or large groups. It is a useful way of assessing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of a group of students before finalizing instructional objectives, particularly if it is a group the instructor has never taught before.

• Drill and Practice

In drill-and-practice learners are led through a series of practice exercise designed to increase fluency in a new skill or to refresh an existing one and received some instruction on the concept, principle, or procedure that is to be practiced. To be effective, the drill-and-practice exercises should include feedback to reinforce correct responses and to remediate errors learners might make along the way.

• Tutorial

A tutor-in the form of a person, computer software, or special printed materials-presents the content, poses a question or problem, requests a learner’s response, analyzes her response, supplies appropriate feedback, and provides practice until the learner demonstrates a predetermined level of competency. Tutoring is most often done one on one and is frequently used to teach basic skills, such as reading and arithmetic.

Tutorial arrangements include instructor-to-learner, learner-to-learner, computer-to-learner, and print-to-learner. The computer is especially well suited to play the role of tutor because of its ability to deliver speedily a complex menu of responses to different learner inputs.

• Cooperative Learning

Many educators have criticized the competitive atmosphere that dominates many classrooms in public schools and higher education. They believe that pitting student against student in the attainment of grades is contrary to the social requirements of cooperation in life and in most on-the-job situations. Teacher and students often  find themselves in a situation where the main emphasis is on test taking and grading. There are other ways to assess student learning, such as the portfolios described earlier in this chapter. Competition in the classroom also interferes with students learning from each other.

Students can learn cooperatively not only by discussing text and viewing media but also by producing media. For example, the design and production of a video or a slide set as a curriculum project presents an opportunity for cooperative learning. The teacher should be a working partner with the students in such learning situations.

• Gaming

Gaming provides a playful environment in which learners follow prescribed rules as they strive to attain a challenging goal. It is a highly motivating technique, especially for tedious and repetitive content. The game may involve one learner or a group of learners. Games often require learners to use problem-solving skills or to demonstrate mastery of specific content demanding a high degree of accuracy and efficiency.

One common type of instructional game is related to learning about business. Participant form management teams to make decisions regarding a mythical corporation, the team with the highest corporate profits is the winner.

• Simulation

Simulation involves confronting a scaled-down version of a real-life situation. It allows realistic practice without the expense or risks otherwise involved. The simulation may involve participant dialog, manipulation of materials and equipment, or interaction with a computer.

Interpersonal skills and laboratory experiments in the physical sciences are popular subjects for simulations. In some simulations learners manipulate mathematical models to determine the effect of changing certain variables, such as controlling a nuclear power plant. Role playing is another common example of the simulation method.

• Discovery

The discovery method uses an inductive, or inquiry, approach to learning; it present problems to be solved through trial and error. The aims of the discovery method Is to foster a deeper understanding of the content through involvement with it. The rules or procedures that learners discover may be derived from previous experience, based on information in reference books, or stored in a computer database. Discovery learning can assume the form of helping students to seek the information they wish to know about a topic of specific interest to them.

• Problem Solving

Problem solving involves placing students in the active role of being confronted with a novel problem situated in the real world. Students start with limited knowledge, but through peer collaboration and consultation they develop, explain, and defend a solution or position on the problem. It uses reality-based, problem-centered materials that are often presented by media. As a part of solving the problem, students go to the library media center and/or access computer databases through the internet.