The Very Essence Of Teaching & Multimedia

Teaching is a wonderfully versatile thing, almost an art form in itself, and most certainly a challenge for all involved. You see, teachers, this day and age don't have a lot of time for learning themselves, you could argue that the holiday periods present a very large time for learning but it's often overlooked as that is the time they create all the teaching materials (possible the most time consuming element of teaching).

So how is a teacher expected to implement multimedia into their teaching methods if they've not enough time to learn how; very frustrating indeed. Learning takes a lot of time, as I'm sure your aware, even the most intensive courses involve hours upon hours of "out of classroom" work.

The dilemma is this: "How do you get knowledge into the teacher's brains without impacting their time?" I came across this dilemma when I needed to teach some teachers how to use certain software programs, Flash in particular. The software in itself harbours some very broad concepts, so how do I teach them how to spice up their lessons with multimedia when all the time they have is a little hour here and there.

I have come up with a method, and maybe this method only applies to software and nothing else, but still, it's a starting point. What if you just taught them the very basics, how to put the pen onto the paper and just taught them enough so that they can have a play and have an experiment. I know one of the most effective ways of learning software is experimentation, testing all the "what ifs" to create something. If I gave the teachers an hour or so of hard training about the very basics and tried to make them feel as comfortable with using the software as possible then, when they have 5 minutes to spare they could have a play around, to see what they could come up with. This can then be done in whatever 5 or 10 can be spared, even possible in a lesson. Also, then provide them with a brief (and i mean brief) idiot's proof guide about everything you taught them and nothing more.

I'm still just testing this method and we'll see how it goes when I have a meeting with some of those involved on Friday but I think there's something there for development at least.

If I can create a multimedia application about these lessons, with voice overs and video examples and interactivity and quizzes, then maybe I'd not need to be there at all... it's worth a thought! After all, I've been saying all along that using multimedia is a very useful advantage! Why not teach teachers how to use multimedia with multimedia?

V-Learning: The Way Forward??????

Alot of interest has fallen on V-Learning or Video Learning. In my opinion, it has a very broad range of capabilities for learning and teaching.

Not just is the resultant file very interesting but it is also very simple to create; There are a very few number of procedures that need to be memorised in order to create a video. Imagine teaching Geography, where your teaching the students about Drainage Basins and Corrie Lakes etc. Wouldn't it be wonderful to show them real world footage of these particular formations and then get the students to bring in some footage of their own to show the class, is that more interesting that writing about them? Of Course it is.

However, V-Learning has it's disadvantages. For one, it isn't at all interactive, so additional methods would need to be employed in order for the child to feel a part of the lesson, secondly, it takes time to acquire the footage, and if your downloading have some copyright infringements to look out for.

Where I think the interest should currently lie is in interactivity. Software like Adobe Captivate and Flash are leading the way with interactivity. What if we take the Geography Example I mentioned above, wouldn't it be better for the students if the video automatically paused for a moment to allow them to annotate certain sections of the freeze-framed image, wouldn't it be better if a quiz magically appeared at the end of each section, testing what each of the students knew about each item? Yes, it would be better.

V-Learning is the way forward, but not directly straight forward, maybe of on a 45degree tangent to forward. It's useful don't get me wrong, but combining it with another type of Mutlimedia (interaction) can bring a whole new dimension to learning. I understand, also, that Interaction Multimedia can be quite difficult, and if showing teachers how to video edit first, at least gets their foot in the door of Multimedia. I am willing to support the notion of V-Learning and all it stands for, but maybe I'll introduce the interaction side of things slowly, as a transition not a jump, after all most of the teachers are taking one hell of a leap for mankind in including video. So anything I can do to support them, they have my full attention.

Who Am I? What Do I Stand For?

My name is Daniel Hanly.

I work for a company called C.E.L.T. (centre for excellence in learning and teaching) based in the University of Glamorgan, in South Wales. It is my job, no, my resposibility to ensure that every child in Rhondda Cynon Taff gets a fun and innovative education, as far from Blackboards and Exercise Books as possible.

I aim to bring Multimedia into all classrooms, to allow students to unlock their full potential (to make them WANT to unlock their full potential) and hopefully bring out the best in them.

It is my hope that this Blog will stimulate teachers and learners all over the country to incorporate Multimedia into their lessons and to bring their lessons alive (even the most boring topics).