Final Research Paper

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AU_1OSffc1VHZGN0YjNjNjlfMmRuZjNodGN3&hl=en

Just in case you are unable to read this in google docs, here is my research paper:
Eric Rosenthal
May 4, 2010
English 303/ Baldwin
Final Research Paper:
The Effects of Multimedia on Education

Throughout this semester, the English 303 course has pondered the questions, what is a multimedia author, and how does multimedia writing enable new forms of creativity? As the course has progressed, it has been established that anyone can be a multimedia author and that multimedia writing enables many new forms of creativity. This is a general view of what took a semester long look into the world of multimedia and the multimedia author. As this paper goes on, it will point to more specific arguments concerning these topics. Yet it will do so through the lens of how multimedia has effected education. In the initial days of pondering this essay, it was easier to believe that multimedia has hurt education and learning. However, as more research was collected, the thesis of this paper changed to believing that the functions of multimedia have instead helped education and learning; and in turn it has allowed for a better understanding of the multimedia author and the forms of creativity enabled.
Before being able to make a judgment on whether or not multimedia is beneficial to education, one must first analyze the different functions and applications of multimedia. Abhaya Asthana from Bell Labs at Lucent Technology in Westford, Massachusetts has broken down multimedia into five groupings. Asthana believes "multimedia combines five basic types of media into the learning environment: text, video, sound, graphics, and animation, thus providing a powerful new tool in education." Asthana states this in the article "Multimedia in Education." Asthana gives concrete definitions of what makes these five types of media. "Out of all of the elements, text has the most impact on the quality of the multimedia interaction. Generally, text provides the important information. Text acts as the keystone tying all of the other media elements together.” Text is used in practically all types of multimedia. The next type of multimedia is sound. “Sound is used to provide emphasis or highlight a transition from one page to another. Sound synchronized to screen display, enables teachers to present lots of information at once. This approach is used in a variety of ways, all based on visual display of a complex image paired with a spoken explanation.” Asthana believes that the sound component of multimedia can be a distraction because it can be used wrong at times. However Asthana also believes that it can be used to stimulate a student’s imagination, which of course is a good thing. Therefore the sound component of multimedia is also a key component in student’s learning. The next component is video. “The representation of information by using the visualization capabilities of video can be immediate and powerful. While this is not in doubt, it is the ability to choose how we view, and interact, with the content of digital video that provides new and exciting possibilities for the use of digital video in education.” Asthana makes it clear that the video component is crucial in the creativity factor of multimedia. Not only is it helpful in the learning aspect of education, but it also provides ways to express new forms of multimedia. The next aspect of multimedia is animation. “Animation is used to show changes in state over time, or to present information slowly to students so they have time to assimilate it in smaller chunks. Animations, when combined with user input, enable students to view different versions of change over time depending on different variables.” Animation is a great way for students with disabilities to learn as it allows for student’s to learn at their own pace. The last aspect is graphics. “Graphics provide the most creative possibilities for a learning session. They can be photographs, drawings, graphs from a spreadsheet, pictures from CD-ROM, or something pulled from the Internet.” Asthana believes that graphics allow for students to truly use their imagination. Asthana gets more specific by labeling these as “cortical skills: color, form, line, dimension, texture, visual rhythm.” Asthana concludes that while all of these types of multimedia are great for education, it is the actually implementing of these methods by students that allows for greater learning. Therefore Asthana believes students need to “produce” multimedia documents in order to reach the greatest amount of learning possible.
David R. Wetzel, who has a Ph.D. in Education from George Mason University, a Master's Degree in Science and Math Education from Old Dominion University, and a Bachelor Degree in Business from Saint Leo University, seconds Asthana’s beliefs. Wetzel noticed through his many years teaching, that students learn at different rates and through different stimuli. This made Wetzel search for an ultimate source to help all of his students. While there was no one way to perfectly teach all of his students, he realized that by using the five concepts of multimedia, he was able to better the student’s learning levels. Wetzel contributes this to certain advantages of using “internet based multimedia.” In his article “Multimedia Advantages When Teaching K-12 Science,” Wetzel comes up with the conclusion that “Teaching with Internet-Based Resources Increase Interest in Learning.” He points to four reasons for his student’s better learning and ability to learn at a faster rate. They are “animation (which encourages student interaction), videos (which stimulates visual senses to encourage interaction), sound (which stimulates the auditory senses to encourage interaction), and student interest (because concepts are conveyed quickly and effectively to students).” Wetzel recommends the use of multimedia in education and believes that we should embrace new technology because it can help students learn in ways older techniques of education could not.
The concept of using multimedia in education is not necessarily new. However the frequency and methods of some multimedia we use today is seen as innovative because of the way many people use to think of multimedia. Many people have precontrived notions of multimedia. A common belief is that using multimedia is only for advanced users and therefore its benefits would be limited. This common thought is denounced however in the journal “Beyond the Basics,” where the article “Multimedia Authoring: It’s not just for Experts Anymore” claims that anybody is capable of producing and learning from multimedia. This article questions the multimedia author. It claims that many people believe only computer engineers are able to make use of certain types of multimedia and thus the multimedia author is somebody with a Ph.D. Yet the article goes on to define the multimedia author as somebody who believes “Using an audio- and video-laden presentation has always been an effective method of making your point. If we can see it and hear it, it can affect us. But if we can interact with the presentation in some manner, we have a much greater chance of remembering the information.” The people that act on this belief, according to this article are thus multimedia authors.
Another example of multimedia’s effects on educational learning is shown in an experiment that was done by California State University at Bakersfield students Yeunjoo Lee and Kurt Keckley. It was in this experiment that these two students showed how the use of multimedia positively affected special education students in driver education courses. The outcome of this research concluded that, “as a result of the lessons, the students significantly improved their scores on posttests. In addition, the multimedia lesson was shown to be more effective than a non-multimedia lesson.” This testing shows first hand results that support the “Beyond Basics” journal. Anyone can be a multimedia author and anyone can benefit from multimedia learning. The use of PowerPoint in these experiments was crucial. It directly influenced the stimuli of the special education students. This shows the range of creativity the multimedia author has in creating new forms of multimedia.
In an article titled, “Elementary and Secondary School Lesson Plans: Technology in the Classroom with Multimedia Lesson Plans,” Wendy Russell explains certain creative ways teachers can teach through the use of multimedia. Russell believes that in today’s day and age, all teachers should adapt to the times and learn how to become multimedia authors. Russell goes on to say that she believes it is easy to become a multimedia author today and therefore teachers should help their students by adapting to newer and more beneficial teaching techniques. Russell explains that teachers can use power points to teach anything from math to the formation of clouds in the sky. It is the essence of creativity that allows for teachers to take teaching to the next level. Russell believes the flexibility in making multimedia features allow for creativity in teaching to really show.
Another way, in which creativity is shown through multimedia, is the way certain educational institutions have had to adapt to newer technologies. Since newer technologies have allowed for anybody to become a multimedia author, the pressure is on for people to stay current with times. An example of this is through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where the school’s newspaper has had to stray away from just black and white printing of campus news. In a Washington Post article, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel, Andrew Dunn, speaks about the ways the paper has had to change in order to keep up with their readers. Dunn talks about the decline in print newspaper readers and thus The Daily Tar Heel’s adaptation to their online issue of the paper. Without this online supplement to the print edition, Dunn believes there would be very few readers of his paper. Part of this is contributed to the explosion of online social networking components. Dunn states that many people get their news from networks such as instant messenger, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and blogs. Dunn and his paper are not the only one’s to turn to social networking sites in order to increase participants.
Many educational institutions have turned to what was formally known as pop-culture phenomena, in order to better the education of their students. To some, applications such as instant messenger, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and blogs were all used just for fun. However they are all currently being used in the realm of education. In a study by Wooseob Jeong, titled “Instant Messaging in On-Site and Online Classes in Higher Education,” Jeong comes to the conclusion that the use of instant messenger in education is more of a positive than a negative. Jeong points to a specific reason for instant messenger’s positive association with education. The most crucial reason points to the instant communication that students have while using instant messenger. Jeong says that it “expands the student’s comfort zone, [as well as] facilitates flexible office hours.” This ability to increase communication between teacher’s and students is Jeong’s main reason for believing instant messenger is good for education. This is just one way in which these social networks of multimedia have helped in education.
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and blogs have all had similar success in schools that instant messenger has experienced. Each one is usually used in order to better communication. A first hand example of this is in English 303, where all of these multimedia social networks have been discussed. Not only have these aspects of multimedia been discussed, but also some have been implemented. For instance the use of blogs have been crucial throughout the semester. Classmates have been able to compare thoughts and ideas through blogs and other social media aspects. This just goes to show the creativity that goes along with the multimedia author.
The multimedia author is able to be extremely creative and the best part of this creativity is that it is always expanding. Thus there really is no limit to how creative an author can become. This is proven through the “Beyond the Basics” article, which stated that no longer does the multimedia author have to be advanced. Instead anyone can be a multimedia author, and his or her creativity does not have to be limited. This unlimited amount of creativity is critical in allowing multimedia to help education and learning. Therefore, with more advancement in multimedia, there will be more advancement in education and learning.