4.1 Multimedia | Overview

In my past life, I was a graphic designer. I have a degree in New Media Design. It may come as no surprise, then, that I am excited about exploring the role multimedia can play in the enhancement of learning. 

Below is a list of practical things I learned from working in the new media industry. These points will most likely influence the way in which I implement multimedia within an educational setting.

Things I know about multimedia projects:

• Multimedia projects can be time consuming.
• Planning is crucial to success.
• There are many components to manage at one time. This can increase the difficulty of producing a cohesive end result.
• The process can become more difficult to organise when it is a group project.
• Content. Content. Content. Playing with the tools can sometimes distract from developing effective content.
• It is fun! Learning is achieved through play.
• It is rewarding. The result is a tangible project.
• Practice makes perfect.
• Improvement can be measured by comparing current projects with previous ones.  

Multimedia and 21st Century Literacy:

Multimedia is not new. Photography, film and sound recording have all been around since the 19^th Century. What is new is that multimedia tools have become more affordable and accessible. The evolution of multimedia technologies has allowed the majority of the public to move from passive consumers into content creators. Young people are communicating and interacting with multimedia more regularly. This has led to a reassessment of how to define literacy in the 21^st Century (The New Media Consortium, 2005).

Educators recognise that multimedia is integrating itself into everyday language. In order to effectively practice communication, students need to be equipped with a literacy that goes beyond the written word. Conventions of visual, audio and video communication must also be taught. As The New Media Consortium points out, “21^st century literacy means learning a new grammar with its own rules of construction” (p.3).

Multimedia and the enhancement of learning: 

According to The New Media Consortium report, multimedia has the ability to connect with students and could be applied “in ways that take advantage of exciting new pathways to learning” (p.1). Lesley Ljungdahl (in Winch, Johnston, et al, 2010) describes the myriad ways learning can be enhanced through new technologies,

“The application of technologies can enhance the curricula in imaginative ways beyond ‘fun’; it can add new dimensions to units of study and expand our notions of literacy. Access to a range of resources, wider audiences, and the new media allow the teacher and student to teach and learn in enriching ways. (p.400).”

What do these quotes mean exactly? On one level, this is similar to Prensky’s engage or enrage argument. Multimedia provides teachers the opportunity to design learning experiences that will connect with students and their interests.

At another level, multimedia can act as a learning aid. The benefits in combining visual and audio elements for pedagogical purposes apply to a range of contexts. For instance:

• Learning styles and multiple intelligences. Learning no longer has to favour the written/verbal learners. 
• Learning difficulties. A contributing factor of conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD-related reading difficulties is a limited working memory (Grant, 2005). A learning strategy that is recommended to students with these difficulties is to record their reading. Playing it back at a later date can help with knowledge retention. 

Summary

We live in a media saturated world. As a result, effective multimedia communication is sometimes viewed as assumed knowledge. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Sourcing, managing and manipulating media into a coherent composition requires a certain level of skill. From my experience, learning must take place in order to make the transition from a passive media user into a literate, competent maker.

References:

Grant, D. (2005). Dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD explained. Taylor & Francis.

New Media Consortium, The. (2005). A global imperative: The report of the 21^st Century Literacy Summit. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Global_Imperative.pdf

Winch, G., Johnston, R.R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (2010).

Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (4th ed). South Melbourne, Vic:

Oxford University Press.