Lesson 18: Roles and Functions of an Educational Media Center

Lesson 18: Roles and Functions of an Educational Media Center

What is educational media center?

• ·         Is a place where audio-visual materials and equipment for instructional support were housed.

• ·         It provides a venue for multimedia learning for a more effective instructional process in school.

The Educational Media Center is a unit indispensable to the teacher-training programs of the College. It provides
 the following services to the faculty, staff and students of the College: audio and/or video media materials 
recording services, production services, basic repair services, and consultant service on effective media utilization. 

To do its job, the Center has a collection of audio-visual facilities including cassette tape recorders, 
slide/tape recorders and projectors, film and film strip projectors, overhead and opaque projectors, 
video camera and other production hardware and equipment. For the most part, the Center serves as
 a laboratory for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Educational Technology courses. 

The mission of the Educational Media Center (EMC) is to provide quality support 
for teaching and learning through the integration and use of technology

Responsibility of Media Specialist in Education

• ·         Plan instructional programs

• ·         Share information about resources and search strategies

• ·         Help with the operation of a peace of Help with the operation of a peace of equipment

• ·         Suggest specific resources for a particular unit particular unit

• ·         Provide conducive learning environment

Basic Services of Educational Media Center

• ·         Accessibility of Resources

• ·         Collection

• ·         Reference

• ·         Instruction

• ·         Production

• ·         Consultation

Lesson 17: Assessment in a Constructivist, Technology-Supported Learning

Lesson 17: Assessment in a Constructivist, Technology-Supported Learning

WHAT IS CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY?

Constructivist theory  is a theory to explain on how knowledge is constructed in the human being 

when b information  comes into contact  with  existing   knowledge  tha t has been developed    by

 experiences.  Constructivism  as  a  theory  of  learning  has   existed  for  over  one  hundred years

 but has no been widely accepted or applied in public schools.this theory is just a posed of

 behavioral theory. 

WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY-SUPPORTED LEARNING?

It is used to encourage students especially in facilitating student centered  learning activities.

 It  is  more  than  technology enhance instruction. It recognizes that learning is supported in 

many different ways, even if there is no formal teaching involve.

Students study and learn based on the way they are tested. The type of assessment anticipated 

appears  to  influence  how and what they learn. therefore, the quickest way to change the way 

students learn is to change the way learning is assessed.

 In a technology-supported classroom, the student learns from and with the technology. 

Technology is seen as a source of information that the students learn from in the same

 way  that  the  teacher  are  the  source of information.. the students master facts from

 the concepts from technology and with the aid of technology.

• ·         For example, when a teacher is engaging students in a learning opportunity, the instructor begins to question. The process of questioning not only interests students in a topic, but also gives the instructor an idea of the amount of prior knowledge a learner will bring to the experience.
• ·         During the exploring stage, "...students’ inquiry process drives instruction during an exploration." Driving instruction is one purpose of assessment, whether in a traditional or constructivist classroom.
• ·         During the explain stage, communication occurs between student and teacher. At this point, an instructor can input more information or points of inquiry as needed; again they are actively assessing. Also during the explain stage, artifacts become available that demonstrate concrete evidence of student understanding.
• ·         When students begin to elaborate on their ideas and observations, possible avenues of future research can develop.
• ·         Therefore, evaluation as a stage is not meant to be solitary and final, but a constant in each stage of constructivist learning (Miami Museum of Science, 2001).

Principle Tools and Methods Used in Constructivist Assessment

Similarities and Differences Between Constructivist and 
Traditional Assessment

Similarities

• ·         Both types of assessment can take on a variety of formats: paper and pencil, physical hands on experience, or some type of exchange.
• ·         The phrasing and use of critical thinking terminology in questioning can also be similar.
• ·         Instructors in traditional classroom also use assessments in order to plan lessons and develop activities.

Differences

• ·         Responses to traditional questions will also require more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. However, the idea that interactive feedback occurs between evaluators and learners as well as the concept of judging the active construction of thinking as well as the outcome are greater priorities to the constructivist assessor than a traditional method of evaluation.
• ·         Another difference lies in the support of standardized testing. Traditional learning environments support standardized testing and make many educational decisions off of those scores. Constructivists have a very negative view of this particular testing vehicle. Constructivists prefer that assessments have more of a 'real-life' application. The types of assessment preferred by constructivists would be: authentic, performance, or portfolio assessment. These types of assessment, according to Reeves & Okey, require more genuine thought from the learner and provide a more stimulating form of evaluation than traditional classroom testing.

Lesson 16- Using the project based learning Multi-media as a teaching- learning strategy

Project based learning enables classrooms to emphasize this under valued part of the "Invisible curriculum" what author Daniel Goleman has called "Emotional Intelligence". 

Using project - based learning multimedia as a strategy in teaching is effective in increasing students motivation by engaging them in their own learning, in improving student problem-solving and higher order thinking skills. Teaching with the project-based method enables students to work cooperatively with peer and mentors in a student-centered environment where learners are encouraged to explore various topics of interest. It also provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning by engaging students in applying the content of different subject areas.  

Goals and Objectives are always the starting points of planing. When we plan a multi-media learning project as a teaching strategy, we begin by clarifying our goals and objective. Another important thing is to determine the resources available- from library materials, community resources both material and human, internet, new media- since this project calls for Multi-Media. To trim down time devoted to a multi-media project, Simkins et al (2002) suggested the following:

• use technology students already know 
• use time outside of class whenever possible
• assign skills practice as homework
• use special classes (like art or music) as extra time
• let students compose texts and select and prepare graphics and sounds as they plan

Before the project starts:

1. Create project description and milestones 

2. Work with real world connections

3. Prepare resources

4. Prepare software and peripherals such as microphones

5. Organize computer files

6. Prepare the classroom

Introducing the project ( one or two days )

1. Review project documents

2. Perform pre-assessment

3. Perform relevant activities

4. Group students- here are some grouping strategies:

• by topic interest
• by student talent and expertise
• by student choice
• randomly

Learning the technology (one to three days) - Give a chance for the students to work with whatever software and technology they will be using.

Preliminary research and planing (three days to three weeks, depending on project size) -  At this stage, students should immerse themselves in the content of subject matter they need to understand to create their presentation. 

Concept design and Storyboarding (three to five days)- A story board is a paper- and- pencil sketch of the entire presentation, screen by screen or in the case of videos, shot by shot, requiring a story board provides a natural check-in point for you and gives your students an opportunity to plan ahead.

Here are a few design tips to keep in mind throughout storyboarding and production:

• Use scanned , handmade artwork to make a project look personal and to manage scarce technology resources
• Keep navigation 
• Organize information similarly throughout so users can find what they are looking for
• Care for collaboration 
• Organize manageable steps
• Check and asses often 

Assessing, testing and finalizing presentations (one to three weeks)- There are two kinds of testing to think about

Functional Testing- Trying all the buttons, taking all possible paths thru the presentation, checking for errors, missing images and the like

User- Testing- Showing the presentation to members of the target audience and finding out if they can successfully navigate it and understand it.

* Assessment means critical evaluation of your presentation. 

Concluding activities (one to three days)- Allow time for students to present and show off their hard work.Often there is an obvious, authentic concluding activity related to your real- world connection.Remember to take time to review the ups and downs of the project with students and anyone else who participated.

Lesson 15 - Project based multimedia Learning

Project based multimedia learning can build the students creativity. It is were the students independently done their research and organized what the teacher has given them to be accomplish.The students will be engage in hands-on activity that helps them engage more knowledge. Each students have their own task to do so they have to participate, and teachers will just observe and give comments to what their doing if is it right towards their goal. Project based multimedia learning is a teaching method where it can help the students acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planing, and producing multimedia project. 

. What is project-based multimedia learning?

                 Project-based multimedia learning is a teaching method in which students "acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planning, and producing multimedia product".

2.What are the elements of project-based multimedia learning?

  The elements of project-based multimedia learning are:

• core curriculum
• real-world connection
• extended time frame
• student decision making
• collaboration 
• assessment
• multimedia

3. Why use project-based multimedia learning?

                Because it is "value added" to your teaching.It is powerful motivator as proven in the class. It actively engages students in the learning task. Students are likewise engaged in the production of multimedia presentation.

4. What are the disadvantages of the use of project-based learning and multimedia project?

• You need time to orient the students on what are expected of them, guidelines, goals and objectives of the project, and more , so for your students to gather and organize their data, work on their presentations and the like.

• If the basic computer courses did not teach them these skills demanded by this strategy, there will be a problem.

• The tendency to lose track of the goals and objectives of your lesson because the technology aspect has gotten the limelight.

Lesson 14: Maximizing the use of the overhead projector and the chalk board

“Indeed, in no…country have I ever seen a good school without a black board or a successful teacher who did not use it frequently” –Horace Mann, noted American Educator.

Among all instructional equipment, the chalk board is the most available. The overhead projector is versatile equipment that is quite common today. By learning how to use them properly and in an inexpensive way we are able to realize our instructional objectives. There are techniques of using the chalk board and OHP proven to be effective by practitioners. Adopting them in our teaching spells visual and lasting learning for our students.

Chalkboard techniques:

a. Sharpen your chalk to get good line quality.

b. Stand with your elbow high, move along as you write.

c. Use dots as “Aiming points” this keeps writing level.

d. Make all writing or printing between 2 and 4 inches high for legibility.

e. When using colored chalk, use soft chalk so that it can be erased easily.

 The Overhead Projector (OHP) Techniques

Among the outstanding attributes of overhead projection are the many techniques that can be used to present information and control the sequence of a presentation. Keep in mind these features of overhead projection.

You can show pictures and diagrams using a pointer to direct attention to a detail.

You can use felt pen or waxed based pencil to add details. It can easily be removed by a soft cloth.

You can control the rate of presenting information by covering with an opaque material and exposing the data as you discuss. This is known as the progressive disclosure technique.

You can super impose additional transparency cheats as over lace on a based transparency so as to separate processes and complex ideas into elements and present them in step by step order.

You can show 3 dimensional objects from the stage of the projector.

You can move over lace back and forth across the base in order to rearrange elements of diagrams or problems

You can simulate motion on parts of a transparency by using the effects of polarized light.

Lesson 13; Teaching with visual symbols.

“Visual symbols will be made meaningful if we can use them as summaries of our own direct experiences or our own rich indirect experiences... A little can stand a lot”

Like a picture a graph and all other visual symbols, are worth a thousand words,  The proper use of visual symbols will contribute to optimum learning. 

Visual symbols come in many forms – drawings, cartoons, strip drawing (comic strip) diagram, map, chart and graph. For these visual symbols to be at your finger tips, you ought to be skilled at making them.

The collection, preparation and use of these various visual symbols depends to a great extent on your own resourcefulness and creativity. They may be used in different ways and in different phases of the lesson depending on your purpose. If you use them skillfully, your classroom may turn into a beehive of busy students.

a. drawings

            a drawing may not be the real thing but better to have a concrete visual aid than nothing. To avoid confusion, it is good that our drawing correctly represents the real thing.

b. cartoons

            A fist rate cartoon tells its story metaphorically. The perfect cartoon needs no caption. The less the artist depends on words, the more effective the symbolism. The symbolism conveys the message.

C. Strip drawings

            These are commonly called comics or comic strips.

D. Diagrams

            It is“ any line drawing that shows arrangement and relations as of parts to the whole, relative values, origins and development, chronological fluctuations, distribution, etc.”

Types of Diagrams

1. Affinity diagram – used to cluster complex apparently unrelated data into natural and meaningful groups.

2. Tree diagram – used to chart out, I increasing detail, the various tasks that must be accomplished to complete a project or achieve a specific  objective.

3. Fishbone Diagram – It is also called cause and effect diagram.

It is a structured form of brainstorming that graphically shows the relationship of possible causes and sub causes directly related to an identified effect / problem. It is most commonly used to analyze work – related problems.

E. Charts

            Is a diagrammatic representation of relationships among individuals within an organization. We can have different types of chart:

1. time chart – is a tabular time chart that presents data in ordinal sequence.

2. tree or stream chart – Depicts development, growth and change by beginning with a single course ( the trunk ) which spreads out to many branches or by beginning with the many tributaries which then converge into a single channel.

3. flow chart – Is a visual way of charting or showing a process from beginning to end. It is a means of analyzing a process. By outlining every step in a process, you can begin to find inefficiencies or problems.  

4. organizational chart – shows how one part of the organizational relates to other parts of the organization.

5. comparison and contrast chart – Used to show similarities and differences between two or three things.

6. pareto  chart – Is a type of bar chart, prioritized in descending order of magnitude or importance from left to right. It shows at a glance which factors are occurring most.

7. gaant chart – Is an activity time chart.

F. Graphs

            - There are several types of graphs. They are:

   -          Circle or pie graph

o       Recommended for showing parts of whole.

   -          Bar graph

o       Used in comparing the magnitude of similar items at different ties or seeing relative sizes of the parts of a whole.

   -          Pictorial graph

o       Makes use of picture symbols.

  -          Line graph

·        Graphic Organizer – an informal organizer

G. Maps

            Is a “ representation of the surface of the earth or some part of it.”

Kinds of Map

1. Physical map – Combines in a single projection data like altitude, temperature, rainfall, precipitation, vegetation and soil.

2. relief map – Has three dimensional representations and show contours of the physical data of the earth or part of the earth.

3. Commercial or economic map – Also called product or industrial map since they show land areas in relation to the economy.

4. Political map – gives detailed information about country, provinces, cities and towns, roads and highways. Oceans, rivers and lakes are the main features of most political maps.

Map language :

            1. Scale

-  Shows how much of the actual earth’s surface is represented by a given measurement on a map.

-          On some maps, scale is shown graphically while some is expressed in words and figures.

2. Symbols – Usually a map has a legend that explains what each symbol means. (ex: railroads, mountains, lakes and plains)

3. Color – The different colors of the map are part of the map language.

4. Geographic grids – The entire system of these grid lines are called grid lines. These grid lines are called meridians and parallel.

            - A meridian is a north to south pole line

            - Parallels are lines drawn around a globe with all points along each line with an equal distance from the pole.

            - Longitude is the distance in degrees of any place east or west of the prime meridian.

            - Latitude is the distance in degrees of any place north or south of the equator.

Poster -  a large printed picture used for decoration.