Educational Multimedia Guide

Using multimedia in the classroom benefits both student and teacher in a wide variety of ways. Multimedia can provide students with exciting and engaging learning opportunities that expand their view and understanding of the world. Bringing multimedia into the classroom helps teachers empower students by removing obstacles to learning, and proving students with new opportunities to demonstrate learning.

Multimedia is ineffective when passively consumed. Students can create their own multimedia content when empowered with multimedia tools. With the power and availability of devices in the modern classroom, students can consume, engage with, and create multimedia content with ease. There are a multitude of apps and software programs that allow students to easily create their own multimedia content like videos and podcasts. Students are being transformed from consumers to creators as early as elementary school.

In using multimedia in the classroom, teachers differentiate and personalize education with comparative ease. Students can access personalized content to fit their wants and needs. Teachers can create, or find, videos of content for students based on academic need, personal interest, and learning profiles. These videos can be shared with students through their LMS or a QR code with student’s names on it. Students can then use the LMS or other software to choose how they respond to their learning.

When a teacher wants to integrate technology into instruction, they must be thoughtful of how they will choose technology tools to meet the needs of students in their classroom. In my opinion, the most effective model is TPACK: Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge. When a teacher uses technology in the classroom, she must consider what she knows about technology, best practices in teaching, and her knowledge in the content area. Synthesizing these internal data bases together produces an impactful learning experience for students.

This page was created as part of the requirements for TEC 561: Multimedia Instructional Strategies and Methods