The most important item learned about using only one form of
media to develop a lesson is that it limits the activities that you can use to
teach the skill. In addition, is the form of media used to teach the lesson
effective for all of the learners? Some learners are auditory or kinesthetic,
while others may be visual. Therefore, visual materials might not be the best
type of resources to use for a group of learners. Using a combination or
various media is a better way to present the lesson or skill to a class.
However, for individualized instruction, you might provide all of the
instructions or activity in a visual format if that is the most helpful or best
format for the learner.
When developing the lesson or directions using visuals, I
found that I assumed the person looking at the directions had some prior
knowledge that supported the activity. If they didn’t have any prior knowledge,
there would be several pages of graphical directions explaining every little
detail. So the learner had to distinguish or draw some conclusions on his/her
own.
In addition to drawing the graphics, I used color to
indicate or signal an action or provide more cues about the meaning of the
drawing. Placement, size, and color of images helped provide more information
in the visual directions. Ideas and communications could be accomplished
without text.
What I agree with from Clark’s article, is that too many
times a new media is invented, and as educators, we implement the new learning
technology expecting instant results in learning outcomes (Clark, 1994). As
Clark states, we “reinvent the wheel” on a constant basis and inadequately. The
point is made that the instructional method should not be ignored just because
new media is being used. For example, students can listen to their teacher read
a book out loud, a student can listen to a book on CD in a listening center, or
a student can follow along in an audiobook. The reading comprehension
strategies are still utilized when reading, but the media used for reading
itself can be substituted at this stage with various media.
References
Clark, R
(1994). Media and Method. Educational
Technology Research and Development,
Volume 42, Issue 3, pp 7-10
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