Terms like multimedia and hypermedia can be scary to the uninitiated, but consider what the words actually mean - multimedia is the use of multiple media (text, images, audio, video, models, etc.) in the presentation of information, and hypermedia is the use of hyperlinks to access information aside from what is present in the document or presentation being used, usually on the Internet, but also right on the computer storing the main presentation or a local server (this is also known as non-linear since the hyperlink takes you to something outside the presentation). The various links embedded in the resources on this site constitute hypermedia; the links take you somewhere else. Look at it this way: You've been using multimedia for years. If you have ever used a slide, drawn a picture, or written anything on a board, you've used multimedia. Electronic technology just makes it easier, and so much fancier.

     You remember making oral presentations as a young student yourself- standing in front of class, shaking uncontrollably, trying to remember what to say about a subject you couldn't care less about. Or maybe the entire assignment was completed and submitted on paper. At the most, a model or display was built, with the science geeks always building the best ones. Or perhaps you've sat through an excruciatingly boring presentation in the corporate world, with some self-important cubicle dweller droning on endlessly and expecting you to soak up every word. Think of Ben Stein as the teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off : "Bueller...Bueller...Bueller..."

Using Multimedia

     Multimedia also presents alternative methods of completing assignments for students with deficits. Speziale (1993) uses the example of a student with language deficits who has trouble producing quality written assignments. By using other media - graphics, pictures, maps and charts, even sound and video - the student can fulfill, even exceed, the requirements of the assignment when presenting the finished product. Despite the requirements of standardized testing, we need to be willing to accept these alternative presentations in order to measure learning. The additional motivational value of using multimedia is another benefit to be considered. Let's face it - students have fun doing this stuff.

     Multimedia presentations use a variety of methods for communicating information. While visual learning is the predominant style for most students, it is well established by research (Ambron & Hooper, 1990; McDermott & Combs, 1991) that learning is enhanced when more senses are employed. Employing multiple media is more likely to communicate the full intended message. There are so very many programs with classroom applications, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Hyperstudio, KidPix, Claris Impact, Adobe Persuasion and others. Whatever you use, these are valuable tools for bring learning to life.

     Sleeter and Tettegah (2002) describe a typical situation: "Imagine trying to have students grasp complex ideas about racism, sexism or culture by simply reading a textbook...Now imagine a "textbook" that blends reading, video, music and pictures" (p.4). If you're doing a unit on the Holocaust, what do you think would have the greatest impact - reading about the deaths of 6 million people at the hands of the Nazis, or movies and pictures of the concentration camps and interviews with survivors? Exactly what should you expect students to learn during such a module? Use the most effective media for communicating the learning. Imagine turning this:              

     Before we start talking about the whozits and the whatzits, lets talk a moment about working with pictures and other files. When you're dealing with anything electronic, everything is handled the same way. Whether it's text, a picture, a sound file, a graphic, or even an embedded movie, in reality it's just a bunch of code in one place. The nature of that code makes it what it is, but you don't have to worry about that (the programs do the code, you just write the words). If you have ever copied an electronic file from one place to another, if you have ever created a subfolder on your computer and put files into it, you have already used the skills you need to add multimedia to your presentations. Most of the time it's all just copy and paste, and with a PC you can do it all with the right mouse button. Don't let it scare you. 

     So anyway, there are several types of media you can use in any combination (Agnew et all., 1996):

Type of Media                       Source

Text and Numbers                    Word processing software (Word, WordPerfect, etc.), Spreadsheet software (Excel)

Graphics                                   Clip Art, drawing (paint) programs, spreadsheet programs (for graphs)

Images                                      Digital camera, downloaded digital photos (JPG, GIF, BMP, etc.)

Audio                                        Downloaded WAV (sound) or MP3 (music) files, digital recorder, MIDI interface

Video                                        Digital camcorder, downloaded MPEG/WMV/Quick Time files, analog video (tape) with
                                                            digital interface

      For our purposes, programs like Microsoft PowerPoint should be considered to be high-powered word processing programs. PowerPoint has the same basic functionality as Microsoft Word, plus some special features. If you can use Word, you can use PowerPoint. Hyperstudio combines features of a word processor with features of a painting program and many of the functions of presentation software. All of these programs allow you to combine all of the elements listed above, so use what you're comfortable with and what gets the job done for you. Oh, and what your school has available. We mustn't forget that.

Resource Allocation

     What the school has available. Ah, yes. The bane of any progressive teacher's life. You want to use technology, but your school still exists in the technological stone age. What can you do? 

     If you have a good idea of what you want, ask for it. Talk to your fellow faculty - you'll probably find that many of them agree with you - and put a proposal together. Enlist the school technologist in helping you define things. Be specific about the hardware and software you want and how you will use it. By doing this you are making the administrator's job easier because they don't have to define whatever it is you want. Follow up periodically. Be realistic - even in the higher grades one computer for every 4 students is about the best you will probably do, and is probably all you need. And put it in writing! Learn how your school or district acquires technological resources, and learn how to use that acquisition system to your students' advantage.

• If you do have limited electronic resources, think about how they can be shared. If your class is working on team projects, you can provide different resources at stations around the room. Hard copy documents, encyclopedias, books, clippings and other media can be used in addition to the single computer for brief research online or using CD-ROMs. Have the students rotate stations every 15-20 minutes.
• If the students are using the computer, have them print what they find. Yep, turn their digital information into an analog artifact. They still have the information they need, but they can now relinquish the computer to another student. And paper and toner are cheaper than another computer.
• Prepare your students for the limited computer time they will have. Set rules and enforce them. If there is a common web site they will visit, show them what to expect when they get there and how to use it. Make sure their search is focused, that they know what they're looking for. If they're searching, make sure they know how to use a search engine properly. Bookmark important sites in the browser. Plan as much of their work process as you can.
• Use the older resources wisely. An older, slower computer may not be useful for Internet research or graphics-laden applications, but it can likely be used for writing reports. There are probably many of these in your school that no one wants to use any more.
• Beg or borrow resources from other teachers. If you have mobile computers, aggressively schedule their use. If another teacher won't be using the resources in their classroom, can you use them? Are they at all mobile or at least movable? And what can you offer in return?

 Getting Started

     Lesson time. Let's take this one step at a time, starting with a basic student report on immigration trends since 1850. The research may be top notch, the writing excellent, the grammar and layout perfect in every way. But what is the best way for the student to share what has been learned with his or her classmates? The terrifying oral presentation? Perhaps, but consider some options.

• A lesson can start with a multimedia presentation to stimulate student interest and classroom discussion
• Student assignments can be based on the multimedia presentation, with those assignments requiring the use of Internet research, writing, art and other visual and auditory components
• A blog or e-mail discussion thread can be easily established, with discussion questions posed by the teacher and student answers posted and shared right online
• Your feedback can be provided as the discussion proceeds
• Students can jointly complete a project using a common web site or other method for accessing the same document

By using multiple media you have utilized more of your students' senses, increased engagement, and enhanced the learning of ALL your students.

     Just as text is best managed with word processing software, commonly used spreadsheet programs can turn rows of numbers into graphs that communicate the same information much more quickly and effectively. How about using the formidable capabilities of presentation software to add those graphs to a presentation, then adding pictures to illustrate the main points, and throwing in a few sound files to bring a culture alive? Even movies can be added easily as files that start automatically when a slide is shown. If you have a computer with speakers and an LCD projector, you have everything you need to put everything I just talked about into practice.

     Anyway, back to the lesson. Your assignment to your students was to compare and contrast immigration in the 19th century to immigration in the 20th. To complete the learning, the students will need to do all the usual research, then aggregate that information and synthesize new knowledge from it. Most importantly, they will have to demonstrate mastery of the knowledge - some form of communication will be required that presents their findings. Merely requiring them to submit a paper may demonstrate their research and writing skills, but a public presentation of one kind or another will also demonstrate their communications skills, attention to detail, and will share the knowledge with the rest of the class. Here's a link to a little PowerPoint presentation I put together that shows you how to apply what I just discussed to a classroom lesson - A Nation of Immigrants. Notice how the information is presented both visually and auditorally. I use graphs instead of numbers, and add pictures to illustrate each of my points. The use of multiple media stimulates interest and hold the students' attention more than mere words ever could.

• The pictures were downloaded free from Microsoft and other sources. I just used my favorite search engine and search words like Italian, Vietnamese, Irish, slaves and the like, and specifically searched for images - Yahoo and Google have links that limit your searches like that.
• I got the immigration numbers from a number of sites, like the ones I reference in the PowerPoint presentation itself. Once I had the raw data I just built a small spreadsheet in Excel and graphed the numbers using the program's own graphing features, then copied the graph to the slide. I'm not going to go into the details of Excel here - if you have Excel or another program already, use the Help utility to talk you through it or use on the tutorials I link to on my Resource page. If you don't have any spreadsheet software, get it. You need to know this stuff.
• Sound files were found just like the pictures. Once you have them saved to the same computer or server the presentation is using, embed them in the proper slide using the presentation software's own abilities.

     Notice how the slides and the elements of each slide transition - some fade in, others fly in, some start automatically after another element appears or when I hit the ENTER or PAGE DOWN buttons. I like to use this last method so the next item of information only appears when I want it to appear. This is useful when you want to have some discussion on one point before proceeding to the next, using the same slide.

      Research that ends up as text is one thing, but imagine the fun your students would have searching for pictures of another country. Imagine their engagement if they get to download music files, or bring in physical examples of another culture. This is authentic learning, reflecting the reality of the students' lives and giving them a new appreciation for themselves and each other.Encourage them to really cut loose in expressing themselves.

Next: Death by PowerPoint...

References:

Agnew, P W., Kellerman, A. S., & Meyer, J. M. (1996). Multimedia in the Classroom. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Ambron, S. & Hooper, K. (1990). Learning With Interactive Multimedia. Redmond, WA:Microsoft Press

McDermott, V., & Combs, E. (1991). Breaking the cycle: Multimedia motivates high I.Q. underachievers. IBM Supplement to the T.H.E. Journal

Sleeter, C. & Tettegah, S. (2002). Technology as a tool in multicultural teaching. Multicultural Education, 10 (2), 3-9

Speziale, M. (1993). When is APA not APA? When it stands for alternative presentations accepted. Preventing School Failure, 38(1), 16-17