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USE OF MULTIMEDIA IN MATHEMATCS EDUACTION
ABSTRACT
Modern education is associated with information and communication technologies that allow us to create electronic learning courses and then apply the e-learning method in the study. Electronic education has application in mathematical subjects, as well. Mathematical theory, a lot of tasks and applications can be found via the Internet, created in the electronic version from the simple text to the multimedia applets.
Introduction
Requirements for data processing and information in electronic form have been motivation for the creation and development of the efficient tools of computing technology. Means of electronic communication and data transfer have become an important part of this development. Terms like Internet and information technology are rapidly becoming part of the working vocabulary in all areas. Moreover, the possibility of the Internet finds application in the everyday life of households. Therefore, even university education is no longer possible without information technology (IT).Education is under the direct influence of IT because of creating special educational tools and resources. Teaching without electronic educational materials is not attractive for students. Creating different kinds of electronic materials and using IT have become the part of the teacher’s work. It is possible to apply multimedia to the teaching of mathematics in different fields and options:
– Obtaining of mathematical knowledge by attractive means and ways,
– Writing of multimedia study materials,
– Usage of electronic interactive study books,
– Usage of World Wide Web,
– Testing by computers.
Need of Multimedia use
Why use multimedia at all? Of what use is multimedia in education? The answers to these questions could be sought through an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the medium. Besides being a powerful tool for making presentations, multimedia offers unique advantages in the field of education. For instance, text alone simply does not allow students to get a feel of any of Shakespeare's plays. In teaching biology, an instructor cannot make a killer whale come alive in a classroom. Multimedia enables us to provide a way by which learners can experience their subject in a vicarious manner. The key to providing this experience is having simultaneous graphic, video and audio, rather than in a sequential manner. The appeal of multimedia learning is best illustrated by the popularity of the video games currently available in the market. These are multimedia programs combining text, audio, video, and animated graphics in an easy-to-use fashion. Moreover, under conditions of chronic under-funding, multimedia can provide an enhanced or augmented learning experience at a low cost per unit. It is here that the power of multimedia can be unleashed to provide long-term benefit to all. Multimedia enables learning through exploration, discovery, and experience. Technology does not necessarily drive education. That role belongs to the learning needs of students. With multimedia, the process of learning can become more goals oriented, more participatory, flexible in time and space, unaffected by distances and tailored to individual learning styles, and increase collaboration between teachers and students.
Advantages: What are the Main Issues encouraging Learning?
Adaptability: Multimedia is adaptable and accommodates different learning styles, thereby increasing teaching and learning success rates. For example, according to Gregory’s Style Delineator, individuals have one of two ordering abilities: sequential or random. A course that is divided into units allows learners the freedom to access this information in a linear (sequential) (module 1, module 2, etc.) or non-linear (random) format (module 4, module 1, etc.) according to their individual learning style. In addition, if they've already mastered a specific subject represented in a module, they can skip the relevant lesson.
Improved learning environment: Multimedia allows the achievement of a more learner-centered environment through:
i) Improved access to information
ii) Increased learner self-reliance
iii) Self-paced learning
iv) Closer interaction between students and instructors
Enhanced “communication, motivation, and self-efficiency,” fostering tutor-learner and learner-learner relationships through email, discussion threads, and feedback.
Flexibility: Self-paced learning adds a dimension of flexibility not available in the traditional classroom. Text, video, hypermedia, and audio can be manipulated by the learner to facilitate learning. Multimedia learning benefits instructors by allowing them more latitude in teaching. They can focus on activities that require participation, leaving learners to learn at their own pace. When an instructor has the opportunity to incorporate a module from another class into the one at hand, time that would have been spent designing the lesson is now spent interacting with the learners.
Diversity: With multimedia, instructors can combine media to create a more complete distance education experience. For example, an organic chemistry lecture would be far more effective with video and audio to supplement readings--seeing and hearing the chemical reactions instead of just reading about them. Multimedia, such as “carefully designed animation, feedback facilities, and simulations,” allows instructors to “overcome the weaknesses of study materials and to focus more on the learning and communication process”.
Availability: The use of multimedia and modified hardware and software in a course gives learners with physical and intellectual disabilities equal access to the same instruction. Examples include voice output systems, special switches, speech recognition software, and Braille printers .
Acceptance: The Centre for Excellence in Education at Indiana University states, “As technology costs come down, designers become better at producing programs, and users become more familiar with using multimedia, we will see a growing acceptance of it in educational settings”. (
Disadvantages: What Aspects May Hamper Effectiveness of Multimedia?
Use of Misuse or overuse of media: Many multimedia programs are basically a technological remake of an existing technology. Oftentimes this "remake" consists of "bells and whistles" simply for the sake of having "bells and whistles," rather than improving the learning potential.
Limited structural guidelines: Because multimedia is a relatively new field, it is difficult to measure or compare new multimedia programs to any standard, as none exists. As a result, distance education providers have limited structural guidelines upon which to base their operations.
Limitations of technology: Multimedia that transmits across networks between the supporting organization and the personal computer takes up bandwidth. A user with an older modem or a slower processor may not have access to the video, audio, or graphics required in a particular module.
Limited support: When multimedia technology is implemented, technical support for learners and faculty is often non-existent. This can result in the misuse of the technology.
Difficult adaptation: Not all learning styles easily adjust to multimedia learning. For example, Gregory’s Abstract-Random (AR) learners are capable of adapting to other teaching methods, but the long-term "style flexing" can be stressful.
Cost: The price of upgraded technology, as well as costs of hardware and software, can be substantial to the supporting organization when implementing and operating a multimedia instruction program. Learners incur costs as well. They must have access to advanced technology (e.g., upgrade their home computers or purchase a new computer in order to participate in the course). The cost of training instructors in the new technology must also be considered.
multimedia in education setting
Let us look at some examples of what is called “innovative use”. Let us say a student wants to write a paper on desert animals. Traditionally, the primary source for obtaining information would be the encyclopaedia generally available in the library. With access to interactive multimedia, the student would collect various textual materials about the camel from sources on a CD-ROM. In addition, the student may be able to copy a diagram or the skeleton and muscular structure of the camel and the ostrich to study what is common about the two creatures. With a multimedia approach, the student could also access Web sites on the Internet to get more information. The student could then add film clips on these animals in their natural habitat (all may be from the same CD-ROM) and blend them into a report. Then by adding titles and credits, the student now has a new and original way of communicating his/her own individual perspective. Besides student use, teachers should find multimedia of great use in delivering their lessons. For example, a history teacher could use a multimedia CD to create a lecture on the non-violence movement by using film clippings and audio tapes on Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, also by incorporating other audio visual information with text to make the subject come alive. All this material would be available on a videodisc.
Similarly, a university professor might use a multimedia CD to prepare or to update information or to teach so as to enliven and also add insight to his/her teaching, thereby improving the quality of the course. The uses of multimedia need not be seen as a tool for classrooms only. In an industry dealing with hazardous materials, workers need to be trained. It could be risky to provide hands on training. In this case, simulated learning can take the place of actual hands on training by using all access training
Multimedia Guidelines
Distance education providers can maximize multimedia’s advantages and avoid its disadvantages by observing the following basic guidelines:
Ensure that the content drives the media rather than the media driving the content. Reinforcing an important pedagogical principle, content should drive multimedia methodology rather than the reverse. It is easy for educators, administrators, and IT professionals to become enamoured with technological advances, giving more credence to media used than to content delivered. For example, the proverbial talking head may not be important for learning, but the inclusion of relatively expensive video footage of a professor standing behind a desk would be a poor use of financial resources. Conversely, video can be useful when attention needs to be directed to relevant features that change, motion allows discriminations to be made, or tasks that are difficult to express verbally can be expressed visually.
Consider including multiple formats that will allow learners to peruse material in their preferred mode. Cronbach and Snow (1977) addressed the importance of considering learning styles in web-based training. Multiple formats in electronic delivery offer learners the option of relying upon their primary visual, auditory, and/or symbolic learning styles. Additionally, graphic devices display interrelationships of data and allow learners to focus on information to be learned, and on how the data is linked to other data.
Help learners learn by doing. The use of multimedia in training offers tremendous opportunities for content interactivity. Some online learners are less comfortable using technology than they are with a printed text, especially if they are not computer-savvy. However, comfort levels increase as users learn through interactivity with both the content and the technology employed (Vrasidas & McIsaac, 1999). According to Dede (1996), “increasingly, leading-edge developers in multimedia/hypermedia are complementing presentational, pedagogical approaches with constructivist learning-through-doing instructional experiences”.
Know the technical abilities of your target audience (or announce technical requirements). When learner networks include international participants, it is important to know the level of technological capability (both personal and regarding hardware) available in the countries where learners live. Time required to download high-end graphics, for example, may be extremely costly for learners in countries where modem connection costs are still high. When good solutions are not available for these issues, potential learners should be made aware of problems they are likely to experience.
Avoid including media that will require apologies or disclaimers. Include disclaimers for large files in the content. Nielsen (1995) offers a summary on acceptable response times. The basic advice regarding response times has been the same for almost thirty years (Miller, 1968; Card, et al., 1991). Disclaimers should indicate time required for downloading under normal circumstances when it will likely exceed these parameters.
Avoid continuously moving animation. Since moving images impact peripheral vision, it is difficult to concentrate when there is constant motion elsewhere on the page.
Provide links to other sites to help users control their learning. Peters (1998) discusses the importance of evaluating distance education on the “basis of how much room it offers for independent learning” (p. 29). Offering optional electronic resources that learners can pursue according to interest and time will augment autonomy and enhance individualized learning.
Learn the technology’s strengths and weaknesses to effectively respond to problems, questions, and concerns. Avoid creating learner frustration resulting from technical problems with no solutions. If secondary technical support is not an option, provide basic technical training and/or orientation. Plan for technical failure and have contingency plans ready.
Include two-way interaction, preferably allowing video and audio communication. Access should be unobtrusive and allow faculty to have control or input over transmission alternatives. For audio/visual applications, pay close attention to acoustics, lighting, seating, camera, and instructional equipment at the outset. Use the appropriate graphic, image, and sound software packages available to incorporate the technology that the institution uses in its coursework. For televised distance learning courses, distribute specific policies to specifically address medium. Consider the interpretation of the institutions' intellectual property policy when implementing this approach.
Evaluate your multimedia program continually and systematically. Procedures should be developed and updated to maintain the human element of the learning process.
General conclusion and Recommendations
The question was posed: Is multimedia worth the effort? We believe yes, particularly due to the economic and academic challenges that are greatly influencing the collegiate environment today. These challenges present an opportunity to creatively develop classes using new technologies, such as multimedia, to solve problems in innovative ways.
Multimedia is adaptable, flexible, and diverse. It enhances and improves the learning environment by improving access to information, increasing learner self-reliance and independence, and enhancing communication and motivation. These advantages signify that multimedia is a viable and meaningful method of instruction in today’s distance education classroom.
Content developers in distance education are faced with the challenge of filling the gap created by distance, and effectively incorporating in their courses a constantly growing body of knowledge. Three factors are considered paramount in evaluating the effectiveness of multimedia in enhancing motivation, involvement, understanding, and critical thinking in an increasingly diverse target group: (1) interactivity, (2) communication, and (3) individualization (Hasebrook, 1997, p. 3).
Digital multimedia is a relatively new approach to instruction, with limited guidelines for considering multimedia within instructional offerings. As a result, organizations should be cautious when embarking on a multimedia venture, considering not only the costs of technology, upgrades, and instructor training, but also the availability of the multimedia technology to its targeted audience. When multimedia is available, instructors should consider whether the form of multimedia is appropriate to learner type and course content, and then select the right media. The Aptitude-Treatment-Interaction research, in particular, has aimed its efforts at determining the relation between media choice and learners’ personality characteristics. Although the results are far from conclusive, they point to the need of matching instruction to the specific abilities of learners.
Our recommendations for distance education organizations that are implementing multimedia are as follows:
Train instructors thoroughly in appropriate multimedia use and technology.
Deliver content in formats that maximize the media potential while simultaneously addressing learner needs and requirements.
Provide the necessary technical support for faculty and learners.
Be aware of the disadvantages of multimedia to avoid potential disasters in the classroom.
Evaluate your multimedia program continuously and systematically.
The use of multimedia has challenged our conceptions on how education is conceptualised and practiced. It has been demonstrated that it has the potential to enhance learners’ motivation, independence and knowledge-building processes. As the learners entering distance education become more diverse and the number of available resources and technological options increase, organizations and educators need to ensure that decisions serve the learners’ best interest(s). When weighing the advantages of multimedia with the disadvantages, institutions should consider current educational environment and goals and whether multimedia would enhance and promote them. For institutions to continue meeting individual student learning needs, they are well advised to consider integrating multimedia into their instructional portfolio.
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