Final Reflection
Myra Bacani Wilson
EComp 6016 Teaching and Learning with Digital Media
Dr. Melda Yildiz
Laurinburg, North Carolina
October 21, 2011
Final Reflection
Educators are aware how digital media plays an effective part in teaching most especially in presenting the lesson (Meloni, 2010). Because we are in the 21st century and the students that come to our classrooms are more advance in technology and I say it respectfully, teachers should be more knowledgeable if not expert in technology compared to the students. Curriculum standards and professional developments address the need for teachers to be abreast with the growing trend of education.
There are three important facts that I agree from Najjar’s article and if given the opportunity share with my colleagues: (1) Computer-based multimedia instruction help students to learn more information in less time than traditional classroom lectures. In my opinion and my experience, multimedia captures students’ attention than the teacher presenting the lesson through lecture especially for students who are visual learners. It minimizes classroom behavior as well. (2) Specific multimedia helps students learn specific kinds of information. I believe that presenting a lesson in a form of a video is not always an effective way, it could be in other forms like songs when majority of students are auditory learners. (3) Students are more engaged when the computer-based multimedia instruction is interactive and learner paced (Najjar, 1996). Students like to get on the computer and explore the computer program they are on.
As an educator, taking EComp 6016, Teaching and Learning with Digital Media as a course gives me the opportunity to implement the facts I agree in Najjar’s article. I feel more competent in teaching and presenting my lesson using digital tools. My professor’s expertise in teaching the subject is phenomenal. From making a simple movie, giving a good title to own story, camera exercise, reading and making reflections to journal article and presenting a curriculum project online are some of the many great things I have learned as a student and a professional. As a student, I have encountered challenges in completing some assignments. But after I completed the required assignment, I have a ready-made digital media to use in my own lesson. There are many things I value and have gained confidence by taking this course: (1) Using Prezi, wikispaces and screen capture on MS PowerPoint, (2) creating blogs, (3) presenting lesson using the moviemaker (4) uploading to Youtube, (5) camera tips and exercise, (6) making watermarks, (7) creating posters and (8) the use of citation machine.
I did not have that much of a difficulty in using prezi. It is user friendly. On the other hand, I had a mixed emotion during the presentation. I was nervous because my laptop was kept on shutting down before the day of presentation and I was afraid that it will shut down during my presentation. I was excited to see my classmate’s work and showcase my work as well. Using Wikispaces and blogs are good computer exercises for people like me who are at an average state in computing. Screen capture is one of my favorites that I surely will use because it is very easy and quick to do. Multimedia is the use of text, graphics, animation, pictures, video, and sound to present information (Najjar, 1996). One example is making a photo story and uploading it through youtube. There are a lot of educational videos on youtube that I use in my teaching. Now, I feel proud that I can make and use my own educational video in class. The other important information I learned from this course is the in depth use of camera. The hand outs about camera exercise I received from this class are precious. I have been using digital camera but I only use it for point and shoot. I am more knowledgeable now on digital camera features. The citation machine website is very useful not only for this course but for all the courses I am going to take that require an APA format and for citing references. Having these new learning makes me more confident to confront my fear in technology.
References
Meloni, J. (2010). Technologies for teaching: strategies and pitfalls.57(11),
Najjar, L. (1996). Multimedia information and learningn. Retrieved from http://www.medvet.umontreal.ca/techno/eta6785/articles/multimedia_and_learning.PD
Popescu, E. (2010). Adaptation provisioning with respect to learning styles in a web-based educational system. 26(4), 243-257.
