Media Learners

€ How can technology make a difference in learning? Find an example of this difference from the Internet and add the weblink to your post.

Technology can make a difference in learning. It can do so by giving access to different techniques which were not able to be done with a paper and pencil. If you are talking about a design of an object that is abtract or hard to describe, technology makes it easier to give another view of the problem. Technology is able to bridge the pathways between starting a project and ending one with the example of the programs from Inspiration. The actual Inspiration software is geared towards aiding a student in the planning, organizing and research of a project. Technology allows us to see things in a different way. It also allows us to simplify things and make them easier to understand or easier to describe something complex. http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/tiol.html

€ What are some important ideas to keep in mind as we design learning environments that utilize multimedia in one of the five ways stated in the PDF? (or in any others that you may think of)

There are many important ideas that should be kept in mind when designing a learning environment that utilizes multimedia. First, the multimedia equipment can not be the lesson. If you are using this technology for the first time, you should prepare yourself and try it before in the actual classroom setting with students sitting there waiting for you. If this is the students' first time with the technology then a lesson can be learning the key parts of the technology. Then be used in conjunction with the curriculum and learning environment. Another important thing to remember is to always integrate technology where the inclusion is positive. You don't want to play a video that might confuse the students more. Find the best fit video or application to do just what you want it to do. Make sure there is a good balance between the technology and learning environment. Don't keep all the technology in one area, spread it around so that its within the classroom and not 'in the corner over there.'