CHAPTER FOUR

TYPES AND CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS MULTIMEDIA

Introduction

Various kinds of multimedia are in use and this section discusses some selected forms and their tendencies to be used to support varieties of learners.

Talking Books and Speech Synthesis

It is possible to loudly read out digital text with the use of human voice that have been recorded or with the use of special programs called synthetic text-to-speech programs. Read-aloud is a fundamental characteristic of talking books but with the use of text-to-speech software, almost every digital content can be read aloud even without synchronizing it with highlighted printed text. It is also possible to synthesize speech in segmented level by making provision for feedback using the same passage level, sentence, word, onset time and syllable.

Students enjoy various potential profits of read-aloud and these students include those suffering from visual challenges, those have difficulty to decode problems, and those with inherence reluctance to reading. Apart from helping visually challenged persons to have access to the contents of curriculum, it can be used to develop key literacy skills like fluency in reading and comprehension, helps learners to be engaged and motivated (Borgh and Dickson 1992; Elbro, Rasmussen and Spelling1996; MacArthur et al. 2001). One other feature of text-to-speech is that it can be used as a writing tool. Some students find it easier to detect errors when they listen than when they read a composition. When students make use of text-speech to read back their written text, they find it easy to successfully make revision on their work.

CD-ROM Storybooks

Incorporated in CD-ROM storybooks are digital text together with animations, diagram, sound and speech. A typical example is CD-ROM storybook with animation, defined vocabularies and sound effects. Audio versions of text are also incorporated in some of them. They have the potential to engage student especially the ones that incorporate in its literacy support. Hence, they are of useful advantage to students that are not readily willing to read and those that are deficient of fundamental literary skills. It is important to note that the features of multimedia do not necessarily mean that they are instructionally relevant. The fact that a given storybook can entertain with animations and sound effect but that does not mean that they support access and learning process. In some cases, it can be a distraction to some students. Hence, the choice of CD-ROM Storybook must be selected carefully by given consideration to student’s individuality (Doty et al., 2001; Trushell and Maitland, 2005).

Video/Video discs

Video/Videodiscs is a means of contextualizing the contents of curriculum and instruction. The use of video has been employed for anchoring mathematics instruction to an authentic context. The implication of this is that with the use of video, student can be presented with real life problems that mathematical problems can fit into. This approach helps in engaging and motivating students with the provision of alternatives to text especially those with differences in knowledge background (Bottge 1999; Xinet al., 1996).

Hypermedia

Hypermedia is multimedia that is hyperlinked (linking of multimedia elements with the use of hyperlinks). These multimedia elements are text, graphics, audio, video and animations. One typical instance when illustration content in a given textbook is hyperlinked to a video that is web-based. This can also be extended to other contents like glossary entries and comprehension questions. With hypermedia, curriculum contents can be integrated with support instructions to cater for various types of needs of students. With this, text in digital form can be enhanced with a range of support instructions like defining vocabularies, translations, background information, glossary and explanatory notes. Each of these support instructions can be presented in various media form. Some examples include defining vocabularies in form of text, pictures or graphics. It is also possible to present background information in form of maps, video (Moore-Hart 1995).

Teachers are able to help different type of learners; ranging from students that are learning English language, students have difficulty with comprehension to students who are confronted with learning a second language. Since these kinds of support are available in form of hyperlinks, it is easy for individual students to access them when they are needed (Harris et al., 1997; Tierney et al., 1997). Hypermedia provides new ways for teachers to communicate curricular material and new ways for students to show their understanding and abilities. Students can create multimedia compositions with a far wider range of options than text by using hypermedia design tools. This is crucial for students whose writing challenges could make it difficult to see how well they understand the course material.

Simulations on computers

Computer simulations are digital recreations of actual processes or objects (like the human brain) (for example, an election). They might be entirely automated or interactive and ask for human input. Computer simulations are a way to “open up the walls of the classroom,” giving students the chance to view, interact with, and research phenomena that are typically out of reach—using equipment and resources that are not available in the classroom, such as an orbiting satellite or a different culture. They offer a beneficial alternative to learning that could otherwise rely on lectures and written text in this regard. Simulators not only lower barriers for students who have trouble with these traditional media but also offer a variety of models for skill development and can boost the immediacy and authenticity of learning content, which is beneficial to many students (Goldenberg, Heinze, & Ba, 2004; Sierra-Fernandez &Perales-Palacios; 2003).

Simulators on computers can be used to improve topic knowledge. For instance, ecology principles can be taught using a model marine ecosystem. Simulations are especially well adapted for challenging students’ 3b misconceptions about crucial learning ideas and assisting them in creating conceptual models that are more correct. Skills can also be developed through simulations. To help students master science process skills, for instance, simulated science experiments might be used. There are computer simulations available online and in software (Stohl&Tarr, 2002; Woodward, Carnine; &Gersten; 1988).

Media for Audio-Visual

According to studies cited by Fatunmbi (2005), using audio-visual aids improves the teaching and learning process (video). In practically every area of learning, he claims, video can be used to deliver real-world experiences. It could be designed to repeat knowledge and demonstration as much as possible, making learning for students easier, more tangible, and realistic. It enables self-instruction and offers a quick and inexpensive method of distributing knowledge and skills. According to Akpabio (2004), audio-visual media has the ability to open many people’s minds and hearts to contemporary lifestyles and environmental ideas much more effectively than traditional classroom instruction.He continued by saying that youngsters and kids are so fascinated with home-video movies that they are called “video-freaks.” The formal educational system can take advantage of this enthusiasm to educate and learn in an engaging and enjoyable way. According to Cuban (2001), using a personal computer makes it possible to deliver video courses. They are not recordings of lectures given in a classroom, but rather screen presentations of content files with narration that covers the information. They may be created ahead of time or developed throughout the course. According to Sarker and Nicholson (2005), students should embrace and use this. Students must mark them down as time-saving study materials that offer a pleasurable or at least passable learning experience as well as or be seen as enhancing comprehension and academic achievement.

Video lectures, according to Dunn (2000), provide students with access to instructor lectures of high quality that they could view as well as rewatch as much as necessary to suit their specific assimilation requirements. The rate at which they are delivered is substantially at a slow pace when compared with what could be completed in the constrained amount of time at hand in the classrooms. They are comprehensive procedures explanations of the materials utilized in lectures that takes place in the classroom. Since they may be interrupted and repeated, students can study them at their own leisure. Additionally, compared to traditional textbook study, video lectures offer more targeted learning opportunities. Beshnizen and Van Puthen (2000) asserted that video have the ability to assist the instructor in collaborating in extreme close contact with the lecture and lessen the requirement for ongoing elucidation. It has the power to inspire students, as well as challenging abilities areare more clearly understood. Particularly considering the slow-motion Presentation on videotape is more realistic and provides familiar ground for study for students who have seen television. According to Whatley and Ahmad (2007), video lectures should cater to students’ preferred learning styles in order to be used by them most effectively. The following are video lecture appeals (a) They are provided at a faster rate than classroom lectures, and their material is entirely related to the course performance criteria (b) Videos have the following advantages: (a) they offer the ability to be replayed, allowing pupils to recount what the instructor/teacher said; (b) they offer the ability to be sighted at once, place, and in an environment of the student’s choosing; and (c) they are portable, allowing listening and studying without the competing distractions that frequently go with classroom lectures.

However, 73% of respondents in a study by Brectit and Ogilby (2008) on the lecture and teaching technique using audio-visual aids (video) were students. The high use rate indicates that video lectures are widely accepted and used by students as an adjunct to traditional classroom training and a type of computer-based instruction. Additionally, 31.5% watched the video prior to the lecture, 72.2% used it for homework, and 72.4% used it to study for the test,Video tutoring is effective, according to 63% of respondents, and 38.9% of them thought it improved their course grade. Isiaka (2007) conducted study on the efficiency of video as a medium and discovered that the group receiving video instruction outperformed the group receiving no video instruction. The video group outperformed the chart group by a wide margin. He came to the conclusion that video was a useful teaching and learning tool in educational settings.

Devaaney (2009) found that every responder was in favor of video tutorials. 75% of respondents said the tutorials were entertaining and interesting, 84.6% said they satisfied their needs, and 100% said they were more comprehensible and straightforward than textbooks and study guides. He came to the conclusion that video can be a useful teaching tool for online courses.Alaku (1998) said that the utilization of effective instructional strategies and audiovisual aids by teachers determines their efficacy. Effective teaching strategies and successful learning are portrayed by appropriate instructional strategies. They make learning enjoyable and simple for pupils, especially when they are combined with the right methodology.

According to Ayinde (1997), using audio-visual aids strategically can save time and pique students’ interests. It improves memory retention and promotes comprehension and attitude. They support pupils in going beyond conversation. They also aid in communication, produce a diversity of sensory experiences, and increase the impact and speed of instruction. According to Kindler (2006), who was cited by Fakunle (2008), people typically retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, and 30% of what they see,70% of what they say, 90% of what they say when they do something, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear and see, and 50% of what they say. Chinese people also came to the conclusion that I hear, I forget,” I see, I remember,” and I do, I comprehend,” according to National Teacher Institute (2006). Consequently, from the example above, it might be inferred that audio-visual media aids are an essential tool for learning and teaching because they have to do with hearing and seeing.On the other hand, for adequately qualitative, and effectiveness audio-visual aids should fund and experts must be available.

Types of Audio-Visual Instructional Media

Azikwe (2007) states that instructional media include whatever a teacher utilizes to incorporate all five senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste—while imparting knowledge. Similar to this, Adegun (1997) asserts that instructional media are items that help teachers teach more effectively and make it easier for pupils to learn. Information carriers known as instructional media are created expressly to achieve goals in a teaching-learning environment. They are crucial to the teaching of social studies, especially the subject’s content, as they make it easier for students to connect words and the items they stand for with their sounds and symbols.They aid in clarifying concepts through vivid illustration since they are linked to the resources the instructor uses to enhance his instruction.

According to Mustapha (2007), instructional media are typically categorized based on the traits they display. There are many different instructional audiovisual resources available that could be used commercially and effectively in a social studies classroom setting. In order to increase the effectiveness of social studies teaching and learning in junior secondary schools, audio-visual instructional media materials are materials that the teacher uses as a communicating model and identification figure. These materials can be supported by a wise use of a variety of devices with useful strategies.Despite the wide range of audio-visual instructional media resources that which could be utilised in learning and teaching activities generally. For the junior secondary schools in the educational zone, within Kaduna state, to effectively teach and learn social studies, certain resources are most suitable. Therefore, the types of audio-visual instructional materials which are mostly relevant to social studies as follows:

1. Overhead Projectors

2. Slide projector and filmstrips projector

3. Film projectors and video player/projector

4. Multimedia presentation

5. Video tape recorders

6. Television

7. Computers

8. Motion picture

Overhead Projectors

Transparent materials are projected onto a screen using an overhead projector so that everyone can see. It is easy to use and offers teachers a variety of media options. Transparency can project transparencies in a lit room while facing the audience from the front of the room and keeping eye contact with the students (Kemp &Smellie, 1989; Blythe-Lord, 1991). The effect of using overhead projectors in the teaching-learning social studies:

1. Encourage students to investigate and debate the fundamental creative and technological aspects of the medium.

2. Encourage the development of visual literacy and general cognitive abilities.

3. Encourage artistic expression by sharing concepts from kids’ own imaginations.

4. Promote success in eight areas of personal life skill competency, including communication, the capacity for idea expression, cooperation, interpersonal abilities, and the capacity for conception, visualization, and invention, self-discipline and self-control problem solving.

5. Students discuss the effects of scientific and technical developments on sound, light, and set as well as electronic media production.

Slide Projectors

Slides, a small-format photographic transparency in color or black and white that is individually mounted and used to communicate educational content, are projected using slide projectors. Filmstrip projectors, on the other hand, display the images contained in a succession of tiny slides that have been permanently sequenced on a 35mm or 16mm film, either in color or in black and white. Slides can also be shown using some film strip projectors. Film strips and slides can be used by aspiring teachers to enhance their lessons. They are more affordable, manageable, and may be preserved for later use. Every topic area can use them because they are flexible especially social studies classroom and the rate of Trainee teachers can control presentations for use in classrooms using remote, reversal, and advance techniques. Their talks may be accompanied by written or recorded materials (Blythe-lord, 1991, Erickson &Curl, 1972, Farrant, 1981. kempt and Smellie, 1989, and Ulittich & Schuller, 1973).

Video Player/Projector and Film Projector

When motion is a key element of a subject, film and videotape projectors are utilized to present moving images. Black and white is the standard for educational movies. Motion films can be silent or noisy. The availability of videotapes has expanded the uses of motion pictures since they may be projected for group viewing using a video projector using a digital projector or exhibited on a monitor, or cathode ray tube.

Motion Pictures

They are pertinent to all academic fields, including social science (social studies) When sound is added, motion pictures can be a particularly useful tool for stressing task-specific characteristics that must be distinguished from visual stimuli. Movies are also excellent for encouraging students to have a positive attitude about the subject being taught. Additionally, they can be utilized to alter pupils’ attitudes in areas like social studies.

Review Questions

1. Write short explanatory notes on the following:

2. Talking Books and Speech Synthesis

3. CD-ROM Storybooks

4. Video/Videodiscs

5. Hypermedia

6. Computer Simulations

7. Identify and discuss any three (3) types of audio-visual instructional media.
   Describe how they are used to promote instructional delivery in Social Studies.