The Impact of Technology and Multimedia

Impact of Technology and Multimedia
From time to time, various classes in the course I am taking at Walden University  require me to write blog entries as a way to demonstrate my ability to apply what I am learning to a practical issue. In my current class,” Online Instructional Strategies,” I have been asked to write about the impact of technology and multimedia to online learning. 


What impact does technology and multimedia have on online learning environments?

Technology impacts learning in a number of ways. It can focus attention or distract attention. It can bring out the best in people who normally may be too shy to contribute in a standard classroom, but it can also create social distance between learners, and stifle the creation of a learning community in a classroom. (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004) In the final analysis, online learning is just a vehicle delivering instruction. It has strengths and weaknesses in comparison with other vehicles. Perhaps its greatest strength is its ability to supplement traditional learning, and to provide more ways to reach more learners. (Neuhauser, 2002)

What are the most important considerations an online instructor should make before implementing technology?

The most important considerations in designing instruction are the needs of the learners, and the educational objectives to be accomplished. Meeting the needs of learners means establishing a social learning community that will give learners the confidence to work together, and providing clear direction that will enable learners to take charge of their own learning. (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010) It takes a lot of time and careful preparation, with adequate supplemental learning resources to meet the needs of every student. In a face-to-face classroom, my personal guide to success is to over-prepare, insuring there will be at least twice as many learning activities than I actually expect to use. An on-online classroom is no different. Learners need a variety of learning activities, and in the beginning, they need a lot of direction. Some learners will need help to start using online learning tools. Some just need to know the teacher is available in case they have difficulty. Another principle is to keep technology limited to what is familiar to both the learners and the instructor. Do not try to introduce several new technologies at once. Add one or two new technologies when it is second nature for the group to use the tools they already have. (Boettcher & Conrad)

What implications do usability and accessibility of technology tools have for online teaching?

I have a vision impairment. After two retinal reattachment surgeries, I have large blind spots in my peripheral vision, which the brain hides by creating an illusion of sight based on what it expects to see. The effect is a narrow range of vision in which reading is possible. Another side-effect of the surgery is that edges of the retina that were not reattached, float into the peripheral areas sometimes obstructing my view, while catching light from unusual angles, out of focus, and causing difficulty with contrast. The illustration above was designed to simulate how I see. It is a computer screen with edges blurred and darkened, and the center washed out with too much light, and with low text contrast. What is not clearly illustrated in the picture, is my own use of very large letters to overcome the problem, and the effect that large font sizes have on how text fails to wrap properly, or how navigation controls such as buttons and tabs can be completely hidden in badly designed web sites.

When designing online instruction, it is important to consider whether learners who are color-blind will be able to see screens that appear readable to most students. It is important to verify that that font sizes are proportional and that forms can be resized for vision-impaired learners. In many cases, verifying that instruction is accessible to learners with disabilities is required by law. Photographs must have alternate descriptive text for learners who use readers and cannot see pictures on the screen. Flash presentations that may not be accessible to blind users, need to have a transcript available. Just verifying that pictures and videos have alternate text available, or that fonts have relative sizes like “large,” and are not specified as a particular point size, may not always insure that a web page is readable to a person who is vision-impaired. Actual testing of learning materials using screen readers, resizing forms and choosing alternate color schemes is necessary to insure accessibility. (Burgstahler, 2006)

What technology tools are most appealing to you for online teaching as you move forward in your career in instructional design?

I am most impressed with the value of online assignment calendars, discussion forums, email, and online videos. Other collaboration tools such as wiki’s, blogs, video logs, and interactive games can be useful also. I also feel that learner use of spreadsheets and graphing tools can be important means for promoting self-discovery of relationships between data.

Synthesis

Clearly the most important principle I have learned since I started working on my degree in instructional design and technology, is the value of social learning, and how to create a learning community online, through careful direction by the instructor in the beginning, through “getting acquainted” activities at the beginning of a course, and through graded use of discussion forums throughout at course.

Much of the value of online learning is the flexibility it provides to learners to fit learning into their lifestyles. I expect to see more electronic books used in online courses to increase the portability of those courses. Text books and assigned articles should be available for direct download to a variety of electronic readers. In the future, I expect to see more discussion forums in online courses, with some of those forums becoming less formal, and more accessible to mobile devices. There will always be a need for some formality in courses, so that students are able to give proper credit to sources. Possibly future mobile “chat” software will provide a convenient utility for posting citations in chat messages.


Resources:

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Burgstahler, S. (2006). The development of accessibility indicators for distance learning programs. Research in Learning Technology, 14(1), 79-102. doi:10.1080/09687760500479753

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2004). Engaged learning in the online environment. In Engaging the online learner: Activties and resources for creative instruction. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley amp; Sons, Inc.

Neuhauser, C. (2002). Learning style and effectiveness of online and Face-to-Face instruction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(2), 99-113. Retrieved from http://www.personal.psu.edu/khk122/woty/LearnerCharacteristics/Neuhauser%202002.pdf