Prompt:

We are focusing on our two media projects (photo and video montages) and expanding previous topics to now include the use of digital images and video. As such, consider how student use of digital images and video can allow them to meet learning goals and curriculum standards. What are the advantages of using video in the classroom? How can subjects, Math or your specialty area, best be learned using more visual technologies in concert with other digital technologies? What are the advantages to students producing their own “Digital Stories?” Which type of video project (according to Garetty and Schmidt) might your students be producing?

Response:

Digital storytelling and the use of images and video can sharply change the learning environment in the classroom, in some cases making it a better, more worthwhile experience for all learning styles. We have all mentioned how difficult and dry certain subject areas can be, in “

Guest Editorial: Digital Videos as Tools for Learning Mathematics,” the specific example is mathematics;however, new pedagogy is demonstrating how media tools can be effectively used to enhance learning in these subject areas. When considering the pro’s and con’s of introducing these tools into the learning atmosphere, I agree with what has been said that there seems to be little limit to what this technology can do in the classroom. Now I also think that there are certain things teachers need to be leery of when introducing this media to children, sometimes these tools can serve as a significant distraction. They can function to detract from the actual learning of material that is supposed to be taking place. For example, if a math teacher wants his students to create a video explaining a math concept, it is considerably likely that these students may be more concerned with making a “cool” video, or media piece, that they ignore or actually fail to learn the actual material the teacher has assigned.

As a future biology and science teacher, I am skeptical of the use of this type of media in my classroom, I can see from the examples in the Garetty and Schmidt article how it would be very applicable in literature or history classes (both more social subjects), but I don’t quite understand how that could be translated to Biology. Obviously there are ways in which this is possible, but I am still under the impression that in certain cases it can simply impede from overall learning of the material. Obviously mixed media embraces more learning styles than solely auditory, and this is a huge advantage that it provides in the classroom. But at the same time, it can be a noteworthy disruption for some students, perhaps in the category of overstimulation.

Now that is not to say that I am against all virtual media. In the subject area of science, like math, is critical for student to be able to see concepts demonstrated live and in action. I appreciated what the Niess and Walker article proposed: the importance of watching, analyzing, and then creating. Those three concepts are volatile in any classroom and learning environment, but I am just not sure this type of media is a tool that should be solely relied upon to meet learning goals and standards. Those three concepts can be applied in other areas to achieve the same level of learning.

To be honest, it sounds like a concept to trick children into learning. And while there is some merit to this, it is not necessarily teaching students to develop good study habits that they will take with them to college and out into the real world. How many digital interactive videos have you seen in your typical college lecture?

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