Journal 2 - Finding students who learn with Media

Bull, G, Alexander, C, & Ferster, Bill. (2010). Finding students who learn with media. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(5), 36-37.

Using the technology tools available today, students are able to have access to information more than ever before. Engaging student in the classroom by having them approach the subject matter through various forms of media offers many opportunities for learning.

Web-based authoring tools are being used to create short documentary films utilizing audio, pictures and text this activity seems to enhance the level of retention and understanding. The Smithsonian American Art Museum currently utilizes this tool and allows students and teachers the ability to create their own movies using content from the museum.

The creation of Primary Access was to eliminate the time and overhead associated with movie making tools. A study was done to evaluate the learning potential of story board creation and the traditional essay writing activity. 40% of the students who participated were shown to have been engaged in both the historical content and the technological content of the activity.

Tools such as this along with other have the potential to engage more students and give them a better understanding of the material. Realizing that students respond in different ways to different media can allow teachers to truly construct and instruct assignments that will meet the individual needs of the student.

Is there truly a value add with this tool and will it actually be used?

There would definitely be a value add in my classroom. I am an early adopter of most technology and anything that would potentially engage a middle school student so much that he/she wants to learn more about a topic, I am all for it. I am concerned that there are more teachers that are afraid to use new methods like these to teach. It’s a bit more difficult to implement and there can appear to be less control over what content is used or not used.