MULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM

HOW CAN MY STUDENTS USE MULTIMEDIA FOR THEIR PROJECTS?

One lesson plan involving multimedia tools that would be very fun and engaging for elementary aged students is writing a creative story using PowerPoint Story Writing Templates.  Children love to create stories and through this multimedia tool, they are able to add sound and animation to spunk their story up.  While learning how to use this simple template, students are also building an important foundation for creating more elaborate presentations as they move through school and into a career.

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/classrooms/ig/PowerPoint-Story-Templates/index.htm

A second lesson plan involving multimedia tools could require covering the basics; using the Internet for research and word processing.  Before starting any Internet research it is first imperative that you cover web safety and ethics with your students.  When teaching students how to research information on the Internet it is also important to discuss key word searches and how to narrow down the topic in which you are exploring. 

Let's try this out with a search for US Pirates...

Kids have a very cartoon idea about what pirates are after seeing Peter Pan and hearing stories about Blackbeard but they might be fascinated to know where these characters actually began.  To make this lesson fun, start by getting creative and setting the mood star by reading a short story by Tom Lichtenheld named "Everything I Know About Pirates." 

Why do pirates always wear eye patches? Where do pirates go to get their ears pierced? How do pirates keep their underwear from getting mixed up when they sail off to summer pirate camp? You're not the only one who wonders these things. I wondered about them so much, I had to write a book to get to the bottom of it all. The result is an encyclopedia of all things piratical, packed with silly pictures and satire from fore to aft.

Next, have your students come up with pirate names for themselves.  They can create colorful pirate hats and write their names on them.  Once the mood is set, have your students research pirates on the Internet.  Give them a goal to find 3 real pirates in history and record specific facts about each.  Once they have explored pirates and gathered information, have them use word processing to write a one page reaction to the information they found.  Now that students have a cartoon vision of pirates and a real vision of pirates, have students create a short story with the lead character being their own pirate character with the name they chose for themselves.  Reflecting on all that they know, their stories should show some of what they learned about history.  As a teacher, you can conclude this lesson by presenting a slide show comparing real pirates to cartoon pirate with pictures and sounds and discuss the historical times of pirates.

A third lesson plan involving multimedia could involve the use of a digital camera.  Digital cameras are becoming more and more popular, especially for classroom use.  They have many advantages:  pictures are immediately available, pictures are saved in graphic format, and they are easily transferred from the camera to the computer.  This lesson plan could involve small business plans and how communities work.  You could begin this lesson by discussing how different businesses work together and the importance of supporting local business in our economy.  After having a small discussion about this topic, you could have your students come up with ideas for a small business of their own.  In order to grow any business, it must market itself and its purpose to its community.  A great way to do this is to create a flyer.  Using the digital camera, have your students take pictures that they can include in their flyer.  Using Microsoft Publisher, have students create their flyer to share with the class while presenting their idea for a small business. 

             

WHAT APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR CREATING A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION?

Their are a number of applications available for creating multimedia presentations.  Creating Digital Video, PowerPoint presentations, google docs presentations, Apples iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe's Flash, etc.
Creating Digital Video can involve existing movies, Internet clips, movies created by students, etc.  Every production always starts with a storyboard, creating an outline for your presentation.  After the storyboard is created you'll need to create a script.  Once this step is complete you will choose what program will be used to create the video.
PowerPoint Presentations are another popular tool to use.  This tool is especially handy when you want to add movie, animation, pictures, or sound to a presentation but still have the opportunity to print handout or presentation notes for class or business purposes.
Google Docs Presentation application is very similar to PowerPoint but allows you to share your presentation online and work on a presentation with a partner or group just by signing into an account on your personal computer.
These are just a few helpful application to use when creating a fun, interactive, enticing, presentation.

 
SHOULD I PLACE LIMITS ON HOW MY STUDENTS USE MULTIMEDIA

As stated in our text, if your students have completed an integrated computer lesson, they have learned new content, solved problems, and maybe discovered new relationships among ideas that you had not anticipated.  Similarly, the process of creating a presentation encourages students to reflect on what they have done.  Creating a presentation can encompass many different forms of technology and gives students practice in becoming more "technically literate".

In June of 1998, the National Education Technology Standards Project (NETS) unveiled six technology driven standards by which to direct curriculum development.  The document was entitled "Technology Foundation Standards".  The standards sought to weave skills, design application, and problem solve together.  If a student could demonstrate competency in all of the performance indicators, the student would be "technologically literate". (Dr. Fred Hofstetter)
 

Standard	Performance Indicator
1. Basic Operations and Concepts	Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems. Students are proficient in the use of technology.
2. Social, Ethical, and Human Issues	Students understand the ethical, cultural, and societal issues related to technology. Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software. Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
3. Technology Productivity Tools	Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity. Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
4. Technology Communications Tools	Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences. Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.
5. Technology Research Tools	Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources. Students use technology tools to process data and report results. Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.
6. Technology Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making Tools	Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions. Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world.

Although using multimedia technology as a tool to get our messages and research out, it is important to remember that it is just that; a format to present our information.  Students should have plenty of opportunity to learn the skills necessary to create presentations, etc, but they should not loose sight of what the point is...the information in which they are presenting.  As a teacher it is important to keep a balance between content and show.