Enhancing Education with Multimedia

There are many ways for teachers to use multimedia objects (e.g., videos, sound clips, animations, simulations, etc.) to enhance their lessons. However, multimedia, like most forms of technology, can be a double-edged sword, and the teacher must always evaluate its effectiveness.

Here is an example of how a teacher might incorporate multimedia into a Grade 7 Social Studies lesson. The multimedia object, in this case, is a Flash animation developed by Statistics Canada, and it can be viewed at http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/analysis/popdwell/vignettes/prairies.html. The animation uses a map of the prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), along with a series of images, to explain how the construction of railway lines through these provinces encouraged European immigrants and settlers to move westward and form large settlements along these railway lines. Showing students this animation provides students (particularly visual learners, but also auditory ones, as the animation is accompanied by a voice-over) with an idea of where major railway lines were constructed and what effects they have had on contemporary Canada.


The use of this multimedia object in the classroom would contribute to the completion of Outcome 7.2.7 in the Social Studies curriculum: Students will assess, critically, the impact of urbanization and technology on individual and collective identities in Canada. At the same time, it would contribute to the following ICT Outcomes: students will evaluate the relevance of electronically accessed information to a particular topic (C.3.3.2), and students will demonstrate an understanding that information can be transmitted through a variety of media (F.1.3.1). Finally, the content of this learning object would provide students with an example of how, generally speaking, technology (in this case, the railroad) can have a tremendous impact on our lives and societies.

Safety, Responsiblity, and the Internet

The Internet is an extremely vast source of information that readily lends itself to use in the classroom. Teaching strategies that make use of this massive resource, such as WebQuests, can be very effective (for instance, click here to check out the WebQuest I designed using TeacherWeb).

However, despite the Internet's positive potential for teaching and learning, it can be exceedingly dangerous. Students must be taught how to use the Internet safely and responsibly in order to maximize its utility and minimize its dangers. One way of teaching students about appropriate Internet usage is to have them complete the "Jo Cool or Jo Fool" web awareness activity and quiz developed by the Media Awareness Network (the activity and quiz are available at http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/jocool_jofool/kids.cfm).

"Jo Cool or Jo Fool" takes students on a "CyberTour" of different fictional websites in order to determine whether they are safe and responsible or unsafe and irresponsible. It covers the basics of acceptable Internet use, including: protection of private information, legitimacy of sources, respectful participation in chatrooms/forums, online marketing ploys, and awareness of illegal Internet use (such as illegal music downloads).

Bringing these online dangers to the attention of students is an essential prerequisite for Internet use in the classroom.

The Value of Discussion Boards

Discussion boards carry a great deal of educational potential. However, much like blogs, discussion boards come with considerable risks. As noted in one of my previous posts, The Potential of Educational Blogging (posted on September 13, 2007), there are serious privacy issues that must be taken into account before blogs and discussion boards are incorporated into teachers' lesson plans. Young people may lack the maturity or capacity to fully understand the intricacies of freedom of expression in the public domain. However, there may be security measures, such as the password-protection of discussion boards, that will address many of these concerns. Another potential problem with discussion boards is that individuals cannot participate outside of class if they do not have a computer at home. If a teacher asks his or her students to contribute to a discussion board, he or she must be aware of the reality that not every student has access to an internet-enabled computer outside of the classroom.

Despite these potential pitfalls, discussion boards have numerous possible benefits for teachers and students alike. For instance, they allow teachers and students to devote considerable time and attention to discussing important class topics. Because they take place outside the classroom, discussion boards can extend students' exploration of concepts and ideas beyond the classroom. Also, discussion boards promote greater student involvement and participation in these class discussions, particularly for students that are shy or reluctant to share their views in class. Along these same lines, discussion boards encourage students to produce higher-quality work, since students know that their peers will be reading their posts. This is not just a benefit for students; teachers, too, enjoy the benefit of reading/viewing/grading better work. Teachers also have the benefit of having a record of the class discussion. Perhaps most importantly, discussion boards offer students plenty of opportunities to improve their written communication skills.

Taking into account both the pros and cons of discussion boards, there are plenty of ways that they might be integrated into the classroom.

Discussion boards...

1 ...can be used to facilitate class discussions. This is perhaps the most obvious use for a discussion board, and it is an important one, for many of the reasons outlined above. It is an effective way for students and teachers to be engaged in discussion, without consuming class time.

2 ...can serve as online study groups for students. If students are having difficulty understanding an important concept prior to an exam, or having trouble developing ideas for an essay, he or she can use a class discussion board to ask classmates for help. I have personally been involved in university-level courses where the class discussion board is extremely active the evening before an exam. Students help one another out by providing answers and explanations, and I can see the same thing happening in upper elementary, middle, and high schools.

3 ...give teachers a place to post links and assignments. Teachers can post assignments or links on a class discussion board, and this has numerous benefits. For instance, it allows students that are absent from class (say, athletes that are required to travel often) to keep up to date with course requirements. Also, posting assignments on discussion boards ensures that students (and perhaps their parents as well) will have access to the information they need in order to complete the assignment (e.g., instructions, due dates, etc.).

4 ...give students a place to post their work. Discussion boards may be the end of the age-old excuse, "My dog ate my homework." Students can submit their homework assignments via discussion boards, which is more efficient (not to mention more "green") than handing in hard copies of assignments. This also has the aforementioned benefit of motivating students to produce higher-quality work, as they know that their peers will be seeing their assignments.

5 ...offer an interesting alternative to the standard position paper. If students are required to state their position on a certain topic in a discussion board, as opposed to handing in a copy of their position paper, their views are open to criticism and responses from others. This allows students to learn not only how to state a position, but also how to defend that position against counterarguments (which is in fact part of the social studies Program of Studies).

Overall, discussion boards carry plenty of potential for classroom integration, despite their potential drawbacks.

Concept Mapping in the Classroom

I had initially approached concept mapping with some skepticism, but now that I have familiarized myself with this tool, I think that it has tremendous potential for classroom use. It is a fun and versatile tool for students to explore ideas and relationships. I can see it being a great asset during the creative process, particularly when students are beginning a creative project or report. The concept map below is of the first kind mentioned; its purpose is to help students explore and understand concepts (and the relationships between these concepts).


This concept map could be used for Grade 6 Social Studies, where students are required to develop an understanding of democracy in Canada by examining historical models of democracy. One such historical model is the Iroquois Confederacy, and another is Ancient Athens. The concept map pictured here details features of society and democratic process in both contemporary Canada and the Iroquois Confederacy.

A teacher might present this concept map to his or her Grade 6 class, and then have students construct a similar concept map for Ancient Athens (or, the teacher might present a concept map for Canada only, and have students construct maps for both the Iroquois Confederacy and Ancient Athens). Students could construct their concept maps in groups and present them to the class, and of course, they would be encouraged to add colors and images, and perhaps even sounds and videos, to their concept maps; the example pictured above has been deliberately left rather plain, for the sake of clarity and simplicity.

By constructing their own concept maps for the democratic models of Canada, the Iroquois Confederacy, and/or Ancient Athens, students would be fulfulling a number of requirements in the Social Studies curriculum. No less importantly, they would also be satisfying the following outcomes specified in the ICT Program of Studies: organize information, using such tools as a database, spreadsheet, or electronic webbing (C.4.2.2); record group brainstorming, planning and sharing of ideas by using technology (C.5.2.2); use a variety of technologies to organize and synthesize researched information (C.7.2.1); use selected presentation tools to demonstrate connections among various pieces of information (C.7.2.2); and recognize that graphics, video and sound enhance communication (F.4.2.1). Also, there is room in this activity to integrate a number of other ICT outcomes. For instance, the students could be required to complete web research in order to complete their concept map, or they might be required to integrate their concept map into a PowerPoint presentation.

It should be clear by this point that, in addition to being a versatile tool for enhancing both creativity and understanding, concept mapping is an excellent way for students to fulfill many of the requirements in the ICT curriculum.