Go to the quotes and references I have gathered.

http://quotes.internetl.net 

Keywords: Sesame Street, educational television programmes,

In this chapter the author reviews “research on the impact of educational television programs on children’s knowledge, skills and attitudes in academic areas such as literacy, science, and mathematics (P398)” going from key findings to theoretical mechanisms. The author analyses the impact of Sesame Street in the development of school readiness emphasizing in language development, reading skills, mathematics, and science and technology.
Useful quotes
All television is educational, the only question is what is it teaching? P397 Citing Liebert and Schwartzberg, 1977 P70).
Comprehension –and even learning- of the educational content in a television program does not guarantee that viewers also will be able to apply the material successfully in new problems or situations. P418

Chapter 3: The Role of Media and Technology
Bates, A.W. and Poole, G (2003). Effective teaching in higher education, Josey-Bass San Francisco.

Keywords: Bates, Technology, Media, asynchronous, synchronous, medium, structure and organization of knowledge.
This reading is part of the Module Handbook of Educational Broadcasting.
In this chapter Bates discusses the roles of media and Technology he defines the concepts and links them to the educational field. He describes the nature of both concepts, their attributes and characteristics. As he explicitly says, the outcomes are based in his personal experience and a qualitative research. He used the Plato’s dialogue of Pheadrus to explain how writing was used as an educational technology vs. memorization.
He says we construct our knowledge by recurring to different ways of approaching the same phenomenon, such as reading about heat properties and touching something hot. Then he claims that face-to-face education is not better or worse than technology assisted learning, it is simply different. He goes over 5 primary types of educational media (Direct face-to-face, Text (including graphics), Analogue Audio, Analogue video, Digital multimedia) and he gives an explanation of asynchronous and synchronous technologies.
Useful quotes:

• In our view, speech, writing drama, radio and television programming, computer programming, and Web-based courses are all media, or more strictly, symbols systems that uniquely define specific media. Classrooms, books, theatres, cinemas, radio sets and transmitters, cable, satellites, television monitors, computers computer software and computer networks are all technologies. P48
• Technology are physical things … they do not communicate, Media however are means of communication. They require a source of information, a means of transmitting information (including symbol systems), and a receiver that is, someone who is interested in, has access to, and knows how to interpret the communication. P48
• Although there is usually an assumption that media will use technology of some kind for the means of transmission and communication, media may not be related necessarily to any specific technology. P49
• Indeed for deep understanding, we often need to learn in different ways about the same concept… In this context, more probably means better. The more ways we can learn about a subject or topic, the more deeply we are likely to understand. P51
• Learning through technology is not necessarily better or worse than face-to-face education; it is, though different. P51
• How media, however defined, can be used to facilitate knowledge-construction and meaning making on the part of the learner? P51
• The issue of the volume of information is also critical. P53
• Communication technologies are good for information transmission P54
• There is evidence that within a particular medium (such as video) certain technologies have educational advantages over others. For instance, in research at the British Open University, Bates (1984) and co-researchers, consistently found that students rated recorded formats (video-and audiocassettes) better for learning purposes than broadcast formats due to the extra control they had over when and how they could use the material. P58-59
• From an educational perspective, each medium represents the world in different ways P59
• We use the term multimedia to describe the combinations of text still graphics, animation, audio, and video within a simple technology, such as a computer or television. The value of multimedia is that it allows for the representation of knowledge in a variety of ways. Students can learn about abstract principles through text and see the application of those principles through an animation or a video example. This variety presents the opportunity for deeper levels of understanding particularly if the presentational qualities are fully and deliberately exploited to achieve this purpose and are combined with the potential for learner interaction. P60
• Interaction is a term frequently used to describe an advantage of computer based learning, but it is very rarely adequately defined or understood in an educational context. P68

Structure and Organization of Knowledge

• Hypertext structures
• Algorithmic structure
• Problem-Based structures
• Expert System Structures

For the prototype

• The instructor … might take a small videoclip illustrating a single concepts or principle and introduce the clip, comment on the clip as it is being played, then summarize the principles after the clip” P60

• A learning object is a reusable digital resource to support learning. P66

My thoughts
Less is more in contents; and more is more in perception channels and ways technologies to present the media.
Video messaging with cell phones like video clips is an asynchronous way of video conferencing

Howard, Sue (1998). Unbalanced minds? Children thinking about television. In Wired Up: Young people and electronic media. Howard, S (ED.), Chapter 4. pp 57-76, UCL Press London.

Key words: assimilation, accommodation, educational television, equilibration, internalization, Piaget, Vigotsky, ZPD, zone of proximal development.

This reading is part of the Module Handbook of Educational Broadcasting.

In this text the author questions the bad reputation of television in the public mind. She recurs to Piaget and Vigotsky to pursue a study with kids from 3 to 10 years old. In the study she demonstrates that television shows can stimulate intellectual activity. The programmes she used are: Sesame street, The Simpsons, Bill Cosby, Bugs Bunny and others. As seen with those shows, she pretended to stimulate critical thinking from programmes different from documentaries, educational television, news programmes, science, wildlife and so on.

The most relevant concepts she introduces in the study are: Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation and equilibrium and Vigotsky’s internalization and ZPD.

Useful quotes:

• Vigotskyan theory has had a major impact here in showing how the culture’s ways of knowing, thinking and solving problems are passed on to children by more competent others through social transmission. P59
• Any function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, or on two planes, First, it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane. First it appears between two people as an interpsychological category, and then within the child as an intrapsychological category. P59
• A model of thinking and learning that can account for both social and individual perspectives is thus probably one tat combines aspects of both Piagetian and Vigotskian theory –Paiget’s theory of equilibration and Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development. P59
• What is equilibration? Essentially it is a drive for order. Piaget (1954) claimed there seems to be an instinctive or innate need in people to find order structure and predictability in their existence. Equilibration involves the testing of our understanding against the real world. P59
• Assimilation occurs when people use their existing schemes to understand experiences or events in the world. P60
• Sometimes schemes have to be adapted, modified or new ones created and this is a result of the other process: accommodation. P60
• Vigotsky’s zone of proximal development can be seen as a companion state to Piaget’s disequilibrium. P60
• The zpd is defined as the distance between the actual developmental level of a child as determined by independent problem-solving and the level of potential as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vigotsky 1978:86) P60

Chapter 1: Introduction to Multimedia Learning

Mayer, R. (2005). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. USA, Cambridge University Press.

In the Preface of this Handbook, Mayer explains its intention and describes the way the chapters are structured, based on six values: research based, theory grounded, educationally relevant, comprehensive, timely, and readable.

In Chapter 1: Introduction to Multimedia Learning, which is an updated and complemented version of chapter 1: The Promise of Multimedia Learning, in Multimedia Learning, Mayer describes some of the key concepts that are involved in the handbook: Multimedia, Multimedia learning and Multimedia instruction. Then he states some questions about the use of words and pictures to promote learning, and tackles orderly the following ideas:

Three Views of multimedia messages: Delivery Media view, Presentation Modes View and the Sensory Modalities View.

Two Views of multimedia Design: Technology-centred approach and Learner-centred approach (in this part he also gives a very interesting historical review of why not to use the technology-centred approach).

Three Metaphors of Multimedia Learning (one more than in the book of Multimedia Learning): Response Strengthening, Information acquisition, and Knowledge Construction.

Three kinds of Multimedia Learning Outcomes: No learning, Rote Learning, and Meaningful Learning.

Two Kinds of Active Learning: Behavioural activity and Cognitive activity.

Two major phases in the use of computer technology: Automation and Augmentation

On the whole he favours a sensory modality view, learner-centred approach, with a knowledge construction metaphor that peruses meaningful learning by means of a cognitive activity.

Useful quotes:

• People can learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone (P1)
• Presenting both is like presenting the material twice –giving the learner twice as much exposure to the explanation. (P4)
• …understanding occurs when learners are able to build meaningful connections between visual and verbal representations… (P5)
• In the process of trying to build connections between words and pictures, learners are able to create a deeper understanding than from words or pictures alone. (P5)
• Learner-centred approaches begin with an understanding of how the human mind works and ask “How can we adapt multimedia to enhance human learning? (P9)
• …anything invented by humans for the purpose of improving thought or action counts as an artefact (P9).
• …learning is based on building connections, so “what is learned” is that a certain response is connected to a certain situation… the learner’s job is to make a response and receive feedback on the response P(11).
• Understanding is ability to construct a coherent mental representation from the presented material (P13)
• Research on learning shows that meaningful learning depends on the learner’s cognitive activity during learning rather than on the learner’s behavioural activity during learning (P13)

Ideas to consider

• … these reports of development efforts are generally based on best practices and informal case studies … lack of scientific research evidence… (P.ix) What is needed is a research-based understanding of how people learn from words and pictures and how to design multimedia instruction that promotes learning. (P6)
• I reject the delivery media view because it focuses on the technology rather than on the learner. (P2)
• …people do not necessarily learn better when the speaker’s image is on the screen. (P7)
• People do not necessarily learn better from animation than from static diagrams (P7).
• Instead of adapting technology to fit the needs of human learners, humans were forced to adapt to the demands of cutting-edge technologies (P9).

Questions he asks in this chapter

• Do students learn more deeply from words and pictures than form words alone? (P3)
• What are the consequences of adding pictures to words? (P4)
• What happens when instructional messages involve both verbal and visual modes of learning? (P4)
• What affects the way that people learn form words and pictures?(P4)
• How can multimedia presentations foster meaningful learning? (P4)
• Why might two channels be better than one? (P4)
• Which type of active learning promotes meaningful learning? (p14)

Chapter 7: Case Studies

Mason, Robin (1994). Using Communications Media in Open and Flexible Learning. Open and Distance Learning Series. Kogan Page Limited.

In this chapter, the biggest of the book, Mason describes 9 cases in which computer-mediated-communication (CMC) is used with educational purposes. The last three cases are dedicated to Videoconferencing.

To tackle the examples Mason uses the following structure:

• Context

• Use of the medium

• Educational outcomes

Case study 7 is about a course at University of Ulster which was delivered via videoconferencing to a small group (8 students) who shared the same room, and the tutor was alone at a different place in the same city.  They used three cameras to establish the visual communication: one for the students, on for the tutor, and one more for the tutor’s materials.

Useful quotes and outcomes:

• “tutors reported that teaching via videoconference definitively increased their preparation time (…) They planned their sessions a week in advance. So that the students knew exactly what to do and no VC time was wasted on organizational matters.” (P107)

• the self-explanatory concept of techno-stress is mentioned in this case study 

• “Concentration is much more intense in technology-mediated classes, and attention spans are therefore shortened” (P107)

• “The students felt that eight was the optimum group size for developing the cohesion and independence to work together effectively. The physical absence of the tutor helped them to focus on and evaluate their own experiences”.(P108)

• “The advantages of using videoconferencing for teaching and learning are pragmatic rather than pedagogical, that is VC solves the practical problem of distance”. (P108)

• "The use of videoconferencing affects styles of teaching more than styles of learning" (P108)

Chapter 6: Videoconferencing

Mason, Robin (1994). Using Communications Media in Open and Flexible Learning. Open and Distance Learning Series. Kogan Page Limited.

This chapter is oriented to the technical part of videoconferencing, Mason explains with more detail the components of a VC system, the types of uses, advantages and disadvantages of VC as well as a brief section called future trends.

Useful quotes and ideas:

Disadvantages

• “Several studies have shown that students prefer the flexibility and asynchronous learning from a recorded video to the benefits of live interaction” (P82)

• “On the whole, the opportunity provided by two-way videoconferencing to alter the way teaching and learning take place has not been seized. More innovative applications and teaching occur with computer conferencing and audiographics than currently with videoconferencing.” (P82)

Chapter 1: Telecommunications Media.

Mason, Robin (1994). Using Communications Media in Open and Flexible Learning. Open and Distance Learning Series. Kogan Page Limited.

In this chapter, Mason describes the three different ways of electronic communicating that she identified within computer conferencing: text, audio and video. Along the chapter, the three kinds of telecommunication systems are described and some concepts of asynchronous text-based communication are covered. She also goes briefly over some relevant technical aspects such as bandwidth, CODECs and ISDN issues. The chapter closes with a reflection on telecommunication and open learning, its role in curriculum development and focus on gender and minorities matters.Useful quotes and ideas:

• "There are three ways of communicating electronically: writing, speaking and displaying. These translate roughly into text, audio and video” (P11) (computer conferencing, audiographics and videoconferencing).

Definitions and uses

• "Communication by written messages, stored in a central location and accessible by a group of users at any time, is the basis of computer conferencing.” (P12) (it is an amalgam of letter writing, group discussion and newspaper letters-to-the-editor).

• “The pure form of audiographics consists of exactly what the name implies: voice and graphics exchange. The graphics –really any still images – are an add-on to what was originally just plain audioconferencing”. (P13)

• Videoconferencing, “can be used with large lecture groups of relatively passive students or for multi-site interactive discussions (…) A lecturer delivering a traditional “chalk and talk” lecture may have one class present and another, or several others at a distance” (P13 –14).

About Videoconferencing

•  
  • She also said that a VC can be used in training to transmit a programe consisting of Demonstraions, Video segments of material made earlier, discussion among experts, and to provide access to host institutions.
  • The VC moving unit is called rollabout
  • Synchronous communiation by voice and, better still, vision overcomes the prolonging of exchanges, but of course requires immediate response.” (P16)
  • “Many articles in the computer conferencing literature give testimony to the advantages of this medium for various minorities and types of disabled students” (P21)

In a Forum

• Citing Feenberg, “communication anxiety: a student ventures forth with an opinion or point of view and no one responds for days and days (Feenberg, 1989)” (P16)
•   “the educational use is almost always asynchronous” (P15)
• "one is prompted to reconsider and refine one’s views with each new message.” (P16)

Chapter 2: Multimedia instructional Messages

Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

In this chapter Richard Mayer describes what a multimedia instructional message is, and he resorts to do it pragmatically by explaining how lightning storms develops, how car brakes work and how pumps work.

Useful quotes:

Concept

• “A multimedia instructional message is a communication using words and pictures that is intended to promote learning” (P21)
• “For book-based presentations, the words are in the form of printed text and the pictures are in the form of illustration. For computer-based presentations, the words are in the form of narration and the pictures are in the form of animation”. (P40) But for my research topic I assume the words are in the form of audio and the pictures are in the form of video.

Components

• Mayer identifies it as a tripartite concept composed by “the message that reflects the idea of communications or presentations involving a teacher and learner; the instruction that reflects the purpose of promoting learning; and multimedia that reflects the idea of the way it is presented (using both words and pictures)” (Cf. P 21-22)

Pragmatic use

• The three examples Mayer explains in the chapter, have in common three elements: “first, each is a message – that is, a communication to a learner, namely an explanation, with the form of a cause-and-effect chain, of how a system works second, each is instructional – that is, the purpose of communication is to foster learning through tests of retention, for example; and each is presented using words and pictures – that is they are based on multimedia” (Cf. P39-40).

Chapter 2: Interaction

Mason, Robin (1994). Using Communications Media in Open and Flexible Learning. Open and Distance Learning Series. Kogan Page Limited.

This chapter revolves around the concept of Interaction which Mason defines it in educational terms as a three dimensional feature: Student – content interaction; Teacher – student interaction and Student – student interaction.

Useful quotes:

Interactivity effectiveness

• “Much of what passes for interactivity should really be called feedback –to the organization or the teacher. It would be useful if the word interactivity were reserved for educational situations in which human responses –either vocal or written –referred to previous human responses.” (P25)
• "The obvious meaning – communication between two or more people (p25)
• Robin citing Bates (interactivity as a criterion for media selection in distance education p16) “Most theories of learning suggest that for learning to be effective it needs to be active; in other words the learner must respond in some way to the learning material. It is not enough merely to observe or read; learners have to do something with the learning material. Thus They may need to demonstrate (if only to themselves) that they have understood or they may need to reprocess new material to incorporate it with exiting knowledge or to apply the new knowledge they have acquire successfully to new situations” (p26)

Interactivity on demand

• “Open University students, asked why they liked computer conferencing so much when they hadn’t used it interactively, said they felt much less isolated knowing they could use it if they needed …” (p28)
• “One of the issues currently debated (in social presence) amongst designers of interactive software for collaborative work is how to create a sense of social presence” (p33).

Quality of interactivity

• “…the quality of interaction, whether it reinforces factual transmission of information, or develops critical thinking and team working skills…” (p35) depending on the course design and the teachers ideology.

Interactivity and video

• “Although videoconferencing tends to be used in situations which replicate face-to-face lecturing – not a teaching method known for deep-level human interactivity let alone collaborative work.” (P30)

• “Computer-based training and interactive video are frequently referred to as interactive: students can stop and start when they choose, can go at their own pace, are offered choices which may lead in different directions; sometimes they can choose different routes through the material.” (P25)