Week 4 - Digital Media

Digital Media 

What is media and why is it important? Media has largely progressed in the last two hundred years as it has moved on from newspapers to different channels of communication such as social media, mass media, digital media and visual media. People are now using media on a daily basis to interact with people from all around the world. Digital media is mostly associated with non-text communication, such as images, audio recordings or podcasts, videos, and 3D images. This blog will focus on how digital media can be useful in a classroom setting. 

Access image here

Creating Images in the Classroom

Digital media can be highly useful in the classroom as it can be used in student projects, direct instruction, and active learning teaching strategies (SERC, 2018). Digital media can be used in lectures to engage learners, while it can also promote individualised learning, immersion, social interaction, problem-solving and cooperative learning. Media is a way for teachers to enhance their practice and to promote student learning. Research has shown that visual and kinesthetic learning can be significantly more effective than auditory learning (Cole, 2014). So what are some digital media that teachers and students can use in the classroom? Images are a great and innovative way to present a range of information to students. Students can also create images to communicate with their classmates and to present their information in a creative way. The following list gives examples of different programs that can be used to create images 

Images

• Concept mapping: Wisemapping, Coggle, Popplet
• Visual Programming: Scratch, Code-it
• Sticky Note Boards: Linoit, Padlet

All these resources can be very useful in the classroom. Concept Mapping is a great way to visually represent knowledge as it is editable, embeddable, which means students could embed their concept map into their blog or wiki, and others can access it which allows for peer review. Visual programming can be used across the curriculum in a range of ways and in different subject areas. Sticky note boards are also a great way to visually display and organise ideas while the option to collaborate and interact with others is still achievable. Creating and sharing images is a fun way to engage learners within the classroom while also promoting high-order thinking, problem solving, and creativity skills. However students also need to be aware of factors such as copyright. It is important that students review the materials on copyright to consider the fair use rule when using information derived from other sources. 

WiseMapping

This is an image I created using WiseMapping. This is a cool way to present information to students so they can visualise the information or ideas that will be covered in the lesson. For example, in an English class it would be useful in presenting the learning objectives and goals to students at the start of the lesson. In Psychology, students can use the program to succinctly present information in their assignments. With WiseMapping you can create an account where you can save your maps, export them (SVG, PNG, JPG), share them with friends, link them, and embed it in blogs and web pages. However, you can also try it for free before you create an account which is what I did to create my mind map above. 

This is what you see if you click 'Try Now' where you get to experiment with the program and see what it offers. Here you can select fonts, size, embed symbols, hyperlinks, add labels, titles and videos. Once you are done, you can save and download your image. 

SAMR Model 

Now we are going to have a look at how digital media, images in specific, can be applied in an English classroom. To do that we can use the SAMR Model. 

Access image: here

 Substitution: Teacher uses images to show students different advertisements and the techniques that are being used by companies to persuade an audience. This demonstrates visual explanation of information rather than just verbal. 

Augmentation: Teacher creates interactive images using programs such as Coggle and Wisemapping so students can access the images through a link and do their own exploration. The images contain different tabs and links to various websites about advertising. 

Modification: Students create interactive images to present their information and ideas as well as create their own advertisement. 

Redefinition: Students create their own image and then upload the link to their image in a wiki where all other students can access it. Students can then work on advertisements together and provide feedback to students online. 

Legal, Safe and Ethical Protocols 

It is important for students to remember the legal, safe, and ethical protocols when using or creating digital media. Students need to be familiar with the rules of copyright and plagiarism when using someone else's work whether it is an image from Google, or information derived from an article or book. It is important that teachers talk to students about these protocols before introducing them to digital media. 

References

Cole, D. (2014). A message from your brain: I'm not good at remembering what I hear. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/140312-auditory-memory-visual-learning-brain-research-science 

Foster, A. (2014). Using showbie with the SAMR model. https://www.showbie.com/using-showbie-with-the-samr-model/ 

SERC. (2018). What is using media to enhance teaching and Learning. https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/media//what.html 

Manfull, A. (2018). Hosting a 2018 summer digital media workshop? Tell us about it. https://www.jeadigitalmedia.org/2018/02/09/hosting-a-2018-summer-digital-media-workshop-tell-us-about-it/