Think about an example of how multimedia have been used effectively to enhance your learning. Feel free to reflect on your MET experiences, or any other.
I’ve found my experiences with multimedia in the courses to be very informative and fun; to date I have taken five MET courses (including this course). Within the MET Program, I’ve had the opportunity to use a wide variety of tools, such as wikis, blogs, cmaps, delicious, Voicethread, Google documents, Vista Chat Room, Vista Live Classroom, Wimba, Moodle, Audacity, E-portfolios, Video streaming, One True Media, Windows Movie Maker, and Elluminate.
I’ll reflect on a few of these as opposed to touching upon all of them:
Cmaps – This tool provided me with the ability to think about connections and dependencies. It allowed me to visually represent concepts and to be creative in my layout. It provided me with an alternative way to express myself other than in written paragraph form.
Windows Movie Maker – This tool has allowed me to create my own digital story….an exercise, which was totally foreign to me prior to taking this course. I found the experience to be extremely fun and the final product was very satisfying. It allowed consider how visual and audio can be incorporated to present content in an alterative format. It also allowed me to consider what would be the most effective way to do so (e.g.: clear concise text, clear crisp graphics).
VoiceThread – This tool was used to complete a group assignment in another MET course. The tool allowed my team to work collaboratively across geographic barriers. We all contributed to the final piece and were able to include audio, visual, text and video into the final VoiceThread piece. The main thing I learned with this was the power of collaborative efforts and the positive impact it can have on the final product. By each of the team members contributing, we each brought our strengths to the project and our own unique interpretations and flare to the project. It allowed me to play off the strengths of others and to learn from fellow team members as well as to share my expertise and ideas. Our fellow classmates, also shared there opinions by commenting on our voicethread production, which added to the collaborative learning experience.
Vista ChatRoom – This tool has allowed me to chat with group members on group projects throughout my MET courses. This has allowed me to connect despite geographical barriers of place (if only it could eliminate time zones as well for chat sessions!). It allowed me to share my knowledge and express my thoughts to team members and to hear their views/opinions as well. The tool allowed for saving of the chat notes for future review/reference.
Overall, I feel my learning experience has been greatly enhanced due to the multimedia I have been exposed to in the MET Program. In comparison with my undergraduate studies and a distance education diploma program, both of which relied mainly on lecture and text books, I found that the incorporation of multimedia in MET courses has raised my interest level and kept it. In addition, this exposure has allowed me to consider ways in which I can then apply and use these multimedia tools in the workplace training I deliver. The sheer variety of the multimedia tools is also what has enhanced my learning experience. While not all of the tools may have been easy to use nor to my liking, I have been exposed to them and now have a broader range of multimedia tools that I am familiar. When I started the MET program I was a novice when it came to educational technology, as I complete each course I see my confidence level and knowledge increasing. Despite some initial fears and apprehension to learning how to use these tools, these experiences have in the end been truly rewarding and satisfying experiences.