25-09-2016
UNIT-4
What is Instructional Media?
Instructional media
encompasses all the materials and physical means an instructor might use to
implement instruction and facilitate students' achievement of instructional
objectives. This may include traditional materials such as chalkboards,
handouts, charts, slides, overheads, real objects, and videotape or film, as
well newer materials and methods such as computers, DVDs, CD-ROMs, the
Internet, and interactive video conferencing.
Communications
and its importance.
Effective Communication is
significant for managers, Proffessionals, Educators, in their organizations so
as to perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organizing,
Leading and Controlling.
Communication helps managers to
perform their jobs and responsibilities. Communication serves as a foundation
for planning. All the essential information must be communicated to the
managers who in-turn must communicate the plans so as to implement them.
Organizing also requires effective communication with others about their job
task. Similarly leaders as managers must communicate effectively with their
subordinates so as to achieve the team goals. Controlling is not possible
without written and oral communication.
Managers devote a great part of
their time in communication. They generally devote approximately 6 hours per
day in communicating. They spend great time on face to face or telephonic
communication with their superiors, subordinates, colleagues, customers or
suppliers. Managers also use Written Communication in form of letters, reports
or memos wherever oral communication is not feasible.
Thus, we can say that “effective communication is a building block
of successful organizations”. In other words, communication acts as
organizational blood.
The importance
of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows:
- Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark.
- Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.
- Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual. Organizational magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written communication help in molding employee’s attitudes.
- Communication also helps in socializing. In today’s life the only presence of another individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without communication.
- As discussed earlier, communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling organizational member’s behavior in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management.
- Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the receiver’s mind set and convey the message accordingly. A complete communication has following features:
- Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization.
- Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is complete.
- A complete communication always gives additional information wherever required. It leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.
- Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the audience/readers/receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial information.
- It persuades the audience.
- Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what you want to convey in least possible words without forgoing the other C’s of communication. Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has following features:
- It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
- It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and needless words.
- Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to the audience.
- Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience.
- Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.
- Consideration - Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the audience’s view points, background, mind-set, education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in message to suit the audience’s needs while making your message complete. Features of considerate communication are as follows:
- Emphasize on “you” approach.
- Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
- Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is possible” rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive words such as jovial, committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.
- Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in communication has following features:
- It makes understanding easier.
- Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.
- Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.
- Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and clear rather than fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has following features:
- It is supported with specific facts and figures.
- It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.
- Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.
- Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the sender’s expression as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous message has following features:
- Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the message.
- Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience.
- It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.
- It is not at all biased.
- Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical errors in communication. Correct communication has following features:
- The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
- If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.
- Correct message has greater impact on the audience/readers.
- It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the message.
- It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.
The Advantages of Using Media:
The Advantages of Media for Students:
In addition to numerous advantages, there are
also a number of cautions that faculty should keep in mind in utilizing media. Using
media requires a complete understanding of copyright law, an appreciation of
the workload involved, and some skill in recognizing content that will enhance
learning, instead of becoming a distraction. Media can be used in direct
instruction, active learning teaching strategies and student projects.
Instructor-Directed Instruction
x
An effective and efficient communication
system requires managerial proficiency in delivering and receiving messages. A
manager must discover various barriers
to communication, analyze the reasons for their occurrence
and take preventive steps to avoid those barriers. Thus, the primary
responsibility of a manager is to develop and maintain an effective
communication system in the organization. Communication is one of the most
fundamental and critical requisites for the progressive and harmonious
interaction, survival and development of humanity. It is generally
described as the exchange of information between two or more parties using
previous agreed symbols. These symbols include but are not limited to words,
gestures and artistic presentations. It is important to note that human life in
any of its forms is dependent on communication as either a way to help in
taking advantage of opportunities or fighting against threats. Every human being
interfaces with his or her environment through the sensory mechanism (five
senses) which captures information. The sensory mechanism then passes this
information to the brain which subsequently processes it and sends a responsive
command to the various body parts for a relevant action to be taken.
This
scenario describes a situation where communication is taking place on a
personal level. However
interaction, survival and development in business call for cooperation
between and among various individuals who have different backgrounds, hopes and
aspirations. Therefore
in order to have a progressive and harmonious interaction between and among
these parties it is important for them to be equipped with communication
skills. These
skills help in the quick and effective processing of information and on the
same time helps in identifying and dealing away with communication barriers.
A communication barrier denotes
anything that interferes with the effective transfer, exchange and
interpretation of information. When this transfer, exchange and
interpretation of information is negatively affected, it means that a personal
or corporate response to opportunities and threats will be slower than
expected. This
therefore means that when an individual or an institution takes long to respond
to an opportunity, it highly is likely that the same opportunity will be lost.
The same
applies to a slower response to a threat in that when it happens it means that
an individual or institution will succumb to danger. Based on this
reasoning it is therefore important to pinpoint that a communication skills are
very vital for adaptation and development of both individuals and institutions.
There are
quite a number of specific communication skills that are considered to be a
prerequisite for effective communication to take place and these include but
are not limited to: 1)
Clarity 2) Concise 3) Empathy 4)
Courteous 5) Confidence 6) Open Mindedness 7) Feedback 8) Attentiveness
Organization
of Appropriate message for Effective Communication:-Effective communication which is applicable to both written as well as oral
communication follows following seven steps:
Awareness of these 7 C’s of communication makes you an
effective communicator.
Instructional
communication process
In instructional communication, a special
contract exists between the teacher and the students and this requires a
necessary condition that makes it mandatory for the teacher to impact useful
knowledge to the students. The students in turn must be given opportunity to
practice what they must learn. Instructional communication is a process of
stimulating meanings in the students. It is specifically designed to broaden
and extend the field of experience of a learner (Heinich, Molenda, and Russell
1989: p.6). It is a relationship, an act of sharing and a special contract
between the learners and their teachers. The major difference between
informational communication (transmission approach) and instructional
communication is that, in the latter, it is important and relevant to build
adequate learning activities around the learners to bring about a desirable
change in behavior. This is the major concern of learning. Learning is an
active process that comes from practicing given responses which textbooks and
lectures alone cannot sustain. Therefore, it behooves all teachers to
"become aware that progress in their classrooms comes about not so much
from what they teach as from what their students go about learning; the skills
they practice, the problems they solve, the answer they seek" (Schramm and
Roberts, 1974: p 41). In instructional communication, learning can be enhanced
when a program of practice, discussion and individual activities are integrated
into the process of instruction no matter the medium of instruction, whether by
radio or television or other media. Instructional communication may be wasted
if the students are not given the opportunity to practice the useful knowledge
that has been imparted to them by the teacher.
Types of Instructional Media:- Non Projected Media Photographs, diagrams, displays, and models Project Media Filmstrips, overhead transparencies, and computer
projection Audio Media Cassettes, CDs, live lectures, broadcast lectures, class
discussion, tapes, digital audio, musical instruments, and audio signals. Motion Media Videos, DVDs,
Computer Based Multimedia and Hypermedia, Networks Related.
The use of media
to enhance teaching and learning complements traditional approaches to
learning. Effective instruction builds bridges between students' knowledge and
the learning objectives of the course. Using media engages students,
aids student retention of knowledge, motivates interest in the subject matter, and illustrates the
relevance of many
concepts.
·
Many
media sources (feature films, music videos, visualizations, news stories) have
very high production quality capable of showcasing
complex ideas in a short
period of time. This helps develop quantitative reasoning. Learn more about
this technique using the Teaching
Quantitative Reasoning with the News module.
·
Media
offers both cognitive and affective experiences. It can provoke discussion, an
assessment of one's values, and an assessment of self if the scenes have strong emotional
content.
·
The
uses of media sources help connect
learners with events that are culturally relevant. As a result, a
positive consequence of utilizing media is that instructors must keep their
materials and examples up-to-date.
·
News
stories can be used to connect
theories taught in the classroom with real world events and policies.
·
Popular
media (films, music, YouTube) are a familiar medium to students that helps gain
attention and maintain
student interest in the
theories and concepts under discussion. Students can see the theories and
concepts in action. In more than a figurative sense, theories and concepts leap
from the screen.
·
Students
can hone their analytical
skills by analyzing
media using the theories and concepts they are studying.
·
The
use of media in the classroom enables
students to see concepts and new examples when they are watching television,
listening to music, or are at the movies with friends.
·
Students
can experience worlds
beyond their own, especially if the media is sharply different from
their local environment.
Role of Media in Instruction:
Media can serve many roles in the
instructional process. Understanding the
purpose of media, effective planning of instruction and systematic evaluation
of media will enable the teachers to make a careful selection of media to use
for instruction. A media format is
the physical form in which a message is incorporated and displayed. Media formats include flipcharts, slides, audio, video, and
computer multimedia. Each has different
strengths and limitations in terms of the types of messages that can be
recorded and displayed.
The purpose of
the media selection process is to determine the best media for a given
instructional situation. To determine the
most appropriate media for their needs, instructors must evaluate the
objectives, the content, and the learner. Many instructional programs may
be combinations of the methods of communicating messages to learners. Since,
media is only a distribution system for delivering various messages and
representations to learners, each strategy mentioned below places the learner
and teacher in a different role.
The role of
media for instructor-directed instructional situations is for supplemental
support of the live instructor in the classroom. In other words, media is
used to enhance the live instruction. It
is most effective when the instructor explains the media and relates them to
instructional objectives. In
this method an instructor relates and disseminates information to learners.
This takes shape in the lecture format, educational television, and various
computer formats.
The concept of advanced organizers
has developed and is intended to create a mindset for reception of
instruction. Advance organizers
can help ensure that media play an appropriate role as a supplemental supporter
of instruction. However, media
effectiveness still depends on the instructor competencies.
Instructor-Independent
Instruction: - In this method of
instruction, objectives and guidance for achieving the objectives, materials, and self-evaluation are provided
through packaged media, which is supposed to be self-sufficient.
This type of media contains instructions, explanations, and/or guidance and
should be well designed for a target audience. In informal educational
settings, trainees at the worksite or at home can use media such as
videocassettes and computer courseware. In some instances an instructor may be available for
consultation via telephone.
Media Portfolios: A portfolio is a collection of student work that
illustrates growth over a period of time. Portfolios often include such media
as student produced illustrated books, videos, and audiovisual presentations. Many educators who feel that
standardized assessments and conventional paper and pencil assessments are
frustrating are having students demonstrate their achievements by compiling
portfolios of their work. The idea of portfolio assessment is to measure
student’s achievements by their ability to create tangible products
exemplifying their accomplishments in terms of analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation. The rationale of many educators is that assessment of
portfolios gives a truer, more rounded view of a learner’s strengths and
weaknesses.
Thematic Instruction
Thematic instruction is the
organization of a curriculum around themes or anchors. Thematic instruction
integrates basic disciplines like reading, math, and science with the
exploration of a broad subject, such as communities, rain forests, river
basins, the use of energy, and so on. Thematic instruction is based on the idea that people
acquire knowledge best when learning in the context of a coherent
"whole," and when they can connect what they're learning to the real
world.
Thematic instruction seeks
to put the teaching of cognitive skills such as reading, mathematics, science,
and writing in the context of a real-world subject that is both specific enough
to be practical, and broad enough to allow creative exploration.
1. Choosing a theme: - Themes often involve a large, integrated system (such as a
city, an ecosystem, and so on) or a broad concept (such as democracy, weather,
and so on). Instructors often strive to connect the theme to the students'
everyday life. In some cases, students participate in choosing the theme or
themes.
2. Designing the
integrated curriculum: - The teachers
involved must organize the learning objectives of their core curriculum (both
process skills and content knowledge) around the theme. In the study of a river
basin, for instance, math might involve calculating water flow and volume;
social studies could look at the nature of river communities; science might
study phenomena like weather and floods; and literature could study books and
novels that focus on rivers, such as the works of Mark Twain. The initial
design requires considerable work on the part of teachers. Again, sometimes
students help design the curriculum.
3. Designing the
instruction: - This usually
involves making changes to the class schedule, combining hours normally devoted
to specific topics, organizing field trips, teaching in teams, bringing in
outside experts, etc.
4. Encouraging
presentation and celebration: - Because thematic
instruction is often project-oriented, it frequently involves students giving
collective presentations to the rest of the school or the community. Plus,
students commonly create extensive visual displays.
Distance Education
The distinguishing characteristic of distance education is the
separation of teacher and student during the learning process. The media may be
primarily print, as in traditional courses, however it covers a wide set of
applications and processes such as web-based learning, computer-based learning,
virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of
content via Internet, intranet/extranet, audio and videotape, satellite, and
CD-ROM.
Education for Exceptional Students: - Media play an important role in the education of students with
exceptionalities. Adapted and specially designed media can contribute
enormously to effective instruction of all students and can help achieve at
their highest potential regardless of their innate abilities.
Individuals with disabilities
such as mental retardation need highly structured learning situations because
their prior knowledge and ability to incorporate messages into mental
constructs is limited. Students who are
hearing impaired, blind, or visually impaired require different kinds of
learning materials.
Gifted and talented
students can use videotape and other media to explore topics beyond or in
addition to that covered by other students in the class. They can also use the
Internet to search for information related to topics being covered in class or
for their own personal interests and hobbies.
References
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