Ed. Tech 1 (Project – based learning and multimedia)

PROJECT – BASED LEARNING
AND
MULTIMEDIA
Educational Technology I

Objectives:
1. To define project – based learning and
multimedia
2. To identify the elements of project –based
learning and multimedia
3. To be able to know the advantages and
disadvantages of using project – based learning
and multimedia in teaching process
4. To enumerate the key dimensions of project –
based learning and multimedia

Project-based Learning and
Multimedia: What It Is?

Entering Mrs. Baxter's classroom, you first notice that every child is
completely engrossed. Second, you notice the cacophony of
voices, rising and falling in intense, animated discussions among
small groups of 3rd graders.
You look for the teacher—she isn't conveniently located at the front of
the room. Finally, you see her down among a group of students.
You wait for her to notice you as she shows the group how to use
the index of a book to find information about shelter for a tribe of
Native Americans.
As you wait, your eyes move from group to group. At the computers,
three boys are typing some text they have composed for their
presentations. A group of girls paints a colorful scene of a Native
American village to be scanned into the presentation software
later. Another group of boys uses a Venn diagram to show foods in
their own diet, foods in “their” tribe's diet, and foods they have in
common. You want to ask them about their work but can't bear to
break their concentration.

Mrs. Baxter notices you and starts toward you, but each
group of students she passes stops her to proudly show off
their work or ask her to check something. She finally
reaches you and starts to explain the various activities the
children are working on to prepare their multimedia
presentations—content research, art, language arts, math,
and technology activities she has designed for the project.
You talk for almost 10 minutes before you notice the most
amazing thing of all—the children are all still working, still
engrossed, still animated and focused.
Project-based learning is an old and respected
educational method. The use of multimedia is a dynamic
new form of communication. The merging of project-based
learning and multimedia represents a powerful teaching
strategy that we call “project-based multimedia learning.”
This book provides background information and guidelines
for developing and implementing your own units based on
this strategy.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/102112/chapters/What_Is_ProjectBased_Multimedia_Learning%C2%A2.aspx)

Defining Project-Based Multimedia Learning
It's better to start with some definitions. By
project-based learning, we mean a teaching
method in which students acquire new
knowledge and skills in the course of designing,
planning, and producing some product or
performance. By multimedia, we mean the
integration of media objects such as text,
graphics, video, animation, and sound to
represent and convey information. Thus, our
definition is:
Project-based multimedia learning is a
method of teaching in which students acquire
new knowledge and skills in the course of
designing, planning, and producing a multimedia
product.

Your students' multimedia products will
be technology-based presentations, such as a
computerized slide show, a Web site, or a
video. These presentations will include
evidence that your students have mastered
key concepts and processes you need to
teach and will be a source of great pride for
them and for you.

Dimensions of Project-Based
Multimedia Learning

Project-based multimedia learning
has seven key dimensions: core
curriculum,
real-world
connection,
extended time frame, student decision
making, collaboration, assessment, and
multimedia. Like air, fire, water, and
earth, it's possible to have one of these
dimensions present without the rest. A
strong unit, however, includes them all.
Here is a brief explanation of each.

 Core curriculum. At the foundation of any unit of this type is a

clear set of learning goals drawn from whatever curriculum or
set of standards is in use. We use the term core to emphasize
that project-based multimedia learning should address the
basic knowledge and skills all students are expected to acquire,
and should not simply be an enrichment or extra-credit activity
for a special few. Often, these projects lend themselves well to
multidisciplinary or cross-curricular approaches.
 Real-world connection. Like the Velveteen Rabbit in Margery

Williams's famous story, project-based multimedia learning
strives to be real. It seeks to connect students' work in school
with the wider world in which students live. You may design
this feature into a project by means of the content chosen, the
types of activities, the types of products, or in other ways.
What is critical is that the students—not only the teacher—
perceive what is real about the project.

“Real life!” Now, that is the key! I spent years
waiting for “real life” to begin, not realizing
that my childhood was real life. Children,
even young ones, can make a meaningful
contribution to the world while they are
learning.
—Technology learning coordinator

 Extended time frame. A good project is not a one-shot lesson; it

extends over a significant period of time. The actual length of a
project may vary with the age of the students and the nature of
the project. It may be days, weeks, or months. What's
important is that students experience a succession of
challenges that culminates in a substantial final product from
which they can derive pride and a clear sense of
accomplishment.
 Student decision making. In project-based multimedia learning,
students have a say. Teachers look carefully at what decisions
have to be made and divide them into “teacher's” and
“students'” based on a clear rationale. For example, a teacher
might limit students to a single authoring program to minimize
complications that might arise were students allowed to use
any software they chose. And yet she can also give students
considerable leeway in determining what substantive content
would be included in their projects. Though the teacher is
clearly in charge, she tries to enlarge the area for students to
make decisions about the form and content of their final
products, as well as the process for producing them.

 Collaboration. We define collaboration as working together jointly

to accomplish a common intellectual purpose in a manner superior to
what might have been accomplished working alone. Students may
work in pairs or in teams of as many as five or six. Whole-class
collaborations are also possible. The goal is for each student
involved to make a separate contribution to the final work and for
the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. Collaborative
projects not only involve many features of typical cooperative
learning strategies but also transcend them in this focus on synergy
and the production of a jointly authored multimedia product.
 Assessment. Regardless of the teaching method used, data must

be gathered on what students have learned. When using projectbased multimedia learning, teachers face additional assessment
challenges because multimedia products by themselves do not
represent a full picture of student learning. Students are gaining
content information, becoming better team members, solving
problems, and making choices about what new information to
show in their presentations. We consider assessment to have three
different roles in the project-based multimedia context:

 Activities for developing expectations;
 Activities for improving the media products; and
 Activities for compiling and disseminating
evidence of learning.

 Multimedia. In multimedia projects, students do
not learn simply by “using” multimedia produced
by others; they learn by creating it themselves.
The development of such programs as
HyperStudio, Kid Pix, and Netscape Composer
has made it possible for students of all ages to
become the authors of multimedia content. As
students design and research their projects,
instead of gathering only written notes, they also
gather—and
create—pictures,
video
clips,
recordings, and other media objects that will later
serve as the raw material for their final product.

“I did a project a couple of years ago where
students drew on index cards that were later
filmed. Although the students were still excited to
be creating animation, those who were not as
good at art started losing interest toward the end.
With the use of computers, even an animated stick
figure looks pretty good, and students are given
the opportunity of cutting and pasting. The use of
computers lowers many of the barriers that
limited some students' ability to creatively express
themselves... Boys, girls, high achievers, and low
achievers seemed equally motivated to create a
quality product.”
—Middle school teacher

Why Use
ProjectBased
Multimedia
Learning?

Teaching methods abound—some sound, some not so
sound. If you have been teaching for many years, you've no
doubt seen several new ways of teaching come into vogue. Some
have taken hold; many have faded away; a few have become
infamous. In their book Models of Teaching, Bruce Joyce and
Marsha Weil with Emily Calhoun (2000) describe no fewer than 20
ways to teach. Like different health remedies, all these teaching
methods clamor for your attention, and each urges you to
include it in your teacher's medicine cabinet. With so many
options, why should you choose project-based multimedia
learning?
The answer lies in the concept of “value added.” Projectbased multimedia learning can add value to your teaching. In
economics, value is added to a product when it is somehow
made better or more useful to the consumer. Although we don't
use the term much in everyday life, we are surrounded by
examples. Our cereal has vitamins that are not part of the basic
grains. The bottle of “one step” shampoo in the shower includes
a conditioner. On vacation, we stay at a motel that offers
complimentary drinks at happy hour and a free breakfast in the
morning

You already have strategies for teaching your
curriculum, so what “value” do you add when you
implement project-based multimedia learning? In their
book, Teaching the New Basic Skills, Richard Murnane
and Frank Levy (1996) describe three skill sets students
need to be competitive for today's jobs:
 Hard skills (math, reading, and problem-solving skills
mastered at a much higher level than previously
expected of high school graduates);
 Soft skills (for example, the ability to work in a group
and to make effective oral and written presentations);
and
 The ability to use a personal computer to carry out
routine tasks (for example, word processing, data
management, and creating multimedia presentations).


Adding Project-Based Multimedia Learning to Your
Teaching Repertoire
Being a teacher is a bit like being a personal trainer. In
general, a trainer knows that all clients need a balanced
workout. They need to develop muscular strength,
flexibility, and aerobic fitness. They also need to adhere to
a sound, balanced diet. At the same time, each client will
have specific needs or conditions that require
accommodation. The workout you design for your client
with asthma will be different from the one you create for
your client with arthritis.
 Likewise, effective teachers employ various teaching
methods to achieve a balanced instructional program that
is also personalized and reflects the needs and interests of
individual students. You know that your students need a
balanced diet of academic content and process skills—and
workouts that include learning, practicing, analyzing,
reflecting, and assessing. You also know that students
vary in their comfort with these activities and the amount
of support they need.

“We worked on the project on and off for
much of the year. At the beginning, I would
let the students work on the project one day
every week or so. When that day came,
students would pump their arms and say,
“Yes!” The students were so into the project
that the class just basically ran itself. I would
wander the room getting group updates and
be available to help with individual group
problems. Students were always asking for
more time on the computers, even 10 minutes
here and there. Sometimes students would
hang around for hours after school; when
their parents came to pick them up they
would have a hard time getting the students
to leave.”
—Middle school teacher

Further, the
motivational
character keeps
students engaged,
giving you the
freedom to support
individual
students—far better
than when every
moment of
instruction depends
on you alone.

Submitted by:

Christine Adelantar
BEED II – A

Submitted to:

Prof. Mary Gene
Panes

Ed. Tech 1 (Project – based learning and multimedia)

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