Lesson 18: Roles and Functions of an Educational Media Center

“We have said that the best ideas in the world are to be found in a modern library. But the modern educational media center must include excellence in varied media – not merely in printed materials.” – Edgar Dale

Mission/Vision

• The Educational Media Center functions as a vital instrument as well as a basic requirement for quality education by enriching all parts of the school’s educational process.
• It reflects and supports the philosophy of the school.
• It shares and implements the school’s aims and objectives.
• It is involved in the teaching and learning process.
• It is a source center. In it, different forms of communication and their accompanying technology organized and housed for easy accessibility and use.
• It is a learning laboratory. It provides materials which will enrich and implement the curriculum; it encourages individual exploration and inquiry; it provides materials and facilities for research and self-directed learning.
• It is a teaching agency. It teaches students how to find information; it stimulates new interest.
• It is a service agency. In it, all procedures are established as the basis of service to students and teachers.
• A coordinating agency – It serves as central depository for various forms of media that encourages the use of those kinds of materials which are most appropriate for the specific learning task.
• A center for recreational reading, viewing, and listening. It provides a variety of recreational materials to fulfill the current needs of the range of interest and abilities for the studentry.
• A stepping stone to other community resource centers and to desirable lifetime intellectual habits, it introduces the students to the resources available in other community resource centers.

EMC Services

1. Orientation

• All new teachers are given an orientation on the EMC, its program, role in the total Ateneo academic organization, services, facilities, guidelines and procedures during their in-service program.

2. Selection of Print and Non-Print Materials

• The librarians continually select and acquire print and non-print materials that suit the needs, interest and special abilities of the students and teachers.

3. Organization of Print and Non-Print Materials

• A technical librarian organizes all the purchased print and non-print materials for easy retrieval.

4. Circulation of Print and Non-Print Materials

• The EMC lends out various types of materials to students and teachers.

5. Reference

• The EMC attends to request such as bibliographic information from the card catalog, search through books, periodicals, pamphlets, documents and non-print materials.

6. Bibliographic Service

• There are listings of materials and periodical articles to publicize the new materials and periodical articles in the EMC.

7. Media Instruction Program

• The Media Instruction Program (MIP) aims to teach students to be skillful and discriminating users of print and non-print materials.

8. Class Supervised Research

• It is a scheduled program of activity particularly in Science and Social Studies. It refers to the class periods allotted to these subjects where the students are brought to the EMC to do the research for a particular topic.

9. Grade Level Newspaper

• Each grade level is given a subscription to a newspaper of their choice. It is a service rendered to ensure that the faculty is updated daily on current events locally and internationally.

10. Mags-on-Wheels

• Selected professional and general interest journals are routed in the different grade levels and service areas.

11. Photocopying Service

• A self-service photocopying machine is available for the faculty to Xerox materials needed. Students may also request photocopying of library materials.

12. Video and Sound Production

• Simple productions for class instruction, program and school wide presentations are put together in the Audio-Visual area.

13. Multi-media Services

• Different non-print materials are acquired. Teachers are encouraged to maximize use of their materials. The procedure for reservation and usage is teacher-friendly

Center of resources

Laboratory for learning

Agent of teaching

Service agency

Recreational reading center

The Institutional Media Services

• Is the administration committed to a media program?
• Is the program of media services administered by a media specialist through media center?
• Is the center operating at the same level as other major institutional services of the school?
• Are there clearly defined policies, procedures and plans for short, medium and long term coverage?
• Is the center provided with appropriate facilities, finances (a regular budget) and staff (both technical and clerical)
• Is the center capable of giving media and/or educational media technology advises/assistance to the faulty?

Media and Instruction

• Are the faculty encouraged to use media as an integral part of instruction?
• Are classrooms equipped and/or adapted for the best possible use of educational media?
• Is the media center accessible to all classrooms and lecture/conference rooms?
• Is there educational media technology information dissemination?
• Is there proper cooperation between faculty and the professional media staff in the planning, developing and using media for instruction?
•  Is there an adequate storage, filing and retrieval/borrowing system for instructional hardware and software materials?
• Is there a capability for production of graphics, audio, visual and other media materials for instruction?

Classroom Facilities

• Are classrooms designed for and provided with essential facilities for effective use of educational media?
• Specifically, are classrooms equipped for full light control, electrical outlets, appropriate ventilation and media operations space?
• Are classrooms equipped with a bulletin board, chalkboard, projection screen, map rails, etc. for instruction using media?
• Media program
• Are there clear-cut administration policies on the media program?
• Is there an adequate source/system of funding?
• Is there appropriate hiring of media center supervisions, creating and technical personnel, consultants and electrical staff?

1. An EMC is a facility of the school system tasked to acquire, maintain, care and promote the full effective use of educational media.
2. This is made possibly only by an EMC that is adequately equipped not only with material resources but most important of all by manpower resources, the media specialists and the assistants.

Lesson 17: Assessment in a Constructivist, Technology-Supported Learning

"Complex learning cannot be assessed or evaluated using any single measure. We must examine both the processes and products of student learning."

• In a constructivist classroom, learning transcends memorization of facts. 
• It is putting these isolated facts together, form concepts and make meaning out of them. 
• It is connecting the integration of these facts and concepts to daily life. 
• It is seeing the relevance of these facts and concepts to what we value and treasure in life. 

Authentic Assessment is most appropriate for the constructivist classroom

• Authentic assessment measures collective abilities, written and oral expression skills, analytical skills, manipulative skills, (like computer skills) integration, creativity and ability to work collaboratively.
• It is from the word "authentic," that is why authentic assessment includes performance or product assessment. 
• The performance and product is a proof of the acquisition of skills. These performance and product are assessed. 

We need to observe and evaluate and to do it more objectively, with the aid of a scoring rubric.

• You and your students may develop a rubric. It can be a collaborative effort both of you – teacher and students – in line with the practice of self-assessment, which is highly favored and encouraged.
• In fact with scoring rubric, standards are clearly set at the beginning for you and your students and with that rubric your students can assess their own performance or products. 

Assessment in a technology-supported environment necessarily includes display of skillful and creative use of technologies, old and recent, because that is what is naturally expected of us in the real world, a technology-dominated world.

These presentations need performance-based assessment or product assessment. It is a direct assessment. It measure their computer skills directly in an authentic or real-life setting.

• A technology-supported classroom maximizes the use of old and new technology.
• To assess their manipulative skill, we conduct direst assessment with the help of a scoring rubric. 
• From the eyes of a constructivist, learning is an active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative process, so should the ways in which we assess learners and criteria that we use to evaluate them.
• Assess learning as it is occurring. This is process or performance assessment.
• The rubric for understanding and improving meaningful environment can give an idea.

1. Assessing Activity

2. Assessing Construction

3. Assessing Cooperative

4. Assessing Authenticity

5. Assessing Intentionally

• The traditional paper-and-pencil tests are not adequate to assess learning in a constructivist technology-supported learning. 
• The authentic forms of assessment such as performance and product assessment, are more reliable and adequate to measure students’ communication, analytical, integrative, evaluative and collaborative skills.
• In a technology-supported learning environment, the students are not only users of technology product, they themselves are authors of technology product.
• Scoring rubrics are, therefore, a must in assessment.

Lesson 16: Using the Project-Based Learning Multimedia as a Teaching-Learning Strategy

• A project based learning method is a comprehensive approach to instruction. 
• 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.

The effective use of multimedia learning project requires:

• Clarifying goals and objectives
• Determining how much time is needed
• Extent of students’ involvement in decision making
• Setting up forms of collaboration
• Identifying and determining what resources are needed

Another important thing is to determine the resources available from:

• Library Materials

• Community Resources both material and human

• Internet

• News Media

To trim down time devoted to a multi-media project, Simkins et al (2002) suggest the following:

• Use technology students already know.
• Use time outside of class wherever possible.
• Assign skills, practice, as homework.
• Use “special” classes as extra time. 
• Let students compose text and

Various Phases of the Project

• Before the Project Starts 

1. Create project description and milestone

• Describe your project in forty (40) words or less. 
• Include instructional goals and objectives.
• Include the project components students will be responsible for and their due date.

      2. Work with the real - world connection

• If you have people outside the classroom involved as clients or assessors (evaluators) work with them to make an appropriate schedule and include their ideas for activities.

     3. Prepare Resources

• Seek the assistance of your librarian or school media specialist.

     4. Prepare software and peripherals such as microphones 

• Ask the help of technical people.

      5. Organize Computer Files 

• Finding files eats most of your time if you are not organized. 
• Naming files and folders after their file type and section title helps to keep things organized and makes it easier to merge elements later on.

      6. Prepare the Classroom. 

• Organize books, printer papers and any other resources so students can access them independently. 
• Make room on the bulletin boards for hanging printouts of student work, schedules, and organizational charts.

• Introducing The Project (One or Two Days)

     Help the students develop a “big picture” to understand the work ahead. Make sure what they will be making, who their audience will be and what you expect them to learn and demonstrate in terms of the K to 12 Standards and Competencies.

1. Review project documents. You can ask students to work with the project documents you have produced. Encourage your students to ask questions about the project to clarify what you have written.

2. Perform Pre-Assessments. Your students can write pre-assessment questions based on your learning goals to further clarify expectations.

3. Perform Relevant Activities. You can show students anything you can find that is similar to what they  will be producing such as a Web site or your own mini project you did to learn the technology. You can also brainstorm for topics, organizational ideas and design ideas.

4. Group Students. Form small student groups from three to five students per group. Here are some grouping strategies:

• By topic interest
• By student talent and expertise - This works for a balance of talents and skills in the groups.
• By student choice
• Randomly - This is fine to enable them to develop the skills to work with others.

5. Organize Materials. Give each group a folder that stays in the classroom. All their group work such as storyboards, group journals, and research notes goes in that folder.

Learning The Technology (One to Three Days)

• Give a chance for the students to work with whatever software and technology they will be using. If some students are already familiar with the tools and processes, ask them to help you train the others. If students are new to multimedia, then begin with lessons that involve using the different media types. Remember, you and your students are colearners and you both learn as you go.

Preliminary Research and Planning (Three Days to Three Weeks, depending on Project Size)

• At this stage, students should immerse themselves in the content or subject matter they need to understand to create their presentations.
• Students can tag and collect information they think might be valuable for their presentations: compelling photographs, quotes, sounds and other media they encounter in their research.

Concept Design and Story boarding 

• Process of organizing a presentation that is useful to the audience. Storyboard: is a paper-and-pencil sketch of the entire presentation, screen by screen, or in the case of video, shot by shot.

Here are a few design tips to keep in mind throughout story boarding and production: 

• Use scanned, handmade artwork to make a project look personal and to manage scary technology resources. Students artwork is unmatched as a way to assure a project has heart. Keep clip art or stamps to a minimum - they make a presentation look canned. 

• Keep navigation - the way users of your presentation will get from one screen to the next - consistent throughout the whole presentation.

• Organize information similarity throughout so users can find what they are looking for. 

• Care for collaboration. Check in with groups to make sure they are collaborating successfully and that conflict is not derailing their productivity.

• Organize manageable steps. Break down the project's steps into manageable daily components considering that the project requires comparatively more time to succeed.

• Check and assess often. This is to ensure that mistakes are seen early enough and therefore can be corrected before the final product is produced.

Assessing, Testing, and Finalizing Presentations (One to Three Weeks)

Two kinds of testing: 

1. Functional Testing - means trying all the buttons, taking all possible paths through the presentation, checking for errors, missing images and the like.

2. User testing Assessment - means showing the presentation to members of the target audience and finding out if they can successfully navigate it and understand it.

• Assessment means critical evaluation of your presentation.

Concluding Activities 

• Way of presenting the project to the audiences. You will present to your target audience and celebrate your accomplishment. 

Lesson 15: Project-Based Learning and Multimedia

1. Project-based learning is not a new educational method.
2. The use of multimedia is a dynamic new form of communication.
3. The merging of project-based learning and multimedia represents an extraordinary teaching strategy that we call project-based multimedia learning.
4. Guidelines for Implementing and developing your own units based on this strategy.

• 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.

 

• 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.

Dimensions of Project-Based Multimedia Learning Project

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.

Real-World Connection 

• Project-based multimedia learning strives to be real. It seeks to connect students’ work in school with the wider world in which students live.

Extended Time Frame ­

• A good project is not a one-shot lesson; it extends over a significant period of time. It may be days, weeks or months.
• The actual length of a project may vary with the age of the students and the nature of the project.

Students Decision Making – students have an opinion.

• Divide them into “Teacher” and “Students” based on clear rationale (decisions).
• The teacher can allow students to determine what substantive content would be included in their projects.
• Students can make decisions about the form and content to 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.

Assessment – regardless of the teaching method used, data must be gathered on what students have learned.

• When using project-based multimedia learning, teachers face additional assessment challenges because multimedia products by themselves do not represent a full picture of student learning

Assessments have Three Difference 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 – 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.

Why Use Project-Based Multimedia Learning?

1. Identifying, organizing, planning and allocating time, money, materials, and workers.
2. Negotiating, exercising leadership, working with diversity, teaching others new skills, serving clients and customers, and participating as a team member.
3. Selecting technology, applying technology to a task and maintaining and troubleshooting technology.

Teaching the New Basic Skills, Richard Murname and Frank Levy (1996) describe three sets of skills that students need to be competitive for today’s job.

• Hard Skills (math, reading, and problem-solving mastered at a 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 presentation).