Information and communication technologies in schools: a ...

ICT IN SCHOOLS
A HANDBOOK FOR TEACHER
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Visual component of oral communication
The visual component of lectures is as important as in other cases of oral communication.
At the same time, new ICT technologies are changing face-to-face
lecturing. For example, in the case of bigger audiences, the speaker’s face and figure
can be captured by a video camera, magnified, and projected onto a screen.
In some subjects, an important component of the lecture content is given by
visual images other than that of the speaker. Most lecturers traditionally use a
blackboard or an overhead projector. In some subjects like mathematics, this
appears inevitable. A broader list of typical visual components includes:
• key points of a talk indicated in a written form on a chalk- or whiteboard;
• the derivation of mathematical formulas, as well as mathematical
formulas accompanying discussion of physical, biological, or economic
issues;
• chemical formulas and other, less important formalisms;
• drawings and conceptual diagrams;
• all kinds of ready-made images (artistic paintings, photographs, book
pages, technical drawings, maps) as illustrations; and
• real objects and processes (like experiments), if they are big enough to
be seen by an audience.
ICT extensions of this communication are based on projection technology.
As noted in Chapter 2, a projector can greatly increase the size of an image if the
ambient light is not too bright.
Now, a combined computer and projector open new possibilities and generate
a new culture of oral communication accompanied by screen images.
In comparison with pre-computer lectures, this new technology allows the
following:
• The speaker can combine pre-recorded images (including text) with
images made during a lecture. Pre-recorded video fragments can be
included accompanied by sounds if needed.
• Images of real objects obtained via cameras can be downloaded to a
computer or connected directly to the projector.