Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

21 – Media Selection
the basic rules of writing. In general for text, use lots of
white space, left-justify text, use a font that is easy to
read and has variable spacing, use font sizes to organize
information, and avoid the requirement for scrolling.
Hypertext is text that is linked to other information.
Hypertext allows learners to quickly get more information
by activating highlighted parts of the screen. Hypertext
is useful for Internet-based research projects and
simple information retrieval. Remember that hypertext
can be weak from an instructional perspective unless
you specifically plan and guide the learning.
You can use audio when real sounds are an integral
part of the learning outcome and to teach skills such as
attitudes and intellectual skills. You can also use audio
to gain attention, give feedback, give directions, personalize
computers, provide realism, make annotations,
teach the pronunciation of new words, provide multilingual
support, provide meaning for images, and accommodate
non-readers and learners with poor reading
abilities. Remember that audio narration can be problematic
when played at a different speed than the student
is able to read. You can use speech in the form of a
narration or dialogue, especially when done by professionals
that the audience can identify with, to teach effectively.
Audio is more effective when the topic is simple, concrete,
and has little structure. For many skills, audio
should be supplemented with other media such as text.
You should also supplement audio with effective preparatory
and follow-up activities. Also, for audio to be
effective for learning, you need to ensure that the students
pay attention. Keep students involved through
posing questions that make students think and keeping
the audio clips short.
Visuals can be considered to be “real” as in photographs
and slides. Visuals can also be pictorial or diagrammatical
representations of “real” objects. For
instructional purposes, you can use visuals to make abstract
concepts concrete, illustrate objects and ideas,
identify objects, show relationships between objects and
ideas, classify objects, show spatial relationships, teach
psychomotor skills that do not need to be recognized or
copied, and help teach attitudes. You should consider
combining visuals with text to provide practice and
feedback as well as testing. Remember that visuals can
help many learners.
Table 21.1. Differences between data storage and retrieval options
Amount of data
DVD-ROM CD-ROM Intranet Internet
Up to 4.7 gigabytes, enough
for most applications
Up to 700 megabytes, enough
for many applications
Learner access Not found on old computers Found on all but the oldest
computers
Limited by space on the host
server. If needed, servers can
be upgraded.
Many organizations provide
employees and/or students
limited access to their intranet
Reliability Very high Very high High but there are occasional
system crashes
Bandwidth
Updating information
Enough for most applications,
faster than CD-ROMs
In general, this cannot be
done unless combined with an
intranet or Internet connection
Enough for most applications,
although high-quality video
can push the limits
In general, this cannot be
done unless combined with an
intranet or Internet connection
Enough for most applications
although there can be problems
with programs that are
video intensive when there are
numerous concurrent users
Can be done
Developer costs Copying and distribution costs Copying and distribution costs Need a server that can meet
the demand
Student costs
One-time relatively low cost of
the drive that is usually included
when the computer is
purchased
One-time relatively low cost of
the drive. Most computers are
sold with a DVD drive. DVD
drives can read CD-ROM disks
Usually none
Limited by space on the host
server. If needed, servers can
be upgraded.
Many learners are not connected
but this number is
decreasing yearly
High but there are occasional
system crashes
A high-bandwidth connection
is preferred for most online
courses, especially when
quality video needs to be seen
Can be done
Need a server that can meet
the demand
Monthly fee that can increase
with the amount of bandwidth
336 Education for a Digital World