Portfolio
TEAC 882d: Designing Engaging Instruction with Interactive Media
Date: October 24, 2005
Description: Developing engaging instruction is challenging. Students who have grown up in the current digital age are so used to being entertained and have had their lives so saturated by media that the expectations placed on teachers to captivate them by focusing their attentions on their classroom work are higher than ever. So one could ask, what strategies could teachers use to help ensure the involvement of their students in learning? Today's teachers and instructional designers are learning to design instruction that uses the new technologies that this generation of students find so engaging. Two areas in particular that are emerging as effective means for intriguing students are instructional video and interactive media. Students seem to have an expectation to be entertained in the classroom much like they are in their everyday lives by the television and the various interactive game consoles. Teachers might as well take advantage of this phenomenon by using the same strategies that game designers along with television and video producers utilize in their products to engage today's children and young adults. The problem with doing this is raised by the question: how can it be done appropriately so that is also has instructional value? This question will be addressed by looking at the research that has been done that offers suggestions for designing media that fits the now common buzzword of edutainment. This paper will look at instructional video and interactive media in terms of how to develop and best use them, the key elements of each, how to make each effective for instruction, the advantages they provide, and strategies for implementing each to maximize learning.
Software:
Microsoft Word
Project created for:
Graduate Course