Guidelines for use of multimedia in education must be made within some metaphysical world view of what actually constitutes good educational practice.  Even if the existence of such a philosophical framework is not acknowledged or made explicit, the development of guides to best practice in education depend on underlying ontological and epistemological beliefs that steer decisions().   

In practice, teachers develop ideas about what constitutes good education from memories of their own schooling and what worked best for them, formal training, professional practice and experience gained 'on the ground,' ongoing professional development, the cultural climates of the schools or educational facilities in which they work, and through leadership provided. 

For the purposes of this discussion, best educational practice provides opportunity for all students to engage in deep learning at all times, but acknowledges that strategic choices between deep and surface learning strategies take place.   Guided instructional methods such as those required by age appropriate scaffolding, delivery of syllabus, requisite or set curriculum requirements to given deadlines, guidance through bridging or remedial training towards emancipatory ends are utilised in most formal educational contexts.  That said, the best use of multimedia in a teaching and learning environment proceeds with a goal to facilitate student centred learning and the development of lifelong learning skills using constructivist approaches to teaching and learning.  This framework has implications to how multimedia can best be used to achieve certain specific goals:


 
 

Life long learning goals include:

  • Recognition of informal learning as well as formal learning;
  • emphasis on self-motivation to learn;
  • eventual goal that learning will be successfully self-funded;
  • universal participation in learning is possible  (DEST, 2003 p. viii).
  • education will support the development of attributes associated with successful lifelong learning such as global or 'helicopter'  vision (candy et al) and skilled, strategic student use of deep and surface learning approaches.

Student centred learning goals

  •  

Emancipatory goals

 Education provides students with cognitive tools and self-efficacy to understand and impact the broader structures that shape their life chances. Understood this way, emancipatory education can lead to good citizenship outcomes by providing both encouragement for civil engagement and the mechanism for such engagement. Sprague et al 2008 p1

Development of:

  • Multiliteracies;
  • metacognitive skills
  • opportunities for deep learning at all time;
  • selective utilisation of strategic deep and surface learning to achieve a specified goal.

Goals of constructivist approaches to teaching/learning are:

  • Provision of authentic problem-solving opportunities;
  • allowing student mistakes in direction to provide enriched and ongoing learning opportunities;
  • acknowledgment that learning is embedded in social experience
  • provision for student control of learning outcomes are made.
  • provision of time for habitual deep learning strategies to develop,

In additio
  • convenience is achieved when students can access the learning activities at convenient times.
  • efficiency is described as not having to attend on campus classes and therefore allowed for efficient use of time.
  • autonomy is described as allowing students to decide when and how to access the curriculum. (Tobin, 1998:151)

 

  • teachers are mentors and models of lifelong learning more than dispensers of 
  • knowledge;
  • the purpose of assessment is to assist and encourage further exploration, rather than 
  • to categorise or merely relate students to some concept of a 'norm';
  • learning should be viewed as an enjoyable and integral part of one’s life

  • Attributes of lifelong learning include that

    • Use of taxonomies and instruments to evaluate multimedia

    Tools exist that can be used to assess educational design that involves use of multimedia.  These tools may be useful to assess a pre-existing course design, and can also be use to help plan and evaluate design selections.  These tools can also aid in brainstorming.  

    • Content design
    • Instructional design
    • Screen design
    • Integration of media
    • Ease of use
    • Interactivity
    • Innovation
    • Evaluation of learning
    • Educational value

    Taxonomies -- Using it for design allows implementers, as they develop new materials, to consider the available media forms and formats. Designers often consider issues of metaphor, interaction, cognitive accessibility, and the use of media. (Heller et al, 2001 p. 4)


    • Heller
    • T-MUM

    T-MUM (Taxonomy of Media Use in Multimedia) (Williams, 2003 p )

    Instruments

    • WEBLEI

    • Emancipatory activities
    • Co-participatory activities
    • Qualia
    • Information structure and design


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