Application of Multimedia in the Classroom

Oxford defines multimedia as using more than one medium of expression or communication. These mediums can include text, photos, videos, and other immersive technologies. Upon researching multimedia there were several examples that I have been applying in my classroom. The reason that I utilize multimedia in my classroom is to keep students engaged in the content. Some of the content that we go over in cyber security can be very dry but utilizing videos of the application of the theories helps the students understand the “why”. By utilizing multimedia I have noticed that the students are much more successful when applying the content that we are learning.

When reviewing the different principles of multimedia and how to apply them to design a project or a lesson, I found that multimedia can really help with managing the essential processing of the content that we are learning. The segmenting principle (breaking down the lesson into self-paced content), pre-training (presenting the key ideas/concepts before the lesson starts), and the modality principle (using spoken words instead of just the text resources about the content) are integrated into each and every one of the lessons that I present. Sometimes it is as simple as showing a video before we start other times it is making the slides with diagrams and videos available before the lesson so students are able to review the content before we get started. By utilizing these principles I have witnessed students being a lot more familiar with the content and more prepared for the lessons. Within these slides are several other principles of multimedia design such as signaling (highlighting essential material), coherence (getting rid of the fluff in the lesson), and when presenting the content, utilizing temporal contiguity (presenting my lecture with the help of videos and slides). 

This year I took a different approach to my classroom as I tried to integrate as many Web 2.0 technologies as possible since Web 2.0 tends to be more participative in nature. When students can take control of their learning and participate with their peers, they are able to take more ownership of the content that is being taught. Because of the diversity when it comes to multiple intelligences integrating these tools helps appeal to the different types of learners that enter the classroom. Starting off the year, I decided to flip the classroom in which I posted my lecture and several different multimedia resources for the students to review before class the next day. Having this ability appealed to the students that were more intrapersonal and it gave them time to digest the content. When the students were in class we had more time to get hands-on with the content which appealed to several other intelligences such as intra-personal and kinesthetic.  Another approach that I have taken this year is taking the students from being consumers of content to creators of content. Each of my students has a WordPress blog in which they document their learning process. Each time we do a lab, they do a write-up on their site that can help explain the concepts to others which helps reinforce the content and help me gauge their level of proficiency with what we have learned. By having students develop their own voice, they are able to utilize Finally, the last piece that has tied everything together is the utilization of Discord (a collaboration tool similar to slack and teams). Discord has allowed me to stay connected with my students while I am currently deployed. Being able to engage students when they are most active is key for them to be successful. Below is an example of two of my standards and how I apply the use of Discord to these different areas. 

Diversity, Inclusion, and Mental Health

Standard Assessed:

1.1.11. Recognize different cultural beliefs and practices in the workplace and demonstrate respect for them

I am a huge proponent of diversity and inclusion inside and outside of the classroom. With discord, I am able to meet the students where they are comfortable and give them a safe space to work together and recognize everyone's strengths and weaknesses and work together for the benefit of everyone involved. These students have made the choice to leave their homeschools and we all know that that can be taxing on the students. To address that island/silo feeling, they come together on Discord and organize meetups and after-school activities that they otherwise would not be able to do, especially not as easy and secure as discord makes it.

Digital Citizenship

Standards Assessed:

1.1.8. Identify the correlation between emotions, behavior, and appearance and manage those to establish and maintain professionalism. 

1.1.9. Give and receive constructive feedback to improve work habits. 

1.1.10. Adapt personal coping skills to adjust to taxing workplace demands. 

1.1.12. Identify healthy lifestyles that reduce the risk of chronic disease, unsafe habits, and abusive behavior. 

When it comes to this generation, they have grown up with online collaboration tools, and to be honest, they have bad habits. The career center is the place where they start to transition to a more professional role within the workforce. Having this safe space gives me the ability to coach them and mentor them with positive behavioral support.