• Revising the design of the program using feedback.
The Need for More and Better Research
A search of the ERIC database indicates that there were at least 250 publications related to the use of multimedia in schools in 1997. But perusal of these articles indicates that the vast majority are based upon the perception that multimedia is something that students learn“ from” rather than“ with.” There are very few schools where multimedia construction software is consistently used as cognitive tools, and even fewer research and evaluation studies of the type described above. Research focused on multimedia seems to be stuck in the traditional comparative paradigm. To give but one example, White and Kuhn( 1997) compared elementary school students’ ability to recall stories about historical figures presented to them via text, oral reading, and multimedia presentations. No significant differences were found, a finding typical of the last 50 years of media comparison research. A more fruitful investigation might have examined the effects of having students create their own multimedia representations of stories.
Ironically, while using multimedia as a cognitive tool remains on the fringe of mainstream K-12 education, most school systems are rushing to hook themselves up to the Internet to provide teachers and students with access to multimedia information on the World Wide Web. What are they going to do with access to all that multimedia? One hopeful development is taking place in the form of“ constructivist learning environments” described in the next subsection of this report.
Constructivist Learning Environments Wilson( 1996) offers a definition of a constructivist learning environment:
[ a constructivist learning environment is ] a place where learners may work together and support each other as they use a variety of tools and information resources in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities.( p. 5)
Table 3 presents Grabinger’ s( 1996) list the major changes in assumptions about learning that guide the development of constructivist learning environments:
Table 3. Old versus new assumptions about learning( Grabinger, 1996, p. 667)
Old Assumptions
1. People transfer learning with ease by learning abstract and decontextualized concepts.
New Assumptions
1. People transfer learning with difficulty, needing both content and context learning.
2. Learners are receivers of knowledge. 2. Learners are active constructors of knowledge.
3. Learning is behavioristic and involves the strengthening of stimulus and response.
3. Learning is cognitive and in a constant state of growth.
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