HOW MASS MEDIA AND TECHNOLGY MADE TODAYS LEARNING PROCESS EASIER june,2013 | Page 38

ultimately futile because fifty years of media and technology comparison studies indicate no significant differences in most instances . Whatever differences are found can usually be explained by differences in instructional design , novelty effects , or other factors ( Clark , 1992 ).
However , even though media and technology may lack unique instructional effects , some educational objectives are more easily achieved with media and technology than in other ways ( Kozma , 1991 ). For example , certain symbol systems can only be experienced with specific technologies , e . g ., slow motion is a medium afforded by film and video . A teacher could try to describe the flight of a bumble bee for hours without enabling students to perceive its mystery , whereas a slow motion video reveals the wonder of the bee ’ s flight in seconds . A teacher could try to motivate children to appreciate the bumble bee ’ s flying feats with words and pictures , but playing an orchestral recording of Rimsky-Korsakov ’ s “ Flight of the Bumblebee ” could be far more powerful .
Media and technology have many other advantages in terms of repeatability , transportability , and increased equity of access . In addition , although the research evidence is sparse , the cost-effectiveness , cost-benefit , and return-on-investment of media and technology may be of great benefit under certain conditions , especially in developing countries ( Reeves , Harmon , & Jones , 1993 ).
The Importance of Design and Implementation
Media and technology can be more or less well-designed depending on the talents , resources , and timelines available for the development effort . There are numerous scientific principles to guide design ( Moore , Burton , & Myers , 1996 ; Ragan & Smith , 1996 ), but every instructional development effort involves large amounts of creativity and hard work . There are no comprehensive or infallible instructional design formulas ( Gustafson & Branch , 1997 ). In fact , the design of media and technology for education retains as many aspects of a craft as it does a science . Evaluation has an especially important role in the instructional design process , but it is often underutilized ( Reeves , 1997 ).
Implementation at the local level is as important as instructional design . In most instances , the conditions under which students actually experience and use media and technology in schools are decided within the confines of single classrooms by individual teachers . While some educational technologists have recommended that media and technology innovations should be “ teacher-proof ” to ensure fidelity in implementation ( Winn , 1989 ), teacher empowerment is more likely to have positive effects than attempts to limit the prerogatives of teachers to implement media and technology as they wish ( Glickman , 1997 ).
The Apple Classroom of Tomorrow ( ACOT ) Project ( Fisher , Dwyer , & Yocam , 1996 ) illustrates the enormous importance of implementation in efforts to infuse media and technology into classrooms . In 1985 , Apple Computer , Inc . began a long-term collaboration with several widely-separated school districts around the USA . Students and teachers were provided with computers and software for both school and home use , and research has been conducted in the participating
33