Reflection 4 Week 7 - History of Multimedia

After working on the history of multimedia presentations for a few weeks and reading articles, I have learned a tremendous amount, an encounter that opened my eyes. First, multimedia had so many facets during our historical period from 2005 to 2022 that new multimedia technologies were constantly evolving, continuously rising to the mainstream. Important information can be communicated using static graphics, such as illustrations, pictures, and diagrams, and dynamic graphics, such as animations and videos (Li et al., 2019).

A far cry from the yellow pages, pager or beeper, dial-up internet, and the infamous big bag cellular phone during my young adult years. However, several multimedia tools or programs that may have historical origins in earlier times became particularly widespread in the educational sector. Early on, it appears that educators were more cautious regarding

technologies since they perceived them as interruptions, but as more teachers adopted them, new teaching methods were integrated into the curriculum.

Many principles of multiple learning modalities during the historical period, micro-learning (chunking), interactive digital and personalization of instructional content. Early on iClicker, YouTube, and Web 2.0. the cloud, Twitter, Google docs, Nintendo Wii, iPhone, E-readers, Netflix, Dropbox, and Hulu, exploded onto the scenes that there was so much to choose from that it made it challenging for educators to keep up or get trained on the latest multimedia technologies.

I believe the most critical game changer from 2005 – 2022 was two-fold. Apple's introduction of the smartphone in 2007 was one of the most remarkable phenomena. When Steve Jobs was in charge, they were constantly on the cutting edge of technological advancement. You can download software (apps) with various features and purposes from the App store. The iPhone had many multimedia capabilities, including a music playlist, a camera for photos, watching TV, streaming content, a host of apps, a touch-responsive screen, and so much more. There are 7 billion mobile device users and over 3 billion internet users worldwide (O'Dea, 2021). Afterward, mobile learning became more accepted into curricula; teachers found evidence-based interventions to keep the students motivated, engaged and interested.

Another essential factor of this historical period is the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and its impact on changing traditional teaching to remote learning for students. We saw the world having to lock down and keep folks quarantined as a global health crisis arose.

Other information I learned during the history of the multimedia period 2005 through 2022 is that many studies on multimedia learning have been conducted by scholars in education and psychology, computer science, linguistics, health care and other industries (Li et al., 2019). When integrated with relevant visual information, the results of numerous experimental studies have shown that learning is enhanced when textual information is generated in an auditory format (i.e., spoken text) as opposed to a visual form (i.e., written text) (i.e., illustrations, diagrams, and animations) ( Li et al., 2019).

As students have greater access to multimedia resources, integrating these cutting-edge tools requires a support network for teachers (Mantiri, 2014; Penuel et al., 2000). Lack of time, lack of confidence in technical knowledge, learning the tools the students use, and lack of training are significant problems that teachers face when integrating multimedia technologies in the classroom (Mantiri, 2014; Penuel et al., 2000). Another vital challenge is the time for teachers to collaborate with other teachers. Creating presentations and multimedia has unique advantages for education that allow us to give students a way to experience their subject virtually. Graphics, video, and audio must all run simultaneously rather than provide this experience. Technology only occasionally affects education, and thus the needs of students' learning are essential. Despite the significant benefits of using computers in teaching and learning, it still needs to be supervised by parents and instructors. Moreover, concerns including copyright, unauthorized use of software and data, privacy concerns, and dehumanization of students as learners must be addressed (Mantiri, 2014).

Social media refers to Web 2.0 technologies characterized by openness, user participation, user-created content, knowledge sharing, and social interaction (An, 2021). The most popular social media platforms among American adults are YouTube (73%) and Facebook (69%), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey (An, 2021). Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are entering the education sector so students can experience real-life simulations. However, significant challenges as instructors compete for funding for VR labs and equipment. New instructional designs argued that traditional IDs are slow and not flexible, like the latest rapid prototyping ID model (An, 2021). Technological advancements have made educational software and programs widely accessible, helping teachers and students study and access internet data. These are designed to support students' learning and increase the comprehension of their goals.

References

An, Y. (2020). A history of instructional media, instructional design, and theories. International Journal of Technology in Education, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.35

Li, J., Antonenko, P. D., & Wang, J. (2019). Trends and issues in multimedia learning research in 1996–2016: A bibliometric analysis. Educational Research Review, 28, 100282.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100282

Mantiri, F. (2014). Multimedia technology in learning. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2(9), 589-592. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2014.020901

O'Dea, S. (2021, March 19). Number of smartphone users in the U.S. 2025. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/201182/forecast-of-smartphone-users-in-the-us/

Penuel, W., Means, B., & Simkins, M. (2000). Teaching the information generation: The multimedia challenge. ASCD | Educational Leadership, 58(2), 34-38.