Video and Mutlimedia Technology in the Classroom - Review

There are many great benefits to using video in lessons. One of these benefits is definitley that my learners are very visual and respond far better to watching video clips than reading an article or listening to me talk. The other benefit, particularly for my subject area is that as a lot of the content involves looking at structures or movement, or the way things work, and have video clips gives greater understanding to the learners of these technical concepts. It is also a more interactive visual representation that learners find more interesting than plain images in books.

Multimedia use is a great way of ensuring inclusivity in lessons. By carefully selecting the tools you use you enable learners to work at their own rate, and easily allows you to stretch and support learners as needed, therefore supporting progress for all learners. It is also easily accessible so learners who are absent from the session can easily catch up via distance learning. The only issue with this might be if they do not have computer or internet access at home as this may then highlight this learners social circumstances to other members of the class which may be uncomfortable for them. The great thing is that they can access the information at any time, and unlike a simple PowerPoint or worksheet exercise, the context of the video and intended message it relays will be the same whether they access it in class with the teacher there or at home on their own. They will get the same level of information regardless. For those without computer/internet access, they will be able to access the information on either computers in the college, or in a local library, as the resources will not be on protected drives linked to a specific internet server.

The only other negative i have encountered with using multimedia resources is that it can be difficult to manage in a lesson with a lot of students - ensuring students are staying focused on tasks and not getting distracted by irrelevant video clips for example. I do however think it works well with my particular learner who has a short attention span as it grabs their attention far more effectively and results in increased participation in sessions.