Multimedia may change the way children learn<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ask a computer salesman what multimedia is, and
\nhe'll most likely tell you that it means a PC with a CD ROM
\ndrive, a stereo sound card and a pair of speakers. He may add a
\njoystick or an MPEG playback card to this configuration for good
\nmeasure.<\/p>\n
It's really unfortunate. Multimedia is not just games and
\nmusic. It's much, much more than that. Multimedia is actually the
\ncombined use of video, animation, still images, graphics, text
\nand sound to convey information. The only reason CD ROM has been
\nso closely connected to multimedia is that it is the most cost-
\neffective medium for storing multimedia data -- which comes in
\nhundreds of megabytes. As you already know, one CD ROM can store
\nup to 680 MB of computer data, and it doesn't cost much to
\nduplicate CD ROMs.<\/p>\n
Multimedia is interactive. The word means that we, users of
\nmultimedia materials, have control over what we want to see and
\nhear, how much we want to see and hear, and where we want to go
\nnext. Next to its multi-sensory approach, this interactive nature
\nis what gives this mode of communication its strongest potential
\nin changing the way our children learn.<\/p>\n
One thing that frustrates me tremendously is the low quality
\nof education our children receive at Indonesian public and
\nprivate schools. Their days at school basically involve two
\nactivities: Copying facts into their notebooks, and then
\nmemorizing them. It's clear that their teachers have prepared the
\nlessons in a great rush because the materials are so poorly
\norganized and the language is so difficult to understand that my
\nwife almost always has to rewrite whatever is in my daughter's
\nnotebooks.<\/p>\n
Every year, Indonesian schools require parents to buy a new
\nset of textbooks for their children. Yet, these books are seldom
\nused -- a blessing in disguise since most of them are pretty
\nclose to garbage anyway. It's amazing how such low quality books
\nwere able to get the official permit for use in schools. It's
\nequally amazing that any school would agree to use them.<\/p>\n
The yearly outlay for new textbooks makes me wonder if the
\nworld of Indonesian elementary school children has become as
\nfast-moving as that of computer users like you and me. Elementary
\nsocial and natural sciences, arithmetic and Bahasa Indonesia are
\nobviously changing so fast nowadays that the textbooks require
\nupdating more frequently than these children celebrate their
\nbirthdays.<\/p>\n
At any rate, multimedia is definitely one possible cure for
\nthe chronic illness the Indonesian education system is suffering,
\nalthough its introduction will require a total re-engineering of
\nthe learning and teaching process in Indonesian schools. This can
\nonly become a reality if the government and all its apparatuses
\nare truly committed to giving our young generation a better
\neducation.<\/p>\n
Today, when an elementary school pupil is told to learn about
\nthe human heart, all he has to do is memorize the parts. His
\nteacher writes them on the board, and he copies them into his
\nnotebook. If he can regurgitate them, he'll get a good grade on
\nhis test. If, shortly after the test he forgets all the parts, it
\ndoesn't really matter.<\/p>\n
However, if he's willing to go further, -- driven by his own
\ncuriosity, perhaps -- he'll have to find a good textbook on the
\nhuman body. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of good books
\navailable, but they are never used in schools.<\/p>\n
Books have several limitations, though. At best, the child can
\nread the text and examine a series a color pictures. Arrows
\nindicate the direction of blood flow. He is using only his eyes,
\nthus it is uni-sensory.<\/p>\n
If he gets lost, he will have to go back to the text and,
\nafter reading and gaining enough understanding of a specific
\ntopic, jump back to the pictures to continue his exploration.
\nJumping back and forth like this wastes a lot of time.<\/p>\n
Another inherent limitation of books is that they are linear
\nin progression. This is a problem because we don't always study
\nthings in a linear fashion. We get attracted and distracted by a
\nlot of things when we learn. We may want to skip over the
\nmaterial that we already know well and jump into something we
\nstill don't know much about.<\/p>\n
The performance of Indonesian teachers depend very much on
\ntheir mood. Unfortunately seasoned teachers are too busy teaching
\nat several different schools and giving private classes that they
\nbarely have the energy to pay attention to their effectiveness
\ncommunicating with their students.<\/p>\n
Having heard, read and seen so much about interactive
\nmultimedia learning materials, I envision the following scenario:
\nA teacher with a group of third-grade pupils are seated in a
\ndarkened room. Forming a semi-circle, all of them are facing a
\nlarge display monitor. They're about to study the human heart.<\/p>\n
On the monitor, a video is playing. A human heart rotates
\nslowly in front of the pupils so that they can see it from all
\nsides. Then the heart begins to contract and expand. A rhythmic
\npounding sound, like something from a suspense movie, comes from
\nthe speakers. And then animation takes over. The heart on the
\nscreen is cut into two, exposing the left and right sections. The
\npupils are able to see the atriums and ventricles. The voice of
\nthe narrator is now heard from the speakers, explaining to them
\nwhat each part of the heart is called. In addition to providing
\nthe correct spelling, text also appears on the screen to
\nreinforce retention of these names in the student's memory<\/p>\n
When blood circulation is discussed, the children can actually
\nsee where the blood comes from and where it goes. There's no need
\nto jump around. There's no need for them to shift their attention
\nfrom what they're seeing on the screen. If the multimedia
\npresentation is well-prepared, it will be so captivating that
\nthere won't be any opportunity for distraction.<\/p>\n
After the presentation is over, the teacher, who has been
\nfollowing the same presentation, will ask questions to test
\nretention. Perhaps, a discussion among the youngsters will
\nfollow.<\/p>\n
One benefit of interactive multimedia is that, as opposed to
\nbooks, our children can study things in a non-linear way. Using
\nlinks that are called hypertext\/hypermedia, they can instantly
\njump from one subject to another, following their train of
\nthought and curiosity. Using the links, they can jump back to
\nwhere they were, much like using the navigating tools in Windows
\nHelp modules.<\/p>\n
Interactive multimedia, which has to be stored in a non-
\nsequential storage medium (of which the video tape is one good
\nexample), allows them to jump around instantly. Furthermore,
\ninteractive multimedia learning materials are portable. They may
\ncome in a CD ROM or a video disc, which means that our children
\ncan also use them at home. This gives another edge to multimedia,
\nas our children can pursue knowledge at their own pace. They can
\nexplore the unknown without fear of being ridiculed by their
\nclassmates -- something which is rather difficult to avoid in an
\nIndonesian classroom.<\/p>\n
First of all, the government should seriously consider the
\nbenefits of multimedia. Then a centralized body should be
\nestablished to set the standards. At the same time, the private
\nsector should be invited to invest in multimedia learning
\nmaterial production houses. Indonesian teacher training colleges
\nshould emphasize research of multimedia learning materials. Open
\ncontests can be held regularly to find the best multimedia
\nmaterials made in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The most difficult part of all this will be setting up a
\ncontrol mechanism that ensures our sin of subjecting our children
\nto low quality text books is not repeated. Only high quality
\nmultimedia learning materials should be permitted for use in
\nschools.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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