FCM@MMU: content creation and multimedia design

The careful planning and emergence of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia has captivated regional and international attention. Its basic intention is meant to spearhead and heighten national interests towards the Information Technology (IT) sector, while addressing issues of a borderless nature. Thus, an important entity in the MSC is its Multimedia University (MMU), the showcase, higher-education establishment for multimedia education and research and development. The Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) at MMU has grown tremendously since 1997, and it provides higher education opportunities in multimedia design. Its blend of course content, making up of pre-production, production and post-production multimedia training, includes both face-to-face and "class online" dissemination methods. As multimedia curriculum of this mixed nature is relatively new worldwide, FCM have so far been successful in providing both local and international multimedia industries its required knowledge workers, content developers and 'cyberpreneurs'. This paper will review the structure, assessment methods and learning pedagogies of the faculty in multimedia design and development, highlighting how a faculty that endeavours to keep up with the latest leading-edge technology and internet culture can provide a down-to-earth curriculum and level-headed content creators. The paper will also illustrate and discuss the faculty's research and development centres together with its collaborating industries, as support for course and staff development

Integrating Multimedia Education into Learning Activities for Students Ages Five through Seven

The intent of this project was to adapt curriculum activities that integrate Internet technology with activities for children ages five through seven. Review of selected literature, relevant to the integration of technology was conducted. Findings presented support the integration of multimedia technology into the instruction of young childre.n. Portions of the Washington State Essential Learnings for reading, writing, and communication were incorporated in the development of the activities for use in the early childhood classroom

Factors Affecting the Implementation And Use of Technology in Teaching Biology Courses in Florida's Community Colleges

Students are constantly immersed in Hollywood glitz, MTV music videos and fastpaced television commercials. For "better or for worse" the movement to make communication a multimedia presentation is upon us. Educational technology -multimedia/Internet - is playing an increasingly important role as a teaching and learning supplement in modern classrooms and has been suggested as an avenue to improve science education. Potential benefits of the Internet, CD-ROMS, Videodiscs, WebCT, course web sites and other computer-based resources include increased communication among students and between instructor and students. Recently, although not a new idea for some, it has been demonstrated that for a significant number of students, learning occurs more readily if the material is presented visually as compared to verbally. Visual presentation is what multimedia is all about. Biology in particular seems to benefit from the application of technology in the classroom since rapid advances in the field make it nearly impossible for textbooks to remain current. Many biology instructors are seeking to take advantage of these benefits by using technology as an increasingly integral part of the teaching experience. This research involves an investigation into how multimedia and the Internet are or are not being used in the teaching of biology courses at the community college level in the State of Florida. A questionnaire was developed to elicit biology faculty perceptions of factors that encourage and those that inhibit their use of the Internet and multimedia in the classroom and in the laboratory.The Educational Technology Survey was designed for ease of response in order to encourage a high return, and respondents answered the survey via the Internet. The collected data were analyzed by using distributions of frequencies and percentages. Perhaps the most outstanding feature noticeable as a result of this research is that instructor interest was the number one factor responsible for instructors using the Internet or any other form of multimedia. Without the resources, time, faculty development, and technical support, teachers are less likely to use technology in their laboratory and classroom presentations. Educational technology offers exciting possibilities to advance and change teaching, and this research points out some of the factors affecting the implementation of such technology. The study concludes with recommendations for faculty as well as administrators in their efforts to implement technology into the curriculum. Also included are suggestions for further research

Using electronic design process portfolios in networked learning

The Design Link for Art and Science project at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA USA has involved four middle schools, an art museum, a science museum and University staff in a collaborative effort to apply design thinking to the teaching of art and science using electronic media, the internet and videoconferencing technologies. The project required development, implementation and assessment in one year of curriculum, technology training, and classroom application. Most of the teachers involved were unfamiliar with design, and technology was not in place at the project's start. Computer-based tools to support design activity, with or without Internet connectivity, were developed. These templates, into which drawings, text, pictures, video and clipart could be easily inserted, were organised to support different modes of design thinking. Teachers learned about designing by using the tools to plan and present their classroom projects. The project portfolios they prepared were then developed by their students into self-assessed electronic "design process portfolios". These multimedia files were exchanged through e-mail, presented and discussed through videoconferencing, and saved to an accessible Intranet server

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2005

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2004

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2004

Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines