1

Course Reflection: Multimedia in Instructional Design

Upon completion of this course, it is evident that there are many positive components to

take away and to utilize in my education and future career as I move forward. The instructional

design process, using multimedia as a teaching and learning tool, and the importance of

collaborative work, are three key areas on which to focus concentrate that will contribute to

being an effective teacher. When reflecting on this ten week course, there were a few

experiences that definitely made a strong impression on me, experiences that will stay with me as

I continue the pursuit of my M.S. degree in elementary education. First, this course introduced

me to, and made me aware of, just how many different multimedia tools and technology software

are out there ready to be used for educational purposes. Not being involved in the early

education environment since I was a student, I discovered that not only is there much focus now

placed on learning through technology/multimedia, but also that it is essentially expected. This

was new territory to me, and I am anxious to continue learning about all that is available from a

multimedia standpoint.

Another area that made an impact on me during this course is the importance of the

planning process when creating projects involving multimedia in the classroom. The amount of

initial leg work that must go into the preparation of these projects is a project in itself, and

extremely crucial to each projects success. Not only should the project be engaging and model a

constructivist approach for students, it must also take into account initial student abilities, overall

goals, and educational curriculum/standards. Also to be considered is the National Educational

Technology Standards (NETS) for students. Each of these key areas may be easy to accomplish

when looking at them from an individual standpoint, but to satisfy all of them in one project is an

extremely challenging process for a teacher. This course made me greatly aware of this fact.
 2

Because of this challenge, the course also introduced us to the importance of working with a

team; an advantage that I have always under-utilized. I have always considered myself to be an

independent worker, enjoying the freedom of working at my own pace. I have now developed a

much greater appreciation of collaborative work, and fully understand the importance of

collaboration in an educational environment. As a future teacher, working together and

communicating with other teachers in a school will be integral to my success.

Speaking of my future job as a teacher, I will continue to apply what we have learned in

this course to future courses, as well as to my job. I intend to continue to hone my skill using the

DDD-E Model for future projects both in school and my job. While completing each step may

seem tedious at times, I could see that putting it all together at the end significantly improved the

overall quality of the final product. Specifically, I would like to place much focus on the

Decide and Design phases of the model because this is where the most integral components

are developed. However, it is important to not overlook the importance of the Evaluate phase

as well. The Develop phase will come naturally once other phases are complete, because

having the background information ready to go will make creating the project components much

easier. As mentioned previously, I also want to continue to utilize collaborative work whenever

possible. This course has taught me the importance of working with others, bouncing ideas off

of one another, and keeping everyone in check from a quality standpoint. With each piece of

constructive criticism provided by your peers, the overall quality of your work gets that much

better. This is a guideline I will use to continue to promote as I move forward.

In reference to the NETS for teachers, it is important to meet all of the criteria when

creating a learning experience, if possible. But I do feel that some are more important to meet
 3

when compared to others. More specifically, I believe three of the standards should be

considered mandatory when designing a learning experience:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Model Digital Age Work and Learning

I place more emphasis on these three standards for teachers because they are more student-

focused in enhancing the students learning and help to achieve higher levels of Blooms

Taxonomy. The other two standards which focus on promoting digital citizenship and engaging

in their own personal growth are important, however they do not promote a student first

mentality. Teachers should strive to achieve these two standards only when the other three have

been met to the best of their ability, in my own opinion.

When reflecting on the media tools used throughout this course, one in particular stands

out that I plan to utilize in my future classroom. The media tool Jing, which allows for the

user to video record their computer screen while completing a task, allows for an instant

secondary learning tool. To clarify, a teacher could record almost anything they wanted to ahead

of time, and students could watch at their own convenience. This includes instructional tutorials,

full lessons, software examples, project presentations, etc. By implementing Jing in a

classroom, one teacher could monitor many different avenues of learning at once because

students are essentially learning from pre-recorded sessions. Jing would significantly enhance

the learning environment by allowing students to work at their own pace in addition to the

teacher also providing lessons in person. Jing could be used for current lessons, additional

lessons, extra help lessons, or advanced lessons. When reflecting on other media tools we

experienced in the course, such as the animation software or graphic designer, I might not be
 4

using them as often in my future classroom. While I enjoyed those experiences and am glad I

now know of their existence, I feel that there are better options and some schools already provide

the technology they prefer that their teachers use. But I cannot stress enough my excitement of

using Jing in the future.

Using my previous knowledge of Gardners theory of multiple intelligences, it was

interesting to see the parallels between the theory and multimedia learning design, specifically

the DDD-E Model. The theory of multiple intelligences was meant to describe an individuals

area(s) of strength or preference when learning. Examples include the following:

Visual/Spatial - ability to visualize with the mind; spatial judgement

Verbal/Linguistic - good with words and language; reading comprehension

Logical/Mathematical - good with numbers, reasoning, critical thinking

Interpersonal - high sensitivity to others moods/feelings

Intrapersonal - deep understanding of ones own thoughts; self-reflective

Reviewing each of the multiple intelligences indicates how they directly relate to multimedia

learning design on multiple levels. The DDD-E model consists of many components that require

the use of each of the multiple intelligences. Visual/spatial skills are important when designing

the project (or PowerPoint) itself. Verbal/linguistic skills are crucial when conducting research

or completing the writing portion of a project. And Logical/Mathematical skills are essential

when incorporating numbers or graphs in a presentation, or a deeper level of thinking is required.

Each of the multiple intelligences is used when following the multimedia learning design

process.

Secondly, it is also important to recognize the multiple intelligences from a collaborative

work perspective when utilizing the multimedia learning design process. When working with a
 5

team of educators, it will be important to identify everyones strengths from the multiple

intelligences perspective so that proper job designations are assigned for the process. As an

example, an interpersonal team leader who recognizes others feelings more readily would be a

better selection than an intrapersonal team leader who would focus more on their own personal

agenda. It would also be a poor idea to designate someone with the role of Writer if they have

poor verbal/linguistic skills. By understanding the direct correlation between the multiple

intelligences and multimedia learning design, more appropriate decisions will be made in the

process, leading to higher quality results.

To conclude, the major benefit of this course was providing insight into how to utilize the

instructional design process properly, while developing different types of multimedia elements.

All of this was achieved through the collaborative efforts of each of our groups, another key

benefit to this course: learning how to perform collaborative work effectively and in a timely

manner. I plan to use the DDD-E Model as a reference point throughout the rest of my

courses/careers, and look forward to using Jing multimedia tool for enhancing learning. Last,

but not least, I will make efforts to consistently use and plan group work effectively using the

experiences I have gained in this course.