Media and Information

Literacy
Quarter 2 – Module 6:
Manipulative and Multimedia
Dimensions of Information
and Media
 What I Need to Know

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

Describe the different dimensions of:
• manipulative information and media
• multimedia information and media

OBJECTIVES

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Explain what manipulatives / interactive media are.
2. Compare the different platforms and uses of manipulatives / interactive
media software
3. Define multimedia and its characteristics.
4. Summarize the design principles and elements in different forms of
information and media (text, audio, visual, motion and manipulative
/interactive).
5. Identify the advantages and limitations of multimedia.

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 What I Know

Identify the dimensions involved in the following multimedia content. Check the
corresponding boxes.

Media Content Text Visual Audio Manipulative

1 “HirayaManawari” an e-novel by
Chris Oca, accessed through
Wattpad
2 Magic Microphone advertised by a
singing salesperson in a mall.
3 Instructions on how to cook
pancit canton on a packaging
4 TV advertisement of a shampoo
brand featuring Sarah Geronimo
5 Textbook for the blind

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 Lesson Manipulative and
1 Multimedia Dimensions of
Information and Media
I have said this before and I will say it again: in this age, information is just right in
our fingertips. Gone are the days when researching involved flipping thick pages of
printed materials; today, a click or a tap brings us information stored from all over
the globe. Before, we tend to miss a movie, TV or radio program if it is out of our
leisure time and prayed for occasional replays to get the chance to see them. But
now, content is offered right in front of us, ready to be viewed at our most convenient
time and replayed as long as we wish. And if before, ordering food while seated in
our cars was the most convenient food service we could get, today, we just have to
click on the menu from our restaurants of choice and food will come delivered to our
doorsteps. Practically, everything is just a click away, customized as to how we want
them to be.

However, we forget that long before the development of the internet, the world was
already in our fingertips, right from the very start of a person’s consciousness, and
the world comes in the form of toys. Isn’t it that children learn the basics of living
while playing, and toys are the most essential tool that allows them to feel that sense
of control, hone their creativity and widen their imagination? Even a folded paper
boat that a child sets afloat in a puddle of water becomes a massive ship sailing the
Pacific Ocean, created by the best engineer in the world. Forgive me for being too
poetic, but the concept of toys is just like any other manipulatives, traditional or
digital, for the young or for the old. They let you hold on to reality, allow you to take
control, and gain information.

In this lesson, we will explore the manipulative and multimedia dimensions of

information and how these speed up our way of living and widen our perspectives. I
believe you would agree with me that during the months that we are locked down,
manipulatives and multimedia have opened up opportunities of growth and
development. Physically, we might have been quarantined, but virtually, the sky is
our limit.

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 What’s In

This might look like a trip to a toy store, but then, everybody needs time to play. Sort
the toys to their proper bins. Take note, the bins are not labelled, so it is up to you
to determine how you will classify these toys. Enjoy!
IMAGE REFERENCES
1. "Lego ZBlocks" by sayamindu is licensed
under CC BY-SA 2.0
2. "Japan Bisque dolls" by Dressy Doll is
licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
3. "Rubic's Cube" by faruqseu is licensed under
CC BY 2.0
4. "soft toy crocodile and teddy bear" by Steve
A Johnson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
5. "Crayon Fence" by chrismetcalfTV is licensed
under CC BY 2.0
6. "Jigsaw puzzle (detail)" by James E. Petts is
licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
7. "finished puzzle box" by matthewvenn is
licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
8. "Play-Doh (Flash)" by GIANTsqurl is licensed
under CC BY 2.0
9. "Wooden Hammering Toy" by
byzantiumbooks is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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 What’s New

So how did you go with the activity? Were you able to classify the toys well? There
may be various answers here, but let me share how I did it. I classified the toys based
on their purpose, which I categorize as follows:

1. Simulators – those that allow you to practice an actual task (taking care of
babies, as in the case of dolls, and pretending to be a carpenter, as in the case
of the toy hammer;
2. Builders – those that allow you to create something out of plain material, as in
the case of clay, and Lego; and
3. Puzzles – those that allow you to solve a code, as in the case of the jigsaw puzzle
and Rubik cube

I hope you can share your work with your teacher. Take note, answers may vary, but
everything points out to one thing: there is so much more in toys than play.

Every child has this particular toy that he/she would go crazy about. My favorite is
Lego. Through these tiny building blocks, my first ambition to become an architect
blossomed. (I did not become an architect, but that is another story). For me, creating
Lego houses was a pleasant experience. I got to design my little dream houses and
imitate structures I found in books. It might sound funny, but I haven’t outgrown
my love for Lego, and even to this day, my reaction upon getting hold of these blocks
is automatic. I will build a house.

I play other games too, and now, I have a confession to make: I was an addict – a
Pokemon Go addict. I just could not help it. Pokemons are cute and plenty and I just
couldn’t resist catching them all. I did not engage in Pokemon battles (even if there
was an arena a walking distance away from our house), but I spent so much time
and money loading my smart phone, walking and commuting to reach PokeStations,
gain mileage to hatch eggs, and search for wild Pokemons together with my trainer-
avatar in the augmented world. Unfortunately, (but fortunately) my phone hanged,
thus ending my Pokemon quest and my addiction.

Why don’t you share your experience on your favorite toys, both traditional and
digital? Here is a matrix for you to fill up:

MY FAVORITE MANIPULATIVES
TRADITIONAL DIGITAL
(A childhood toy or non-digital (A game app and the likes)
manipulative)

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 WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THESE ON ME?

What is It

Manipulative Media

Manipulative media are tools or devices used

for hands-on developmental, educational,
information, leisure, therapeutic, and other
purpose that require kinesthetic sense.
Manipulatives, toys in particular, are essential
in early childhood development, where the
concept of play is a great factor for the child to
grow physically, mentally and emotionally.
Manipulative models allow simulation of
processes and explanation of abstract ideas.
Moreover, they supplement information for the
visually impaired, as in case of Braille "Quipu II" by A.Davey is licensed under CC BY-
materials with raised dotted code that allows NC-ND 2.0
reading through touch.

Ancient civilizations used manipulatives as aid in concretizing abstract ideas, such

as in mathematical computations. The Incas and other ancient civilizations who lived
in the Andes mountains of South America, used the quipu, a device with numerous

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colored and knotted strings, in
order to keep records and
communicate information about
dates, statistics, accounts, and
even folklore during the time when
an alphabetic writing system was
not yet used. Although many quipu
records have been lost in time, this
device is still being used today by
shepherds to keep count of their "Soroban Japanese abacus, 2001. (abaci (Japanese))"
herd. (Cartwright, 2014). The is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
abacus, on the other hand, is a
beaded device used for mathematical computations, and was used in ancient Rome,
East Asia and Russia. These manipulatives are still being used in some areas, and
is still taught in school, such as in Japan, where it is called the soroban.

The idea that manipulatives can be used for educational purposes dates back to the
18th century, when Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi asserted that learning
takes place through the use of sense and physical contact. Friedrich Froebel, the
creator of the world’s first kindergarten in 1837, supported Pestalozzi’s idea and
made sure that his school are filled with play objects for his pupils. These objects
that Froebel packaged as a set of “20 gifts” were designed to help children recognize
and appreciate patterns and forms found in nature. Maria Montessori developed this
concept and came up with materials to help children develop their sensory abilities,
put them in control of the learning process, enable them to learn through personal
investigation and exploration. Lastly, Jean Piaget theorized that children must first
construct knowledge through concrete operations before moving to formal
operations. (Resnick, Martin, Berg, Borovoy, Colella, Kramer, and Silverman, 1998)

Classification of Manipulatives

Manipulatives can be classified into two: the traditional and the digital.

Traditional Manipulatives are those that does not require any digital component to
function.

Digital manipulatives, on the other hand, are computationally-enhanced versions of

traditional manipulatives. In a product development paper that discussed the
enhancement of traditional kindergarten educational toys, Resnick (1998) termed
these as the “new manipulatives” and are designed to enable children new sets of
concepts that were considered before as too advanced. These system concepts, such
as feedback and emergence. (Resnick, Martin, Berg, Borovoy, Colella, Kramer, and
Silverman, 1998). An example digital manipulative is Lego bricks embedded with
robotics technology, which students can program to move and perform certain
functions.

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Digital manipulatives may also be classified into two, concrete and virtual. Concrete
manipulatives allow actual hands-on manipulation. On the other hand, virtual
manipulatives are “interactive, web-based, visual representation of a dynamic object
that provides opportunities for constructing mathematical knowledge (Moyer et al,
2002 on Hunt, 2008).

Interactivity, or the responsiveness one experiences from another entity, be it a

computer system or person (Lew, Walther, Pang, and Shin, 2018), is the most
important characteristic of digital manipulatives. Take note that in this age, people
need to establish wide connections and demand quick responses, and today’s
websites, apps and video games answer to this demand.

In 1996, a Japanese invented the Tamagotchi, a virtual pet simulation game. It was
meant for leisure, but the effect went beyond its goals. This is one clear proof of the
power of manipulatives to “manipulate one’s behavior.”

Read this article from the New York Times, published in 1997. As you go along, think
about your personal engagements with similar apps. Have you ever felt the same way
the “Tamagochi parents” felt, or are virtual pets today designed differently?

Tamagotchi: Love It, Feed It, Mourn It

By Carol Lawson
May 22, 1997

A dog may be man's best friend, but a virtual pet can be a child's worst
nightmare. Children who are nurturing the tiny Tamagotchi cyberpet, a
popular Japanese digital toy that went on sale in the United States three
weeks ago, are discovering that virtual death can be nearly as traumatic as
the real thing.

Christine Glickman said her son, Keith, 9, "cried hysterically and went
crazy" when his Tamagotchi expired. Susan Gliedman described her
daughter Mia, also 9, as "extremely sad and depressed" over the demise of
her cyberpet.

The pet hatches from an egg on a liquid-crystal screen the size of a watch
face, set in a case like an egg. It requires continuous care, feeding and
attention, much as a real pet does. It expires if left unattended for more
than five or six hours during the day. Bandai, the manufacturer, says the
toy does not actually die. Instead, its life cycle ends when it sprouts wings
and, the packaging says, "returns to its home planet" millions of miles
away.

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Try telling that to a teary-eyed child who has spent days caring for the toy,
who has watched it hatch from an egg and then assumed responsibility for
helping it to grow into a lively, healthy digital creature.

The toy can be reset to hatch a

new creature, but the one that
has sprouted wings is gone
forever. (The Japanese version
shows the pet's demise with a
gravestone and a cross -- the
angel wings are for Americans.)

"The toy creates a real sense of

loss and a mourning process,"
said Dr. Andrew Cohen, a "My 1997 Tamagotchi" by h2dh is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
psychologist at the Dalton
School in Manhattan. "Kids want to nurture and take care of pets -- it gives
them a feeling of empowerment and self-importance -- but here the
consequences are too high. It's out of control."

For teachers, too, Tamagotchi is creating unpleasant side effects. Joanne

Emery, Keith's third-grade teacher at Dalton, has banned Tamagotchi from
class, and so have teachers at other schools in the New York area. "It
became very disruptive," Ms. Emery said. "The children were checking it
every five seconds."

The Greenville Elementary School in Edgemont, N.Y., banned Tamagotchi

last week after third graders who were taking a standardized test put down
their pencils to feed the pet. "The children were more concerned with the
toy than with succeeding in the test," said Andrea Silverman, a special-
education teacher.

The toy has three control buttons and numerous icons for the many kinds
of care it needs. The creature must be fed, played with and disciplined. It
needs medicine when it is sick, and the caretaker must clean up its
droppings. It sleeps during the night, and it beeps during the day when it
wants attention. There is even a happiness meter to give feedback on the
owner's parental skills.

Dr. Sylvia Rimm, a psychologist and author of "Dr. Sylvia Rimm's Smart
Parenting" (Crown), said, "We try to bring up kids to be caring and loving,
and those are the ones who are hurt the most by this toy."

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Tamagotchi, which means "cute little egg," entered the world last November
in Japan. Bandai, which also makes the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
and knows something about mass marketing, says more than four million
Tamagotchis have been sold in Japan.

The toy was introduced in the United States at F.A.O. Schwarz on May 1
and is now at Toys "R" Us and other stores. F.A.O. Schwarz said it sold
30,000, at $17.99 each, in its stores in the first three days. QVC, the
television retailer, says it sold 6,000 in five minutes.

In Japan, where mothers tend to stay home, they often look after the
Tamagotchi during the school day.

Ms. Glickman baby-sat for Keith's Tamagotchi when it became cyberpet

non grata at Dalton. "Keith gave me a one-hour lesson, but I didn't do such
a wonderful job," Ms. Glickman said. Two days later, the pet sprouted
wings.

Will Tamagotchi become a post-Beanie Babies craze? "It's safe to say it's
going to be very successful, but we don't know yet if it's going to be a
megasuccess," said Sean McGowan of Gerard Klauer Mattison, a securities
research and brokerage firm in Manhattan. "To be up there with Beanie
Babies, kids will have to collect them." (The Tamagotchi is on a key ring,
another hot item with schoolchildren.)

Gene Morra, the vice president of marketing for Bandai America, in

Cypress, Calif., said a carefully nurtured Tamagotchi can "live" about 30
days, but in Japan some are said to have lasted nearly three months.

Dr. Cohen called Tamagotchi a breakthrough of sorts. "It's the most

powerful product I've ever heard of, in terms of what it demands from a
child," he said. "I never heard of a toy that makes you stay engaged with it
all the time."

But some children get disillusioned. In the beginning, said IlyssaMeren, 9,

a third grader in Manhattan at the Nightingale-Bamford School (which has
also banned Tamagotchi), the toy was easy to take care of. But now it beeps
constantly, and one morning it woke her at 4 a.m. "I want it to die," she
said. "It's driving me crazy." But Ilyssa will not commit virtual murder.
"When it dies, I won't reset it," she said.

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Courtney Glickman, 13, also said it was too much. "It beeped every five
minutes and was getting on my nerves, so I turned off the sound," she said,
not seeming at all sad that her pet sprouted wings one day.

"It was too much work -- like a real child," her mother said.

But psychologists say that for a teen-ager, Tamagotchi-style parental

responsibility can be an effective learning experience.

Some high schools around the country already teach how demanding a
baby can be by giving teen-agers real eggs to carry around for a week: the
egg must go everywhere, and it is the student's job to make sure it doesn't
break.

"I can see the Tamagotchi as a teaching tool about pregnancy for young
women and men," Dr. Rimm said. "It could help them understand reality."

Meanwhile, Bandai says it is coming out with a new improved Tamagotchi

in the fall: it will have a "pause" button.

Today, there are much more virtual pets developed, but I believe none has had an
impact like that of the 1996 Tamagotchi design. People have learned their lesson:
trends come and go and innovations are born day by day, but in the end, we have to
keep in mind that technology is made for the good of the people.

Concrete and Virtual Manipulatives: A Comparison

Hunt, Nipper and Nash (2011) probed the advantages and disadvantages of concrete
and visual manipulatives in education. Here are their findings:

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 ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
 Simpler, more moveable  Limited
 Tactile (concrete) experience  Not very challenging
adds a dimension of learning
 Fosters creativity
 Process is traceable
 Allows trial and error
 Units are easier to distinguish,
CONCRETE MEDIA

making the whole easier to see

 Easier to relate to real-world
applications
 Less expensive than digital
technology
 Requires more thinking
 Self-paced
 Multi-sensory approach
increases memory retention
 Clarifies misconceptions and
builds connections concepts
and representations,
encouraging more precise and
richer understandings
 Feedback is immediate Cannot be actually touched
 Easier to maneuver and keep Sometimes forces one to think
together abstractly
 Offers a larger variety of More suitable for use after a student
experiences has already mastered the concept
 Allow more complex operations Some make it too easy
to be learned Computers do the work for the
 Catches the attention of the students so they are able to guess the
“technology generation” correct answer
 More accessible at home May limit the teacher’s ability to
 Gives step-by-step instruction follow the students’ thought
VIRTUAL MEDIA

 Often provides explicit processes

Takes away the notion that the hands
connections between visual and
and mind must work together
symbolic representations
Might feel like “do” vs. “learn/explore”
Doesn’t really make one find the
answer on his/her own

Take note that this was the scenario almost a decade ago in a particular
setting about a particular function of manipulatives. This does not reflect the whole
idea of the effectiveness of concrete and visual manipulatives. In fact, there are many
other factors that can affect a person’s perception on the effectiveness of this media,
and in the case of many living the Philippines, the most relevant factor to consider is
the digital divide.

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 What’s More

Multimedia

Gathering the ideas discussed in the three latest chapters, we

come up with this illustration.

Before proceeding, briefly observe its form and reflect on its

implications. Keep in mind that every formation matters.

Collectively, these dimensions make up multimedia, which

Christenson (2006) defines as “the integration of multiple forms
of media.” While multimedia generally include text, graphics,
audio and video set in digital format that enables virtual
manipulation, the concept has been evident centuries ago,
when newspapers began featuring text, and images to inform
the public, and if you would consider the newspaper hawkers
(children who peddle newspapers), then audio media enters
the scene. But then, looking into the diagram, it must be noted
that at the center of all these dimensions is the top agent of
media and information: people. Therefore, understanding
multimedia will be incomplete without considering that at the
"The Chicago Daily News in 1901 relied on
very center of all these are the people through which and for
newsboys hawking the headlines." is licensed which media exists.
under Public Domain.

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 What I Have Learned

We are almost in the middle of the school year, and you have realized the need for
interactive media in your studies. Do you belong to the small fraction that is capable
of learning through interactive digital platforms, or are you part of the majority who
cannot maximize the power of internet connectivity? Think about your experiences
in using interactive manipulatives and answer the questions that follow.

What are the concrete

manipulatives that you use
to access and pass
information?
What are the visual
manipulatives that you
commonly access?
What do you prefer?
Concrete or virtual
manipulatives? Support your
answer.

What I Can Do

Identify the PRIMARY dimension of the following apps. Write text, visual, audio,
motion or manipulative. Practically, all this apps are manipulatives, but two needs
intensive manipulation to be enjoyed.

ICON NAME YOUR ANSWER

1 Spotify

2 Instagram

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 3 Twitter

4 Talking Tom

5 Gmail

6 Viber

7 Wattpad

8 Mobile Legends

9 YouTube

10 Pinterest

Assessment

Design Your Own Game App

At the beginning of this lesson, we talked about toys. Now that we are close to its
end, let’s talk about game apps. Nope, we are not going to analyze an existing game
app; you will conceptualize your own.
Gamedesigning.org posts: “Humans are engaged when they feel like they’re learning.
The trick, then, is to incorporate learning right into the game mechanics (2020). It is
good to keep this in mind, so I want you to visualize a game that is fun and
educational.

Here is a checklist of what you have to accomplish. As an example, I used another

personal favorite game app, Subway Surfer.

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 Name
(example: Subway Surfer)

 Concept. Explain the main premise or story of your

game.
(example: In this virtually endless game, a subway
graffiti artist vandalizes a train and the Grumpy
Inspector and his dog chases him / her.
 Objectives
(example: Earn points and prizes by picking up
coins and items on the subway track. Avoid
obstacles along the way.
 Educational value.
(example: Subway Surfer can help you improve
your reflexes, improve your precision, and practice
quick thinking. Remember to establish your target
audience – who would most likely play this game.
 Interface. Design how your game would look:
characters, items (tools, weapons, gadgets, prizes,
etc.), and background. You may refer to the screen
shot on the right for your example. It would be nice
if you could digitize your interface, but if it is
possible, you can just draw this on a piece of paper
for hard copy submission, or take a picture of your
drawing for online submission.

RUBRIC

COMPONENT 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Completion 5/5 parts 4/5 parts 3/5 parts 2/5 parts 1/5 parts
completed completed completed completed completed
Concept and Creative, Creative, Adapted Adapted Direct copy
Objectives original, and original, but from a from a from a
well needs further previous previous known
explained explanation source, well source, game app
explained further
explanation
needed
Educational Highly Enhances at Enhances Justification None
value substantial, least 2 skills at least 1 is confusing
enhances at skill
least 3 skills
Interface Masterfully Creatively Basic, but Mediocre, Incomplete
presented presented, clear much
with room for improvement
enhancement needed

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