Multimedia and our Culture

What role could multimedia instructional materials and student multimedia projects play in bringing about this culture?

Multimedia instructional materials and student projects add so much "spunk" to a lesson. Multimedia tools for instruction allows for the students to see and feel what is or has happened. For example, we used a multimedia tool to watch the Presidential Inauguration and the students were able to hear and see and feel what was happening in Washington that day. They could have never experienced that day, which was a real important day in history, if I were to just tell them about it or look at a photo.

How can a teachers' use of multimedia support the development of such a culture?

A teacher using multimedia tools help students' develop a much deeper understanding of the text. With that deeper understanding students will take that information further into their world around them, thus impacting those around them. Teachers can enhance their lessons 100% if multimedia is used. Teachers will have taken their instruction to a whole new level.

What are the challenges in your classroom?

Though I am very excited about the technology out there, the largest struggle I face is having the tools to integrate multimedia. The only things that I have in my classroom are a TV with a DVD player and my own personal computer. I do use the TV for videos/dvds to give students a visual image of what is included in our curriculum, I do not have a way for students to see things off the Internet. The other challenge that I face is money. There is no money available for teachers, or the school in general, to purchase technology. We do not have a specific technology fund or "extra" monies for those types of things. That means if we want to improve in this area we have to pursue the fundraising/grant writing ourselves.