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Improvement on Teaching and Learning
Since this isn't a "presentation" module per se, what we can say in this category is that by
incorporating multimedia elements into traditional text-only papers, students will learn that
there are multiple ways in which to communicate-on paper-to others. The trick is to avoid
loading up papers with needless multimedia effects just for the sake of doing so. What we must
do is to teach students how to use a particular effect or medium to better convey what words
alone might not be able to do. In a very real sense, we can go back and paraphrase the cliché
that "not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but you can now also throw in sound,
animation, graphics, music, and video elements into that formulae as well."
Nontechnology comparison
For hundreds of years, we've been dependent upon communicating over time and distance with words alone;
although, sometimes we accompanied those words with drawings and stand alone photographs. By contrast,
today's technology offers-almost demands-that we rethink the very core of how we teach students to
communicate. The ability to seamlessly weave sound, pictures, and instantly accessible global Internet
sites within a paper creates the option and challenge to communicate on a whole new level of complexity.
Some writing instructors might experience a knee-jerk reaction to this idea with the thought,
"Well that might be true, but computers aren't my area." The answer, as already suggested before, is that
"If not writing instructors, then who?" The science department? Math? Social sciences? Business?
A minute's reflection should reveal that, like it or not, composition teachers are the only reasonable
forum through which to teach these emerging skills.
When we become successful at doing that, our students will learn how to compose papers that not only
tell us their views, but also show us, sing to us, dance with us, and tell us all the places in the world
we might go to learn even more about the topic at hand.
Pertinent Issues
The chief awareness issue of this module concept is the new way of thinking about communication,
which teachers will first have to accept and learn and then learn how to transmit that new
thinking and its accompanying techniques to their students.
As mentioned earlier, we have no verbs, and we have no nouns for this concept. An assignment
that asks, "Please communicate to me a three-page multimedia-message by next Friday" obviously
sounds a bit awkward. No appropriate verb, no appropriate object. In addition, we'll probably also
have to rethink the concept of "length." A multimedia document that looks like it's only two pages
in length may, in fact, be much richer in content, superior in execution, and a demonstratively
better communication effort than a traditional text-only ten-page paper. The real awareness issue
here is to create a new instructional awareness for ourselves.
How to use in the classroom
Start slowly by showing students examples of what a multimedia paper might look like. The greater
variety you can muster, the more creativity and understanding on their part you'll engender.
To start them on their own path, show students how a text document could be greatly improved by
simply adding an appropriate picture or two. Then, introduce the concept of searching for even more
appropriate graphics (e.g., historical photographs, drawings, diagrams, maps, charts, and so on) through
an Internet search engine such as Google.com, Yahoo.com, AltaVista, and so on. This twist is really just
another aspect of outside research in disguise.
Later, show them how to make Internet links in their papers, which will create a bridge between the
material and a much vaster information source on the Internet to heighten the reader's understanding of the
material at hand.
Then, show them how to incorporate a simple sound or pre-packaged video clip into their paper to help
illustrate a textual point. Again, use a search engine to find appropriate materials if you don't already have
a standing clip file of sound or video clips in your lab.
Finally, introduce-and encourage-them to go to the next level by actually producing their own appropriate
video or audio clips for their papers. Obviously, the skill and equipment level here will rise dramatically,
but what seems a high-tech skill out of reach to students today will almost certainly be a commonplace tool
within a decade.
How students physically present their "papers" is yet another issue in the evolution of modern
communication. Paper is obviously still an option, but new formats might include floppy or zip disks,
CD-ROM, or a Web-based paper. The final "best" format in which to view this new way of communicating is as
fluid as the number of different multimedia elements we're injecting into it.
Note: Be sure to see Appendix A and B below for multimedia sample papers.
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