Application of Multimedia Technology in University Teaching

Application of Multimedia Technology in University Teaching
WANG Peijuan
School of Arts and Humanities
Shandong University of Finance, P.R.China, 250014
[email protected]
Abstract: Along with deepening education reforms in china, Chinese universities have been
summarizing their teaching experiences and thereby improving teaching methods. In such an occasion,
multimedia technology has been gradually applied to university teaching and is more and more
widespread for its enormous stockpile of information and its unique effects on improving teaching
efficiency and resource sharing. However, there still remain various problems in such an application. In
this article, the author tries to explain how she understands the problems existed in multimedia
technology application in university teaching, and accordingly suggest her improvement methods.
Keywords: Multimedia technology application, University teaching, Multimedia courseware, Problems
and methods
1
Introduction
Multimedia is in essence a presentation of information that incorporates multiple media such as text,
audio, graphics, and animation. The representations can be redundant, incorporating the same content, or
complementary, offering additional information. Multimedia need not be computerized, but computers
offer some of the most seamless multimedia presentations. Moreover, digital multimedia, such as a
simple CD-ROM, can offer teachers greater ease of presentation.
Following the arrival of the information age in the 21st century and the worldwide revolution of
information technology, multimedia technology has been developing fast in recent years and has been
applied widely in various walks of life, including university teaching. Thanks to its distinguished
combination of texts, pictures and sounds, it has brought new vigor to university education and will
inevitably change models, contents, and methods of teaching and learning, and finally lead to
fundamental changes of education thoughts, theories and systems. Some teachers sing extremely high
praise for multimedia technology application in teaching and even list it as one of the teaching
evaluation criteria.
It will go too far if the place and influence of multimedia technology are arbitrarily exaggerated,
because such an exaggeration will certainly cause negative effects. At the present time, multimedia
application in teaching practice of Chinese universities still has some problems that affect its own
development. Some domestic researchers on multimedia application in Chinese university education
have noticed its positive influence on education reforms, but there is no in-depth analysis on existing
problems or feasible suggestions. Based on years of experience in Chinese university teaching, the
author aims to conduct a detailed analysis on the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia
application in university teaching and correspondingly propose her suggestions.
2
Significance of multimedia technology application
Scientific research shows that the process of remembering done in the human brain is faster when
people receive many emphasizes in various forms for a short period. The concept of interactivity in
multimedia helps the human brain to improve the process of learning. In addition, different approaches
of multimedia make lessons very entertaining besides giving information more effectively and faster.
Multimedia-aided teaching and learning process enjoys multimedia computers and prepared courseware,
in which multimedia information such as symbols, sounds, figures, pictures, videos, etc. are managed
comprehensively according to manipulator’s demands and are organized organically to display through
screen to help accomplishing the teaching or training process under the interaction between
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manipulators and computers.
Application of multimedia technology in teaching finds its base on and is a request of modern teaching
technique principles and theories. From 1990s on, Chinese universities began to introduce it to class
teaching little by little, and conducted computer and multimedia-aided teaching experiments, which
have led to teaching proficiency improvement, more comprehensive development of students, and
deepening class teaching reforms. Specifically, the significance relies as follows:
2.1 Large information content and diversified display forms
Multimedia is featured by its wide range of information content, fast speed of transmission, and various
ways to express and display which are beyond the reach of pure language description of traditional
teaching. Therefore, the combination of pictures, texts, music, sounds, etc. will create a more lively and
vivid teaching and learning atmosphere.
Interactivity is the most distinctive characteristics of multimedia technology as well as the core of
multimedia teaching. In multimedia-aided teaching, teachers can practice heuristic teaching by giving
on-the-spot analysis and answers to students’ feedback.
2.2 High teaching proficiency
Teaching with multimedia can save teacher’s time of writing on blackboard, especially the time of
describing pictures, forms and such complicated figures as equipment structure. The use of multimedia
courseware which is undergoing modification and simplification saves the teacher repeated preparation
for the same lesson so that the teacher can have enough energy to study intensively on teaching
materials and teaching techniques in order to improve teaching capability.
When making their courseware, teachers tend to optimize their preparation for class. Therefore, it helps
to improve teachers’ teaching ability in a short time. In this sense, teaching with slides will help teachers
a lot in grasping their courses as well as organizing their classes.
2.3 Complementary to traditional laboratory teaching
It is much easier for teachers to explain as well as for students to understand those points beyond our
expression by using dynamic demonstrations in class. Besides, for those courses emphasizing practical
operating skills, multimedia is also helpful in expanding teaching capacity and improving teaching
efficiency.
In traditional laboratory course some experiments cannot be done due to lack of some conditions or the
impossibility of moving extremely large experiment equipments into class. Particular multimedia
courseware can solve this by imitating the whole experiment process and achieve likelihood outcome
and better teaching effects.
，
2.4 Shared teaching resources
In traditional teaching environment, some experienced teachers make great efforts in writing lesson
plans, but these teachers are not able to communicate enough because it is difficult to pass on and keep
these lesson plans. In a sense this is a waste of knowledge and experience. As digital teaching material,
multimedia courseware can be kept for longer time and be transmitted far and wide through the Internet
or other communication means. Multimedia information transmission and resource sharing make it easy
for students to study by themselves or to communicate with teachers.
3
Main problems
3.1 Teachers’ undue reliance on equipments and their weakening function in moral education
The significance of interest for learning can be revealed in Einstein’s quotation of “Interest is the best
teacher”. Profound interest will stimulate learning motivation and encourage enthusiasm for learning
effectively. However, our present multimedia teaching, due to its boring and onefold form, fails to
arouse students’ learning interest.
In traditional teaching process, teachers not only impart knowledge and techniques, answer questions,
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but also care about students and show high expectation and affection to them with tones, facial
expressions, eye contact, and body language. Students feel close to teachers and can make quick
feedback to teaching. In such an environment, a two-way communication channel is formed and
enhances the teachers’ control over the class on the content, progress, and the order. The whole teaching
process is filled with humane factors, both teacher and students relaxed and delightful in beneficial
interaction. Teaching and moral education thus integrate.
It is optimal that teaching with multimedia technology and class moral education can complement each
other’s advantages. However, presently in universities some teachers do not make creative efforts to
bring the advantages of multimedia technology use in class into full play. Some teachers put all their
teaching content into simple slides, or move all the textbook and reference book into courseware. The
teacher in this way converts into a computer operator without any emotional communication with
students. Class in this situation is meaningless and boring, and cannot achieve the education of morality,
affection, or personality. The undue reliance on equipments weakens the function of teachers in
educating.
3.2 Inadequate financial and personnel input and underdeveloped construction of software and
hardware
Since the beginning of 21st century, most universities in china began campus expansion and enrollment
increase and some therefore stepped into heavy debts. Although almost all universities established
multimedia classrooms, they cannot afford the complete and scientific follow-up service as maintenance,
overhaul, and replacement. There are no overall arrangements either for technology training, equipment
maintenance and personnel. Some advanced equipments are unused or in bad condition, and the ageing
equipments often break down during class and disturb teaching process.
Another popular problem is that lighting equipments in current university multimedia classrooms cannot
meet the comprehensive demands of using projector, reading, and note taking, etc. In addition, some
teachers like to give two classes with no break, which often make students tired and affect the outcome
of teaching.
3.3 Lack of multimedia technology training to teachers
However, problems will occur if the contents do not fulfill the standard curriculum, the approaches do
not help the process of teaching and learning and so on.
Teachers are supposed to use multimedia flexibly to ensure reasonable teaching tempo and atmosphere.
However, if multimedia courseware is used at improper situations, poor priority control will be caused.
The universities do not pay much attention to train teachers in usage of new equipments or offer enough
surveillance over the training. Some teachers do not know much about the equipments and often cause
damage to some software or hardware due to incorrect operation or inability to solve little problems.
These incidents disturbed class teaching. To view this in depth, due to lack of essential knowledge of
multimedia teaching, the teachers are not able to develop the courseware suitable for their own teaching
style or content. Some teachers can do courseware to replace blackboard writing but they pursue too
much sounds, pictures or texts, which only distract students’ attention.
4
The Improvement Methods
4.1 Keep a clear mind of the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia and integrate multiple
teaching techniques
University teachers need to recognize that multimedia is only an aide to teaching; teacher is the main
character and should always be in leading position in teaching. Only organic combination of multimedia
and traditional teaching and complementation of each other’s advantages can help promote teaching
effects. In multimedia class, interaction and communication between teacher and students should be
emphasized because the teacher’s gestures, smile, and praise are all indispensable body language for
students and are effective to teaching outcome.
Various circumstances should be established to create active class atmosphere to enhance receivers’
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learning enthusiasm. In multimedia teaching, because some intuitionistic information such as words,
pictures, flashes, sounds and images can be given synchronously, the teaching activity seems more
concrete, more active, and tends to provide rich perception and ideas, and therefore, helps students to
form abstract thinking instead of just perception.
4.2 Increase personnel and financial input and improve multimedia equipments
Computer software developer, teachers, and educational psychologists should cooperate to work out
multimedia courseware of high quality based on subject teaching science, experience of outstanding
teachers and cognition rules of students. To enhance teaching software construction, teachers are ought
to work actively to bring into play their professional education theories and subject knowledge. In
addition, it’s necessary to introduce some professional advanced teaching software and call on teachers
to use them actively and appropriately for teaching. At the same time, universities should enlarge their
teaching resources and build a good university teaching resource bank based on university local area
network. In one word, universities should enlarge the input of capital, personnel, organization and
technology to teaching software introduction and development, and should enhance teaching software
construction to meet the need of multimedia teaching.
4.3 Conduct training to enhance multimedia teaching ability of teachers
More and interrupted training of computer manipulation technology and multimedia courseware are
necessary for teachers to renew their knowledge and master the technique and knowledge to conduct
multimedia teaching. They should be able to make multimedia courseware with software tool, such as
Power-point, Author ware, Flash, Front page, Director, Pre-miere, etc and at the same time they need to
learn to use Internet to improve communication ability and strengthen information connection with
universities all over the country. All in all, only teachers skilled both in computer technology and subject
teaching can meet the need of information age and the need of the education development of the new
century.
5
Conclusion
The advent of multimedia technology has changed the way educators teach and students learn. With
multimedia, the communication of the information can be done in a more effective manner and it can be
an effective instructional medium for delivering information. A multi-sensory experience can be created
for the audience, which, in turn, elicits positive attitudes toward the application. On the part of the
creator, designing a multimedia application that is interactive and multi-sensory can be both a challenge
and a thrill. Multimedia application design offers new insights into the learning process of the designer
and forces him or her to represent information and knowledge in a new and innovative way.
In the process of wide-spreading multimedia technology teaching, university managers need to enhance
their knowledge of multimedia technology, pay attention to software and hardware construction, and
renew their teaching concepts under the guide of modern education thinking, education theory, learning
theory, and teaching design. Training should be conducted to improve teachers’ modern education
knowledge and technology. Teachers are ought to combine multimedia technology and traditional
teaching. Multimedia is a double-edged sword. In its application, remember that its final aim is to
enhance teaching efficiency, and we should recognize and amend the problems existed in multimedia
teaching and take measures to bring its advantages to full play.
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