Topic 7

Media Selection

 Contents 

Overview

Source materials for this topic

Technologies used in open and distance learning

Print

Radio

Audio cassettes

Telephone

Television

Video cassettes

Video conferencing

Computer-mediated communication

Computer-based learning

Multimedia

A model for choosing appropriate technologies and media

Access

Costs

Teaching functions

Interaction, user-friendliness, and control

Organisational issues

Novelty

Speed

General points about technology in teaching

Media choice checklist

Practice exercise

            The Lego® block version of communicating for learning without visual cues

The paper and pencil version of communicating for learning without visual cues

 1. Overview 

These materials support a discussion on the topic of the various media that are used in open and distance learning as well as which media are best suited to defined instructional tasks and organisational settings.

1.1 Source materials for this topic

Bates, T. Technology in open learning and distance education: a guide for decision-makers. Vancouver: The Commonwealth of Learning and The Open Learning Agency, 1991.

Bates, T. Technology, open learning, and distance education. London: Routledge, 1995.

Mason, Robin. Using communications media in open and flexible learning. London: Kogan Page, 1994.

Rowntree, D. Preparing materials for open, distance, and flexible learning. London: Kogan Page, 1994.

 2. Technologies used in open and distance learning 

The number of new technologies introduced into open and distance learning and open learning over the last ten years or so has expanded rapidly. These technologies now include:

·       print (mechanical and electronic publishing);

·       radio (one-way, interactive, and two-way);

·       audio cassettes;

·       telephone teaching, including audio conferencing;

·       television (broadcast, satellite, and cable);

·       video cassettes;

·       video conferencing;

·       computer-mediated communication;

·       computer-based learning; and

·       multimedia.

2.1 Print

Despite the enormous range of media from which distance educators have to choose, print continues to be the most frequently chosen medium for open and distance learning programmes. Why this predominant position?

Here are some possible reasons:

·         Print is less costly to produce than most other media.

·         Print requires less time to produce than most other media.

·         Print materials are highly portable.

·         Print materials require no other device to read them.

·         Print materials can be accessed in any order desired.

·         Print materials can be read at a pace determined by the reader.

·         Print materials can be annotated by the reader.

There are, of course, things books cannot do, which is why distance educators wherever possible tend to integrate other media with print.

Discussion: Ask your participants to provide examples of the kinds of teaching tasks that books and other print materials are not able to perform, such as teaching comprehension and speaking skills in a foreign language, or providing examples of performance in drama, music, or dance.

2.2 Radio

·       Radio has proven to be a cost effective medium for education.

·       Most radio is one-way transmission. Examples of two-way radio for education do exist, however.

Examples: The well-known outback schools in Australia linked learners and teacher by radio transceivers. See the case study provided with this kit for the Open Access College in Australia, which is still serving this population with high-frequency radio links.

Interactive Radio Instruction (iri) broadcasts incorporate teacher-led activities with children in the classroom.

Wawatay Communications in northern Ontario, Canada, broadcasts secondary-level course programming to learners in isolated aboriginal communities who listen to the broadcasts while following along with their print materials, and can ask questions of the radio instructor on air by telephone.

·       Radio programmes can be expensive to develop, but are cost effective if spread over large enough listening audiences.

·       Radio requires adequate transmission and reception, power supply, and air-time.

·       Radio is most effective when integrated with print and tutorials.

Example: Radio ecca in Spain (headquartered in the Canary Islands) and radio schools throughout Latin America employ an effective three-cornered educational format, consisting of regularly scheduled radio broadcasts, printed workbooks and other materials, and weekly, community-based, face-to-face tutorials.

2.3 Audio cassettes

·       Audio cassettes are an easy medium to work with, in that they do not inhibit or intrude upon the learning process.

·       Cassettes are convenient. They allow learners to choose where and when they will listen.

·       Learners can match their listening to their own learning pace.

·       Cassette recordings should be designed in a way that takes advantage of the human voice, its modulation, stress, inflection, humour, and sense of ‘presence’.

·       Cassettes are most effective when integrated with print and other media, especially a guide that outlines the topic and contents of the taped programme.

Example: Audio taped lessons can help learners develop note-taking skills. The audio teacher demonstrates, the learner shuts off the tape and practises the skill, and then turns the tape back on to listen to the feedback provided by the teacher.

·      Audio lessons are a central part of second-language learning in many open and distance learning programmes.

Example: See the case study in this kit for the University of Guyana, Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, as an example of an institution that uses audio cassettes as part of its learning materials packages.

2.4 Telephone

Use of the telephone in distance teaching takes two main forms:

·      one-on-one telephone tutorials; and

·      audio conferences that link learners at several sites with each other and with an instructor who may be at any of the sites.

Audiographics technologies add a visual component and a focal point to audio conference sessions, using equipment that is provided at each site. This equipment may consist of items such as:

·      computers;

·      electronic whiteboards;

·      graphics tablets; and

·      light pens for writing to computer screens, tablets, or whiteboards.

This equipment is relatively easy to use and operate. It is only as good as the audio link, however, and relies on good telecommunication infrastructure.

The telephone is not recommended for lectures, or for any monologue-type delivery that lasts for more than 10 to 15 minutes.

Example: See the case studies in this kit for the Open Access College in Australia, the University of Guyana, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University for examples of institutions that use audio teleconferencing in their programmes.

2.5 Television

·       Educational television can be delivered via:

broadcasts;

satellite feed; and

cable feed.

·       Satellite and cable programming can also incorporate interactive elements, such as linking classrooms via video and audio or via one-way video, two-way audio, in which learners watching the programme can ask questions on air by telephone.

·       When appropriately designed, educational television programming takes full advantage of all aspects of the medium: sound, motion, text, and colour.

·       High-quality programming is expensive to develop and requires a large listening audience to make it cost effective.

·       Educational uses of television tend to take second place to entertainment uses. Broadcast slots tend to be at times inconvenient to learners, such as early in the morning or late at night.

·       Broadcasts should always be accompanied by print-based topic outlines to guide and focus learners’ attention and reduce the need for them to divide their attention between viewing and note-taking.

Example: See the case study included in this kit for the Indira Gandhi National Open University, as an example of an institution that uses television extensively in its programming.

2.6 Video cassettes

·       As with audio cassettes, video cassettes are easy to use and are under the learner’s control in terms of pace and place of use.

·       Learners with access to video recording equipment tend to record the educational broadcasts that are part of their learning package and watch them at their convenience.

·       Most educational programmes that incorporate television into their learning packages make cassettes available to learners who cannot receive the broadcasts.

·       Video cassettes, like broadcasts, should always be accompanied by print-based topic outlines to guide and focus learners’ attention and reduce the need for them to divide their attention between viewing and note-taking.

2.7 Video conferencing

·       Video conferencing takes the linking of classrooms one step further by compressing the video signal so that it can be transmitted over telephone lines.

·       In this way learners at a number of sites can be linked via close-to-full motion video (transmission is usually slightly delayed).

·       Video conferencing comes closest to replicating the classroom setting at a distance.

·       It is also the most expensive conferencing medium, and is most effectively used when the learning situation requires full-motion, synchronous visuals with accompanying audio.

·       Video conferencing like audio conferencing relies on a good telecommunications infrastructure.

Example: Learners in a number of colleges in East Anglia are studying massage therapy at a distance via video conferencing.

Four university campuses in Romania are linked via video conferencing to provide professional development for physicians in the latest developments in diagnosis and treatment of a variety of medical conditions.

The Indira Gandhi National Open uses one-way video with two-way audio. See the case study included in this kit for a description.

2.8 Computer-mediated communication

·       Computer-mediated communication for education involves primarily electronic mail, computer conferencing, and access to the resources of the World Wide Web.

·       Increasingly learning via computer-mediated communication, or cmc, is coming to be labelled ‘networked learning’.

·       Electronic mail (e-mail) replaces the telephone and post as a means of connecting learners and teachers.

·       Computer conferencing is a basically a sophisticated and dedicated e-mail system that links learners together with each other and with tutors or instructors to share information and discuss issues arising from the learning materials, along with capabilities such as archiving, keyword searching, tracking of messages, and so on.

·       Computer conference participants can read others’ contributions and make their own contributions at their own pace and place, without the need to travel to a learning centre. This assumes that they have the appropriate computer hardware, including modem and Internet connection, and software.

·       Since computer conference communication is text-based, learners need relatively sophisticated skills in reading and writing, as well as in computer-mediated communication skills such as uploading and downloading messages.

·       Like the other telecommunications-based technologies, computer conferencing relies on a solid infrastructure, not of telephone lines alone but preferably of high-speed lines that can provide fast and reliable Internet connectivity.

Example: See the case studies in this kit for Deakin University, which is creating ‘electronic communities’ using e-mail and computer conferencing, and for Murdoch University, which is integrating telecommunications media into all its programming.

2.9 Computer-based learning

·       Computer-based learning (cbl) is a generic term for the various kinds of stand-alone, that is., non-networked, learning applications that involve computer software.

Examples: Athabasca University in Canada has developed computer-assisted learning packages to provide learners with extra information, as well as drill and practice in English grammar and word usage skills.

The Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand has a range of computer-based learning packages available in topic-specific areas such as the circulatory and respiratory systems.

·       Computer-based learning packages that are effective learning tools and that take full advantage of the text, graphics, and animation capabilities of the authoring software now available are relatively expensive to design, and need to be used by a large number of learners to make them cost-effective.

2.10 Multimedia

·       Multimedia learning technologies involve the whole range of audio, visual, text, and graphics media available, integrated into a package that has been effectively designed from an instructional point of view.

Example: A learning package might include a computer-based learning platform and a cd-rom that provides full-motion video and high fidelity sound clips along with text and graphics.

Learners with full access to the World Wide Web can take advantage of the entire range of audio, video, text, graphics, and database information that is being made available via this medium. See the case study included in this pack for the Open Learning and Information Network in Canada, which is using the World Wide Web for its programming.

 3. A model for choosing appropriate technologies and media 

The salient factors to be considered when deciding on the use of technology for teaching can be summarised in the simple acronym actions (Bates 1991):

The actions Model for Selecting Media

A	Access	Where will learners learn — at home, at work, at local centres? ‘A’ also stands for ‘availability’ and ‘affordability’.
C	Costs	What are the capital and recurrent costs? Which costs are fixed and variable?
T	Teaching functions	What are the presentational requirements of the subject? What teaching and learning approaches are required?
I	Interaction and user-friendliness	Do learners and teachers require a great deal of training to use this technology?
O	Organisation	What changes in organisation will be required to facilitate the use of a particular technology?
N	Novelty	To what extent will the ‘trendiness’ of this technology stimulate funding and innovation? To what extent will use of this technology enhance learner interest and motivation?
S	Speed	How quickly and easily can material be updated and changed? How quickly can new courses be produced using this technology?

3.1 Access

Factors to be considered when evaluating access include the following.

·       Who is the target group? Who are the priority target groups to be served?

learners denied access to conventional institutions?

disadvantaged or equity groups?

the unemployed?

the working poor?

workers needing upgrading or further qualifications?

·       What is the most appropriate location for this learning? For example,

at home?

in a local centre dedicated to open learning?

at a local public education institution that shares its facilities?

at work?

·       Which technologies do learners have available to them?

·       What proportion of potential learners have access to a particular technology?

·       If you make the use of a particular technology optional for learners, is it worth using at all?

3.2 Costs

Some important distinctions to be made between and among the various technologies available in terms of their costs.

What are the capital costs?

Television and computing, for example, require high initial capital expenditure — a computing network or mainframe, a television studio and equipment.

What are the recurrent costs?

Television, for example, also has high recurrent costs because of the production staff needed to operate the capital equipment.

What are the fixed production costs?

Fixed costs for producing one hour of teaching material have been estimated as follows:

·      face-to-face lecture                                                          1 unit

·      audio cassette/radio/teleconference                                   2 units

·      televised lecture                                                                2 to 5 units

·      computer-mediated communication                        2 to 5 units

·      print                                                             2 to 10 units

·      high-quality television programme                   20 to 50 units

·      pre-programmed computer based learning                        20 to 50 units

·      computer-controlled video disc                                 50 to 100 units

Will there be large numbers of enrolments over which to spread any high fixed costs?

Can the materials be used for a number of years, thereby spreading the costs?

What are the variable costs?

For example, if audio cassettes are used, then the delivery costs vary in direct proportion to the number of students.

Technologies vary considerably in their fixed and variable costs:

·      audio cassettes and radio have low fixed and low variable costs;

·      face-to-face teaching, computer-mediated communication and tutor-mediated courses have low fixed costs but high variable costs;

·      good quality broadcast television has high fixed costs and low variable costs; and

·      pre-programmed computer-based learning and video discs have both high fixed and high variable costs, if work stations are to be provided.

Some of the newer interactive technologies such as computer conferencing and audiographics reduce fixed costs but have high variable costs, which make them suitable only for courses with relatively low student numbers.

Broadcast distribution is likely to be uneconomical for national distribution with less than 500 students per course for radio or less than 1,000 students per course for television.

3.3 Teaching functions

Media differ in the extent to which they can represent different kinds of knowledge. Most media can handle abstract knowledge, but some such as television are excellent for representing concrete knowledge. The representational possibilities of a medium like television are particularly important for non-academic learners, who often require concrete examples or demonstration rather than abstract theory. However, this form of television — which is symbolically very rich — is much more expensive to produce than televised lectures, which can be equalled symbolically by audio plus printed notes.

Media also differ in the extent to which they can help develop different skills. This is related to the control characteristics and the representational features of the medium. For example, computers are excellent for presenting and testing rule-based procedures, or areas of abstract knowledge in which answers are clearly correct.

Course designers, therefore, need a good understanding of what is required to teach a particular subject, and knowledge of the pedagogic strengths and weaknesses of the different media.

The following chart suggests which of the more common media might best enable your learners to perform a given learning task (adapted from D. Rowntree, Preparing materials for open, distance, and flexible learning (1994)).

Which Media Might Best Accomplish Which Learning Goals?

Task	Print	Audio	Video	CAL	Multimedia	Computer conference	Lecture	Face-to-face	Phone
Provide a carefully argued analysis	x	x					x
Convey sights, sounds, and spirit of the subject		x	x		x
Build learners’ ideas into the teaching						x		x	x
Ask learners to answer questions about subject	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x
Enable learners to try things out, physically								x
Ensure learners get physical feedback from real world								x
Give learners standardised verbal feedback	x	x			x
Give each learner unique, personalised feedback						x		x	x
Continuously alter teaching to suit each learner’s needs								x	x
Provide learners with a record of the learning experience	x					x

3.4 Interaction, user-friendliness, and control

Learners have much more control over permanent technologies such as books, cassettes, and computers than over ephemeral technologies such as lectures or broadcasts. This control enables learning from media to be much more effective.

Interactivity is the learner’s ability to respond in some way to the teaching material, and obtain comment or feedback on the response — considerably increases learning effectiveness. There are two kinds of interactivity:

·         learning material interactivity: learners’ interaction with the medium; the level and the immediacy of feedback the medium itself provides; the extent to which the medium will accommodate learners’ own input and direction; and

·         social interactivity: learners’ interaction with teachers and with each other via the medium.

The following table categorises different media used in open and distance learning according to whether they offer one-way or two-way communication; that is, social interactivity.

Media Categorised as One-Way or Two-Way Communication

	Audio	Radio	Video	Television	Computers
One-way	Cassettes	Educational radio	Cassettes	Educational television	Games
	Audiovision	Interactive radio instruction	Clubs		Computer-assisted learning
					Web based instruction
					Databases
					Bulletin boards
Two-way	Telephone tutoring	Two-way instructional radio		Video conference	Computer conference
	Audio conference			Interactive television	Computer- mediated communication
	Audio- graphics

3.5 Organisational issues

The existing technological infrastructure within a country or an institution is a major factor in influencing media selection. For example, if an existing broadcast network is under-used, it is much easier to introduce television for open and distance learning purposes.

On the other hand, the need to exploit an existing technology can also be a very conservative influence on media choice.

Existing funding arrangements for course production are another important factor. For example, it is often difficult to shift funds from existing, ‘traditional’ technologies to newer technologies, because of the threat to existing budgets and power bases.

Innovation in this area depends essentially on ‘champions for change’ at a high level, such as that of vice-chancellor or dean. However, those in influential positions may sometimes champion a technology because it is new or ‘leading edge’ even though it may not be an appropriate choice for the programme in question.

3.6 Novelty

Caution is well-advised if the pressure to use new media comes from a desire for novelty or status. For example, audio cassettes combined with print can be a very low-cost and effective medium, but it is often easier to get funding for new uses of technology because they are more spectacular.

Novelty may be an important criterion in a highly competitive market, however. The fact that your programme looks ‘leading edge’ because it is using the latest in multimedia technology may make it more attractive to learners who have a choice between your programme and several others that use only one or two more ‘traditional’ media.

3.7 Speed

Open and distance learning programmes are plagued by the problem of time, specifically:

·       the time it takes to produce a course; and

·       the time a course must continue to be offered without changes once it is produced.

In some subject areas, such as public policy or information technology, courses need to be put on quickly and easily updated. Electronic publishing can enable relatively minor changes to be made, but the initial design process is still time consuming.

Some of the more interactive technologies such as audio conferencing and computer conferencing do allow for a quick development of a course and continuous updating.

 4. General points about technology in teaching 

A number of generalisations can be made about using technologies in teaching.

·       Media are flexible: what can be achieved educationally through one medium can usually be achieved through any other medium given enough imagination, time, and resources.

·       Professional production and design are important: each medium has its own aesthetic, and a different range of production skills necessary to exploit its unique features.

·       There is no ‘super-medium’: all technologies have their strengths and weaknesses.

·       Good teaching is important: effective instructional design applies to the use of any medium for teaching.

·       Balance variety with economy: the aim should be to use a limited range of media to maximise learning effectiveness, minimise cost, and a balance of both by convenience and ease of use to both learner and teacher.

Discussion: Take advantage of the wealth of examples available both from your own and your participants’ experience. In addition, have on hand as many examples of the various technologies as are available to you, to share with participants.

 

 5. Media choice checklist 

Once you have provisionally selected the media you wish to use, ask yourself the questions in the media choice checklist.

Media Choice Checklist

q       Have you been able to argue a convincing case for your choice of media?

q       Have you considered how media might be combined? For example, print plus audio or class sessions with pre-read material.

q       Do you have the expertise to make worthwhile use of your chosen media? If not, how soon can you develop it?

q       Will you have enough personal control over your media? Or will you have to depend on media professionals?

q       Will your learners be able to use your chosen media conveniently and without undue cost to themselves?

q       Will your learners have positive feelings about your chosen media, and do they have the learning skills to use them?

q       If you plan to use non-print media, have you considered how print material might be used in support?

q       If you plan to use ‘human media’ (for example, tutors or mentors), are you confident that suitable people will be available and willing to help?

q       If you plan to have your learners do practical work, carry out workplace activities, or pursue projects, can you ensure that they do so safely, conveniently, and effectively?

q       Will your choice of media not require you to cut back on some other, more desirable, aspect of what you might provide for learners?

q       Have you managed to avoid the following:

-        deciding on a medium before you have thought through your learners’ needs and the content of the teaching?

-        using a medium because it is available or urged upon you by someone else?

-        choosing a high-tech medium in the belief that it will automatically be more effective than a simpler one?

 

 6. Practice exercise 

6.1 The Legoâ block version of communicating for learning without visual cues

Instructions:

·       Divide your participants into pairs.

·       Ask each pair to sit with their backs to each other, so they cannot see each other.

·       Designate one member of each pair the ‘teacher’ and the other the ‘learner’.

·       Provide each pair with identical sets of blocks (about ten blocks per set is usually sufficient).

·       The ‘teacher’ of each pair is to construct something using all the bricks he or she has been given, at the same time ‘teaching’ the ‘learner’ how to do it. In other words, as the teacher builds a structure, he or she instructs the learner step-by-step how to build the identical structure.

·       Give each pair time to complete their task; about fifteen minutes is usually ample time.

·       Then ask each pair to compare the structures they have constructed.

·       Debrief by having the group as a whole describe and discuss what they learned about communicating for instruction without visual cues. What strategies work? What strategies do not work?

·       The game can be repeated, giving each pair a different set of blocks than they had initially, and asking them to switch ‘teacher–learner’ roles. This time you give them different instructions: only the teacher may talk; the learner may not ask questions or make comments. This task simulates the kind of instruction that happens by radio.

Timeframe: Allow one hour.

Materials: Legoâ bricks.

6.2 The paper and pencil version of communicating for learning without visual cues

Instructions:

·       Divide your participants into pairs.

·       Ask each pair to sit with their backs to each other, so they cannot see each other.

·       Designate one member of each pair the ‘teacher’ and the other the ‘learner’.

·       Provide the ‘teacher’ of each pair with a photocopy of a sketch of some kind. Some complex geometric shape that is not easily labelled usually works well. Give the ‘learner’ of each pair a piece of paper and a pencil.

·       The ‘teacher’ of each pair is to teach the ‘learner’ how to draw the sketch, without the ‘learner’ being able to see the original at any time.

·       Give each pair time to complete their task; about fifteen minutes is usually ample time.

·       Then ask each pair to compare the results, both with the original and with each other.

·       Debrief by having the group as a whole describe and discuss what they learned about communicating for instruction without visual cues. What strategies work? What strategies do not work?

·       The game can be repeated, giving each pair a different sketch than they had initially, and asking them to switch ‘teacher–learner’ roles. This time you can also give them different instructions: only the teacher may talk; the learner may not ask questions or make comments. This task simulates the kind of instruction that happens by radio.

Timeframe: Allow one hour.

Materials: Photocopied sketches with paper and pencils.