I enjoyed chapter 30 Using Rich Media Wisely. The first bit of new learning was that I learned what Rich Media was. Now I can converse in geek-speech and sound informed. I like informed.
In this chapter the scientist in me definitely stepped up to the plate. I will be looking up more of the specifications on the studies in this chapter to find out sample size, age of the participants and other relevant information.
For my first take away, age of the participant came to mind as I was reading the section on Minimizing Irrelevant Audio,pg 318. This came to mind as my 16 year old daughter sat at the computer with her headphones plugged in, itunes playing, as she flipped back and forth between facebook and a summer homework paper writing project for an AP English Class. Facebook is open because friends were also working on the same school project. Mom facebook is not just for fun, jeez. She got a A on the paper. It made me wonder if audio overload applied mainly on the initial introduction to material or did it carry over to the output of prior knowledge.(i.e. writing a review on a book ). I think it is a study that I would like to run to try and either validate or invalidate the need for students to have music playing while they study or not have music playing while they study. It is a struggle that has moved down through the generations.
For my second take away,I do agree that visuals to support written text, greatly improve the learning and retention of materials especially in low learners. I have used (and will continue to use) visual aids in biology and chemistry classes to aid in the learning process. There are quite a few programs and online sites that provide excellent microscope pictures some with video of microscopic creatures that can sometimes be hard to capture under a microscope in class. It is always easier to remember that a cyanospirobacteria is blue and spirally when you can see that under the microscope he really is blue and shaped like a spiral. Wow, how cool is that?
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We all have the same amount of hours in a day. It's what we do with them that sets us apart.
2 comments:
I used to always listen to the same CD when I wrote papers for my undergrad. The other day on Facebook one of my "freinds" posted they were watching a movie, writing a paper for a grad class, and checking facebook. Someone asked how they could do all this and they said it just worked. I'd be interested in what age the people are too. It is all very interesting.
I think it was easier for me when I was younger to have music or television while I was reading or writing. Now I prefer to work on papers late at night when it is absolutely silent in my house. I've heard before that playing classical music has some kind of benefit, but I would have to look to see if there was adequate research to support that theory. Maybe it helps drown out other distracting noises.
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