Managing a Multimedia Learning Environment - Essay Example

Managing a multimedia learning environment Submitted Submitted by: Table of Contents Serial number Topic Page number Introduction 2 Aimof the laboratory 1 3 Behavioral objectives for one day instruction 1 4 Methods of teaching 2 5 Instructional technologies 3 6 Layout/sitting arrangement of the laboratory 3 7 Resources required for the laboratory 4 8 Buying the equipment 6 9 Setting up a network 6 10 Maintaining and supervising the laboratory 7 11 Appendix A 8 12 Appendix B 9 13 List of references 11 MANAGING A MULTIMEDIA LEARNING ENVIRONMENT INTRODUCTION This paper seeks to provide a written plan for equipping the instructional laboratory at (write the name of your university) University. Doing so on an urgent basis is extremely important to bring the laboratory in an operational and functional condition. This laboratory will not only make the instructors’ task of teaching very easy and straight forward but also benefit the students by opening new, modern ways of learning. This multimedia learning environment will allow them to experience the learning process in ad different but enriching way which will surely prove to be highly beneficial for them, the instructors and the university as a whole. AIM OF THE LABORATORY The general aim of this laboratory will be to assist the instructors in explaining concepts to the students that are difficult to explain in a simple classroom. The multimedia environment will enable them to make use of a vast variety of technological resources, equipment and modern marvels to instill concepts into the students’ minds. Concepts learnt this way are sure to stay in the minds for a long time! BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES FOR ONE DAY INSTRUCTION The behavioral objectives will include completing the chapter or lesson that was started and completing it in such a way that the concepts are implanted into the students’ minds. In addition, the instructor will also want to clarify any queries or misunderstandings that evolve as the lesson progresses. Achieving these objectives in a one day instruction would be a great milestone for the instructor although achieving them was made possible because of the laboratory. METHODS OF TEACHING The instructors can make use of several methods of teaching in this instructional laboratory. However, the most preferred would be the use of multimedia presentations whereby the instructor can use the multimedia screen to make the concepts clearly visible to the students. It is an easy way of teaching since it allows the instructor to look at his own workstation where the presentation is open and explain it to the students simultaneously who can view the same presentation from the multimedia screen. The instructor can also point out difficult concepts, charts, diagrams, etc. onto the screen. This session can also be made interactive by allowing the students to participate in the explanation. The instructor can invite students to explain certain portions of the presentation and they can do so easily using the multimedia screen. Another method of teaching to use can be making a file shareable across all workstations. The instructor can then read out the concepts in that file from his server while the students can follow the same thing from their workstations since the file is accessible on all workstations. The instructor can also ask students to give their own points of view and read our portions they do not understand, thereby making the session highly interactive. INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Any instructional session will make use of several instructional technologies such as a microphone, multimedia screen, projector, etc. The microphone will allow the instructor to make his/her voice audible to the students. This is important so that students seated at the far ends can easily keep track of what is going on. The multi media screen is highly essential for delivering lectures that are prepared on slides using softwares such as Microsoft Power Point. A projector may also be useful if certain lectures are prepared on transparencies. It is also a strong back up in cases when the multimedia fails or there is a power shut down. However, whenever this is not the case, a multimedia presentation will always be preferred over the one using a projector because the slides prepared are of a far better quality, clearer, colored and thus, interesting and eye catching than the black and white ones on a projector. Making interesting slides that keep the students’ attention is very important for an instructor to achieve the desired goal of imparting knowledge and producing talented, polished individuals. LAYOUT/SITTING ARRANGEMENT OF THE LABORATORY The seating arrangement of the laboratory should be planned out in such a way so that all students can actively participate in the teacher’s lectures. Moreover, the sitting arrangement should allow the teacher to keep track of every student; who is doing what to be able to catch inattentive students. The layout will be such that the teacher’s desk containing the main server will come at the centre with the 25 workstations on both sides, few to the left and few to the right. Some will also be placed in the same line as the teacher’s desk. The seating arrangement has been kept such because it is very important for the screens of these workstations to be visible to the instructor so that he can ensure that the students are only doing what has been assigned and not indulging in playing games, chatting, etc. In front of the teacher’s desk will be the soft board and the multimedia screen. A pictorial illustration of this seating arrangement is attached in Appendix A. RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE LABORATORY Furniture Furniture that is required in this case includes chairs, tables to place the workstations on, a special table for the teacher that will contain the main server and a desk perhaps to keep the materials and accessories for the laboratory. Technological Resources/ Equipment Technological resources include the main server for the instructor, 25 workstations (1 for each student), multimedia screen, projector, microphone, soft board, fine quality printer and scanner. Workstations: The workstations will each have Microsoft windows XP installed on them with specifications that result in fast and efficient performance. These include Intel 1.86GHz Processor, a 40 GB hard drive, 256 MB RAM, 19" flat-screen monitor, USB flash drive, CD read/write and a floppy drive that is optional. The workstation will have all the desired softwares installed on them including anti virus softwares. A list of such softwares will be provided by the instructor. Privileges will be granted to the users as desired by the lab operator and instructor. Main server: The main server will have the Microsoft windows XP Server operating system installed on it. This server will act as the central force that connects all the workstations attached to it. Therefore, its specifications will need to be higher. It will have Intel 3.0 GHz Processor, 160 GB hard drive, 1.0 GB RAM, 19" flat-screen monitor, USB flash drive, CD read/write and a floppy drive that is optional. The server should have extremely powerful processing capabilities, virus protection softwares, back up plans, etc. since it is the backbone of the entire laboratory and any breakdown will therefore, be not affordable. The server will only be operated by the teacher or lab in charge. No student has the permission to access it until instructed by the teacher under special circumstances. Printer: A fine quality printer will be required so that students can print their assignments, notes, etc. The printer will be an HP laser printer with high resolution and speed, enabling students to print high quality documents at a fast speed. This printer can be accessed from any workstation since all are connected to it. Scanner: A good quality scanner may also be needed for scanning certain documents. For example, students may make use of additional resources in their assignments that they may wish to attach as an appendix. These additional resources can be scanned and hence, appended. Network adapter cards: Network adapter cards will be needed for each workstation and the server so that the physical connection between then is established (Doyle, 1999). Fiber optic cable: This will be needed to connect the workstations with each other and the server (Craig, 2002). Office Supplies To run the lab, office supplies and materials such as markers, writing pads, staplers, pens, floppies, Cds, USBs and printer pages will be needed. The printer pages must be thick, pure white and of a fine quality. The USBs can be of 128 MB to meet the minimum requirements. BUYING THE EQUIPMENT All the above resources have been purchased using a budget of $100000. The purchases have been prioritized, i.e., the basic items required to make the lab operational have been given the foremost priority. These include the workstations, server, chairs and tables. Additional items such as printer and scanner have been purchased from the budget that was left over. The allocation of the budget to all the above resources can be viewed in Appendix B in significant detail. SETTING UP A NETWORK Connecting all the above will require a mechanism. This mechanism is called a “network”. In this case, a local area network will have to be set up that will allow the workstations to communicate with the server, printer, and scanner as well as with each other. This will be done by connecting the workstations with the server and each other using appropriate wiring such as coaxial, fiber optic or twisted pair cable (Microsoft Press, 1999). Setting up a LAN is very important here because only then the workstations will be able to share data among themselves and with the server if granted rights. This can be very helpful if the teacher wants to share a certain document with the students. The teacher can make this document shareable and in this way, students can view it on their workstations (Wagner, 2000). The network will also allow the workstations to share resources such as printer and scanner meaning that all of them can access the same printer and scanner. This is only made possible with a LAN (Tannenbaum, 2003). MAINTAINING AND SUPERVISING THE LABORATORY Once the lab has been brought into a functional and operational condition, maintaining and supervising it efficiently is very important. Else, it may fail to deliver its desired purpose for which it was built. It is important for the lab to continue providing with the students with easy and modern ways of learning and the instructors with easy and modern ways of teaching. Therefore, a person with technical knowledge of the equipment must be hired as the lab operator. This individual will be responsible for keeping the lab in a good, working condition and repairing any items that are damaged. If the workstations are infected with viruses, they should be removed using appropriate anti virus softwares. The printer and scanner should also be repaired if problems arise. If the multimedia fails to work, projector must be used as a backup. However, later on it must be brought into a working condition. The furniture must also be well looked after and the students reminded of keeping it clean and free of any pen marks or dents. Besides the lab operator, the instructors and the students also have a responsibility towards the maintenance and supervision of their laboratory. Care by all of them will result in as few problems and repairs as possible. APPENDIX A THE LAYOUT OF THE LABORATORY APPENDIX B BUDGET Server ------------------------------- $ 1500 Workstations (25 @ $ 570 each)-$ 14250 Chairs (26 @ $ 30 each) ----------$ 780 Tables (26 @ $ 50 each) --------- $ 1300 Multimedia -------------------------$ 1500 Projector-----------------------------$ 500 Network adapter cards------------ $ 5000 Fiber optic cable------------------- $5000 Office supplies--------------------- $1000 Soft board---------------------------$ 300 Microphone-------------------------$ 500 Printer-------------------------------$ 1450 Scanner-----------------------------$ 1300 Hub--------------------------------- $ 230 Total-------------------------------$ 34610 PICTURES OF THE EQUIPMENT BOUGHT Chair Workstation Desk Scanner Hub Printer Fiber optic cable Multimedia screen LIST OF REFERENCES 1. Doyle, Stephen (1999). Information Systems for you. New York: Citadel Press 2. Hunt, Craig. (2002). TCP/IP network administration. O Reilly 3. (1999) Networking essentials. Microsoft Press 4. Tannenbaum, Andrew S. (2003). Computer networks. Prentice Hall, Inc. 5. Wagner, Bill (2000). The complete idiot’s guide to networking. Alpha Books. Read More