The Role of Mass Media in the Promotion of Higher Education - Report Example

30 March Research Report a) The study has attempted to evaluate the role of mass media in the promotion of higher education and to examine the validity of the notion that mass media encourages violence in the younger generations including students. The research has been based on primary data collection through a questionnaire sent to five academicians and 10 university students for ascertaining their opinion about the role of mass media in promoting higher education and to determine the extent to which they employ it in the education system in their universities/use it in the learning process. Though personal interviews were proposed at the stage of submission of the proposal, this could not be done due to paucity of time as well as due to lack of consent from the concerned people. In addition, secondary data has been collected by means of a review of relevant literature published on the topic in the recent years. The study has revealed that mass media has to play a crucial role in promoting higher education among university students, especially through advanced technologies. Mass media such as TV and electronic and digital media including video etc enables the delivery of lectures to distant locations in a fast, easy and cost effective manner. In addition, the study has indicated that mass media offers a wide range of tools that makes the learning of complex concepts easy for the students pursuing higher studies. It has further challenged the notion that mass media encourages violence in students and finds that other problems such as drug and alcohol abuse are the major contributors to the tendency of violence in students and the mass media cannot be blamed for this trend. The findings from the study are significant as it will help professionals in the academic field to use the potential of mass media for the promotion of higher studies among students who pursue different courses in the universities. In addition, the research also will help in creating awareness in students of the possibilities of mass media in making the learning process easier for them. b) Restatement of Research Questions/Hypothesis: The research has considered the following research questions/hypotheses in determining the scope of the study: Research Questions: i) Why Mass Media is important in higher education? ii) What influence Mass Media has on higher education? iii) What negative impacts Mass Media has on youngsters? iv) Is Mass Media to be blamed for violence and crime by youngsters? Hypotheses: H-1: Mass Communication Media exercises a positive influence on youngsters, especially in the context of higher education. H-2: The concerns about media on violence and crime are misplaced and a panicky reaction to the media. c) Outline of Methodology: i) Participants/Sample: The sample population consisted of five university professors and 10 students pursuing higher studies. ii) Method Choice/Materials: The method of sending questionnaires through e-mail has been chosen because it offers a means to obtain information in a cheap, easy and quick manner. Hence the materials used have included a computer, internet connection and a cell phone. For secondary data collection also, computer and internet have been used apart from journals from the library. iii) Process/Procedure: Questionnaires have been sent to them through e-mail after contacting them over telephone and confirming their willingness to take part in the survey. The sample populations have been provided 10 days time to send their responses. All of them have responded within the given time and replied to all the questions in the survey. In addition, the researcher has undertaken a literature review of recent articles on the topic, published in recent publications to obtain the relevant information. iv) Data Analysis: Since the data obtained has been small and compact, no statistical tools have been used for the data analysis and the process has been done through tabulating the information. d) Presentation of Findings: i) Quantitative: The study has not envisaged the collection of quantitative data due to the nature of study being qualitative. Therefore, no quantitative data has been obtained for the purpose of this study. ii) Qualitative: 1. Theme A: Mass Media Promotes Higher Education Four of the professors have agreed that media plays a significant role in the promotion of higher studies. They also have stated that their universities use video, internet, TV etc to deliver study materials and lectures to their students. On the other hand, all the students who participated in the study have stated that they use TV, internet, videos etc as learning tools. In addition, they also have agreed to the fact that the media helps them to understand complex concepts easily. Studies by Tiwari (2013) find that the rapid developments in the technological front have enabled various capabilities in mass media which has contributed to the acceleration of “development in higher education” (206). Citing the example of India, a country in the developing stage, the author argues that their national policy of education (NPE) has laid emphasis on the “transfer of information” through media such as TV, radio, computers etc (196). One of the main advantages of mass media in promoting education is that it offers “adaptability” to individual students to incorporate their styles into the learning process as opposed to the other platforms (196). For example, a slow learning student can record a lecture broadcast on TV or radio and listen to it over and over again, while a fast learner can move on to the next discourse. Similarly, large volumes of study materials can be distributed to students “over distances” in a quick and cost effective manner, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods as postal services that consume time and higher expenses (196). Thus, modern media technology provides the platform to access lecture deliveries and study materials from any location across the world in a cheap, easy and fast manner. Similar views, which substantiate the aforesaid contentions, have also been proposed by a study by Kakade and Raut (2012) who find that mass media is a predominant agent of social change and the media such as newspapers, radio, TV as well as the internet can be “powerful medium” in education by offering a wide range of teaching and learning tools (11). The authors further delineate two ends in the process of education through media such as “source end and receiving end” which encompass the producers of media programs and their consumers including teachers and students (13). However, they point to the fact that the response to such programs has been found to be extremely lukewarm and the “under utilization” rather occurs at the behest of users than as a result of lack of media involvement (13). Therefore, it appears that though the media produces various programs and actively participates in the promotion of education, the student community seldom accesses it due to lack of awareness. Evidence further suggests that education through digital media has potential to facilitate “knowledge construction” and it enables students to understand complex domains and issues in a better way than traditional methods (Collins, Neville and Bielaczye 159). The authors further contend that the advent of modern communication technologies such as TV, internet and digital media has facilitated the merging of a single “large network,” which enables students to access information from any location in the world (145). Thus, a student pursuing higher education in a country that is that lacks learning resources can access such materials available in another nation through internet, video files or other digital means. This will facilitate the promotion of higher studies in all nations across the world in a cheap, easy and quick manner. The study has also established that media has to play a significant role in promoting knowledge about various cultures and traditions across the world through the visual presentation of information. It further transpires that the role of media in modern day does not merely confine to providing knowledge to students but also extends to informing the teachers so that they know the significance of equal education and understand the backgrounds of diverse group of students and “interact more appropriately with them” (Kulbrandstadt 4). On the other hand, studies also show that distance education, which is a challenge for students in the normal circumstances where the study materials are being sent by post, can be easy and interesting by “using a combination of media” (Ponmeni 91). Thus, the range of literature reviewed has shown that the mass media has considerable positive impact on higher education. In addition to being instrumental in the matters of academic value, mass media also has the potential to educate students about various cultural and other aspects of people across the world. In an environment where diversity has become a dominant feature in nations across the world, the traditional system of learning merely through textbooks has rather become obsolete and students will have to rely on various media resources to get the knowledge that can equip them in a highly competitive world. Therefore, rather than debating on the possible negative impacts of the mass media, the modern society should recognize various positive aspects of this resource and garner its potential to the best advantage of the upcoming generations. 2. Theme B: Does Mass Media Encourage Violence The study by Hopf, Huber and Wei (2008) confirms that frequent exposure to media violence can contribute to the development of “antisocial behavior” in the students, if parental monitoring and regulations are absent (93). Similarly, another study by Anderson and Gentile (2008) also corroborates the facts that there is a need for better awareness of media’s role in encouraging violence in youngsters and that the aspect of exposure to media violence has become “severe enough” to call for immediate action (297). e) Conclusion: i) Summary of Research: From the response of the sample population comprising five university professors it has amply become clear that mass media plays a significant role in promoting higher education. On the other hand, the sample population of 10 students also confirm this view and further suggest that media makes the learning process easy for them. Similarly, the information forthcoming from various research studies evaluated during the process of this research also confirm the fact that mass media is a significant tool in promoting higher education among university students. In addition, the literature also establishes the fact that mass media makes learning processes easier for the students and helps them understand complex concepts more easily. Thus, Hypothesis-1 that the mass communication media exercise a positive influence on youngsters, especially in the context of higher education, stands proved. On the other hand, it has come to the fore during this study that mass media also has a negative impact on youngsters especially in the context of its encouraging the tendency of violence in them. The articles reviewed in this regard has proved that violence in the media can be perceived as responsible for inciting violence in young people if they remain exposed to it frequently. Thus, Hypothesis-2 that the concerns about media on violence and crime are misplaced and a panicky reaction to the media stands disproved. However, people cannot undermine the benefits of media in higher education on the ground of the possibility of its encouraging violence. The right approach seems to the discourage youngsters from watching violent content in the media and encourage them to view material that are beneficial to them. ii) Limitations of the Study: The main limitation of the study is the less number of people to whom survey questions have been sent. Distribution of questionnaires to a larger segment of both populations would have elicited more reliable information from a broader perspective of the study. Similarly, conducting personal interviews with sample populations would also have provide more insight in the various aspects of the use of media in higher education. iii) Recommendations for Further Study: In order to obtain more reliable information on the subject, it will be desirable to further studies into the subject. Future studies may envisage personal interviews with professionals in the field of education as well as students. In addition, the distribution of questionnaires to a larger number of both populations may also be considered. Works Cited Collins, Allan, Neville, Peter and Bielaczye, Katerine. “The Role of Different Media in Designing Learning Environments.” International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 11 (2000): pp.144-162. Hopf, Werner H, Huber, Gunter L and Wei, Rudolf H. “Media Violence and Youth Violence: A 2 Year Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Media Psychology, 2008: Vol.20 (3): pp.79-96. Kakade, Onkargouda and Raut, Namrata. “The Role of Mass Media in Promoting Education.” International Indexed and Referred Research Journal, Vol. IV (36), 2012: pp.10-14. Kulbrandstadt, Lars Anders. “The Importance of Teaching and Research on Multicultural Issues in Teacher Education in Norway.” Journal of Teacher Education and Teachers’ Work, Vol.2 (1), 2011: pp. 4-7. Ponmeni, G. “Learning through Mass Media is a Flawless Process in Distance Education System.” American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 13 (218), 2013: pp. 87-91. Schwarz, Gretchen. “Literacy Expanded: The Role of Media Literacy in Teacher Education.” Teacher Education Quarterly, Spring 2001: pp.111-119. Tiwari, S. “Role of Mass Media in Higher Education & its Economic Viability – Part 2: Mass Media and Higher Education.” International Journal of Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication, Vol.1 (4), 2013: pp.195-206. Annexure-I Survey Questions to Academicians: i) Do your university use mass media to impart and promote higher education? ii) What types of media technologies are being used? iii) What impact it has on the students? iv) Does it contribute to the students’ understanding of complex concepts? v) How do students respond to education through mass media? Annexure-II Survey Questions to Students: i) Do you use mass media for as a learning tool? ii) What types of mass media do you usually use? iii) Do you find it to be easy to use and effective as a learning tool? iv) Do you feel it helps you to learn complex concepts more easily? v) Do you notice any significant improvement in your learning as a result of the use of mass media as a learning tool? vi) What platforms such as TV, internet, videos etc you normally use for accessing specific information related your courses? vii) Which of these platforms you find most useful? viii) Which media interfaces offer you the best results for education? ix) How often do you watch violent content on mass media? x) Do you think media has a negative impact on youth in terms of instigating violence? Read More