第七单元  数字化学习环境   Digital Environments

2 ． Multimedia （多媒体）

图7.7   多媒体

2.1 What is multimedia?

    Multimedia systems may consist of tradictional media in combination or they may incorporate the computer as a display device for text,picture,graphic,sound,and video.The term multimedia goes back to the 1950s and describes early attempts to combine various still and motion media for heightened educational effect.Multimedia involves more than simply integrating these formats into a structured program in which each element complements the others so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.Today examples of multimedia in education and training include slides with synchronized audiotapes,videotapes,CD-ROMs,DVD,the World Wide Web,and virtual reality.

    Multimedia addresses different learnin styles.Auditory learners,visual learners,and tactile learners all benefit from multimedia’s varied presentation forms.The redundancy of print,sound,visuals,and motion media allows learners to choose for themselves the most meaningful sensory mode.When you, the instructor,have a clear sense of objectives and the necessary student ptactice,you can decide what media will best facilitate the learning and how best to deliver it.

2.2 The Multimedia Kits （多媒体教学包）

(1)  What is the Multimedia Kits

    The multimedia kits is a collection of teaching/learning materials involving more than one type of medium and organized around a single topic.Kits may include CD-ROMs,slides audiotapes,videotapes,still pictures,study prints,overhead transparencies,maps,worksheets,charts,graphs,booklets,real objects,and modles.

图7.8   多媒体教学包

(2)  Advantages

• Interest 兴趣：多媒体教学包是多感官的，能够激发学生的兴趣；
• Cooperation 合作：多媒体教学包是理想的、促进小组合作学习的媒体；
• Logistics 易于安排、使用：多媒体教学包在使用方面有明显的优势，经过打包后可以方便地运送到其他环境，在教师以外的场合使用。

(3)  Limitations

• Expense 费用：使用多媒体教学包学习，比采用其他常规媒体成本要高；
• Time consuming 消耗时间：开发和维护教学材料，需要花费大量时间；
• Replacement 可替代性方面的缺点：如果失去了一个部件，可能会影响多媒体教学包的使用。

(4)  Integration

    Multimedia kits are particularly well suited to content for which discovery learning is preferred.You can pose questions to guide learners’ exploration and arrival at conclusions.Science topics are well suited to this approch. 例如，一套磁力学教学包中包含各种此贴、铁屑以及几块金属，这些金属有的能被磁铁吸引，有的不能。在数学课上，一个“测量”教学包中包含一根折尺，一个不同物体的测量指南，以及家里和学校不同的测量尺寸说明。

2.3 Hypermedia （超媒体）

图7.9   超媒体组织

(1) What is the Hypermedia ？

    Hypermedia was coined by Nelson in 1974 to describe “nonsequential documents”composed of text,audio,and visual information stored in a computer,with the computer being used to link and annotate related chunks of information into larger networks,or webs.The goal of hypertext is to immerse users in a richly textured information environment,one in which words,sounds,and still and motion images can be connected in diverse ways.Enthusiasts feel that the characteristics of hypertext parallel the associative properties of the mind,thereby making the construction of one’s own web a creative educational activity.

(2)  Advantages

• Engrossing 吸引注意力：超媒体要求学习者深入的参与，因此能够抓住和保持学习者的注意力；
• Multisensory 多感官刺激：伴随文字出现的声音、图像等媒体，扩展了大脑接受信息的渠道；
• Connections 连接：学习者可以使用超链接按钮，把来自不同的媒体的概念联系起来思考，例如，将雾号的声音与灯塔这个词连接起来；
• Individualized 个性化：网状的信息组织结构，使用户能够根据自己的兴趣来浏览信息，并给予自己的浏览过程，可以构建自己独特的知识结构；
• Teacher and student creation 教师和学生可以自己创作：教师和学生能够利用软件方便地创建超媒体作品。为学生设计的多媒体开发项目，可以鼓励协作学习。

(3)   Limitations

• Getting lost 迷航：在使用超媒体的时候，用户可能会感到迷惑或迷失于数字空间中，因为超媒体中常常缺乏必要的线索提示用户位于信息结构的何方；
• Lack of structure 缺乏结构性：学习风格偏向结构化的学生，可能不适合采用超媒体环境学习，学生通常也不知道他们需要浏览多少信息；
• Noninteractive 缺乏交互性：有的超媒体程序只是简单的单向呈现信息，而缺少互动练习和反馈；
• Complex 复杂：很多高级超媒体程序使用起来比较困难，特别是对学生自己创作来说，因为你必须学会使用脚本语言；
• Time consuming 耗时：由于超媒体具有非线形结构，并且是由学习者自主探索的，因此学生为了达到预期的目标，需要花费更多的时间。

(4)  Integration

图7.10   超媒体信息集示例

    Hypermedia can be developed and used on the same computer systems that are commonly found in schools.They are applied in all areas of the curriculum,for any learning goals that are suited to individual or small groap exploration of a body of information.Hypermedia programs are available as off-the-shelf courseware;teachers can create them to fit unique local needs;or students can create them as a way of organizing and synthesizing their research on a topic of interest.

2.4 Interactive Media （交互媒体）

(1)  What is the interactivemedia ？

图7.11   交互媒体

    Computer-based Interactivemedia creates a multimedia learning environmenr that capitalizes on the features of both video and coomputer-assisted instruction.It is an instructional delivery system in which recorded visuals,sound,and video materials are presented under computer control to viewers who not noly see and hear the pictures and sounds but also make active reponses,with those responses affecting the pace and sequence of the presentation.

(2)  Advantages

• Multiple media 多种媒体；
• Learner participation 学习者参与；
• Individualization 个性化：交互媒体提供的分支教学功能，既可以开展补习，也可以开展提高性教学，充分体现了个性化学习特征；
• Flexibility 灵活性：学习者可以从菜单选择学习内容，学生可以选择他、她感兴趣的内容，也可以选择最合逻辑的答案，还可以选择最具挑战性的任务；
• Simulations 模拟：交互视频可以为医学、机械操作等课程提供模拟教学，尤其是在人际交流技巧培训课程中，交互视频可以为学习者提供模拟体验。

(3)  Limitations

• Cost 成本；
• Production expense 制作费用；
• Rigidity 刻板僵化：正式出版的光盘教学材料，一经制作完成，就不能再修改；而且，出版物中的材料还可能过时。

(4)  Integration

    Interacive media systems are currently being used in a variety of instructional applications,from teaching scientific phenomena to teaching special education students to tell time.The programs can challenge a small group of gifted students or provide remedial instruction for students who might be having difficulty with particular concepts.Individuals as well as small groups can use interactive media programs.Interactive media may also be used for large-group instruction.

2.5 Virtual Reality （虚拟现实）

图7.12   虚拟现实

(1)  What is the Virtual Reality ？

    Virtual Reality is one of the newest appliacations of computer-based technologies.There are actually several levels of virtual reality,from complex ,meaning you are completely immersed inside the virtual environment,to augmented, or partially immersed,to desktop level,meaning you are using your computer to look into a virtual “window.”

(2)  Advantages

• Safety 安全性：虚拟现实创建了一个逼真的世界，是观察者不会遭遇身体上或想象中的危险和伤害；
• Expansive 扩展观察范围：虚拟现实技术为学生提供了特殊的机会，让他们观察现实世界中不可能观察的事物（如外太空或活火山内部）；
• Opportunities to explore 探索的机会：虚拟现实让学生在模拟环境中开展各种试验活动。

(3)  Limitations

• Cost 成本；
• Complexity 复杂性：虚拟现实技术十分复杂，大多数情况下不适合课堂教学，只有桌面层次的虚拟现实例外；
• Limited titles 主题太少：虽然各类虚拟现实系统的数目与日俱增，但是，到目前为止，可以用于教学的虚拟现实软件还是很有限。

(4)  Integration

    The potential of this type of technology in the area of special education is exciting,providing safe yet detailed lifelike learning experience for students with learning problems has promise.As virtual reality tools will be able to explore ways of using this type of technology in learning,it will become possible for them to create their own unique environments.These typespf experiences will add to the dimensions of the classroom in exciting ways.

2.6 Expert Systerms （专家系统）

    The Expert systerm i s a software package that allows the collective wisdom of experts in a given field to be brought to bear on a problem.One of the first such systems to be developed was MYCIN,a progam that helps train doctors to make accurate diagnoses o infectious diseases on the basis of tests and patient information fed into the computer.Expert systems are rapidly making their way into education.