What is Hypermedia? This is the question that I am always thinking about when I start the PhD study in Instructional Technology. As illustrated in Dr. Yuen's course materials, IT644 concerns about application of Hypermedias to instruction. This is the first course I have taken for this major. To certain degree, IT644 influences me a lot and brings me to a new world of teaching and learning.
To answer the quesion at the beginning of this reflection. Different sources provide different answers and definitions. Some would treat Hypermedia as "A computer-based medium combining multiple media (text, image, sound, animation and video) with high levels of user interaction and the capability to link items of information with other items within the system".
While some would take "Hypermedia as a logical extension of the term hypertext in which graphics, audio, video, plain text and hyperlinks intertwine to create a generally non-linear medium of information. ..."
As for me, hypermedia is like a computer-related collection of tools and application which could be learned and mastered for different purposes. And instruction is just in this pool.In Wikipedia, there has been a number of theories concerning hypermedia and learning. One important claim in the literature on hypermedia and learning is that it offers more control over the instructional environment to the reader or student. Another claim is that it makes level the playing field among students of varying abilities and enhances collaborative learning. A claim from psychology includes the notion that hypermedia more closely models the structure of the brain, in comparison with printed text.
In the three monthes study and learning in Dr. Yuen's Advanced Hypermedia Development course (IT644), I really have gained a lot, from software to hardware, from classroom to online learning, from textbook to artifact. Every step is a chance of growing in Instructional Technology for me. I think it is IT644 allowing me to deep into this major, and it is also IT644 increasing my great interests in combination of technology with teaching and learning. The learning of IT644 itself is just a course of the combination of learning and technology! Amazing!
Besides,because IT644 is a hybrid course, it gives us more learning and study platforms, not only combined to classroom. We have Social Network online learning enviroment; we have textbook learning procedure; we also have class weekly. Such hybrid provides me more chances for study, and gives me deeper feeling of what is hypermedia.
IT644 Social Network is a forum for the communication between students and instructor, students and students, created by Dr. Yuen. We were asked to attach each assignment to Social Network to share and grade. The key point in Social Network is "SHARE". All the students of the same class have to show their artifacts in this network, which provide us the interactive learning enviroment. We could enjoy others' artifacts, and find to which we could do any improvement for selves' assignment. At the same time, we were also asked to use DropBox to share our artifacts, which is also a kind of online network for user to store files. Dropbox is really a convenient movable tool for share works.
The Digital Media Book recommend by Dr. Yuen leads me to the road of what I have to do with digital media. I like this book very much! The basic concepts, like pixels, resoluation for images, videos, audios. And even this book does a great help for my working on Flash Actionscript 3.0 in IT740 (another core course for PhD study in Instructional Technology). The interaction is not only in course itself, but also a kind of interaction among the relative courses in this same field.
Our class is another studying platform, besides the Social Network created by Dr. Yuen, and the textbooks recommended by Dr. Yuen. All the students in class share their opinions and ideas about our program, about assignments, about those software. I do appreciate their sharing in classroom. With their suggestions and opiniones, I know to what point I could improvement my artifacts. Thanks to you all!
Using technology to improve the effects of instruction and learning course must be the direction of modern education. As a PhD student in Instructional Technology, what I have to do is to know as many software/ hardware as possible, and combine them with education in my teaching career. In each reflection of my artifact in IT644, I have summarized the features of software learned in this class, and the possible way of combination of these technology with language teaching and learning process. I do hope that all the combination could really do great help for language learning in the future!
Using technology to improve the effects of instruction and learning course must be the direction of modern education. As a PhD student in Instructional Technology, what I have to do is to know as many software/ hardware as possible, and combine them with education in my teaching career. In each reflection of my artifact in IT644, I have summarized the features of software learned in this class, and the possible way of combination of these technology with language teaching and learning process. I do hope that all the combination could really do great help for language learning in the future!
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