Transcript Multimedia Projects

Introduction to
Multimedia Projects
A PowerPoint Presentation
Managing the Digital Classroom
Multimedia Projects
Basic Text
original images
clipart
Multimedia is the integration of media objects such as text, graphics,
video, animation, and sound to represent and convey information. Click on
each image below to see examples. Note you must be in “presentation
mode.”
video
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
sound
Multimedia Projects
There are a number of creative ways in which multimedia can be used in the
classroom. Examples of multimedia products include:
• Creating a Web page or site (covered in week 5)
• Creating a presentation using a software application
• Producing a computer generated movie or short video
The majority of uses in the K-12 educational setting focus on presentations.
Typical presentation software used include Kid Pix (Broderbund software)
for elementary years, Hyperstudio for elementary and middle school, and
PowerPoint, which can be used from elementary through high school. Each
has it’s own interface and functionality and some are more advanced than
others. For instance, since KidPix is for early elementary school students, it’s
functionality is only limited to linear slide shows. Hyperstudio has a kidfriendly interface and good drawing tools, but looks “less professional” than
PowerPoint and doesn’t have as many capabilities.
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Sample Kid Pix slides from a
Comparatives/ Superlatives
lesson and a unit on animals and
their habitats.
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Sample slides from Hyperstudio
stacks on Entertainment and
Canada
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Sample Slides from PowerPoint projects
Child Labor Unit
Lesson on the Stock Market
Latino Unsung Champions
Digital Poetry
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Too often many multimedia projects produced by students lack some basic elements. Or
students get caught up in the “bells and whistles” of the application and lose sight of the
content.
There are some key elements of Multimedia projects to keep in mind:
 Design
 Mechanics
 Presentation
 Content
 References
In addition, students should learn a little bit about media literacy before attempting to create a
multimedia project. Some important questions to consider:
•What is the purpose of this presentation (to inform, disseminate, to illustrate, etc.?)
•Who is my audience? What do I know about them and how will the presentation be
interpreted?
• How do my multimedia elements (graphics, transitions, animation, sound, design), enhance
the content or text, not distract from my presentation?
Multimedia Projects
Some additional elements to consider….
•Too often, we see multimedia presentations use the same “canned” clip art
images or sound clips over and over and over again. Many of these sounds and
images have nothing to do with the content of presentation, and can be
distracting and annoying.
•Use of Images: Encourage students to use their creativity in designing their
presentations, using original images such as digital or scanned drawings, images
from the Internet, digital photographs, or images from the web. Be creative with
the images, such as using them as background on a slide with text floating over
the image (see Week 1 presentation for example).
•Use of Sound: Did you know that in most presentation software, original sound
can be recorded, such as a student’s voice, or music or other sound can be
used? Consider how these kinds of sounds may enhance a presentation rather
than using the same typical sound files that come with the program such as a
“chime” or “clapping” or “clicking” noise.
Multimedia Projects
Some additional elements to consider….
Linearity v. Non Linearity
A linear presentation is one in which the user goes from slide to slide in a non linear
way, much like the way in which most of the slides in this course have been used (with
some exceptions). But designing a presentation in a non-linear way can have
tremendous advantages:
Non-lineaer presentations:
• Allow the user or presenter to “customize” the way in which the presentation will be
viewed (through internal links).
• Allow links to other presentations or applications (such as Word, Excel, the web) to
illustrate additional concepts or highlight related ideas. (external links). These links are
just like hyperlinks on the web, and can be in the form of buttons, text or graphics.
Designing a non-linear presentation can be much more complex than simply creating a
linear presentation. Much like designing a web page, it is important to storyboard your
presentation and consider how slides will link to other slides or external links.
Multimedia Projects: Storyboarding
Microsoft
Word
Research
Paper
Slide #2
Slide #3
First slide
Microsoft
Excel
Spreadshe
et
Slide #8
Slide #4
Slide #7
Slide #5
World Wide Web
Slide #6
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Some final considerations:
•Some teachers ask “what’s the point” of nonlinear presentations? One significant
benefit is for those students who do not have access to the web. They can create
projects that mimic a web site, such as a digital portfolio. The other obvious benefit
is the control the author has in presenting the information during an oral
presentation, or the control of the user when viewing the presentation. If a
presentation is set up with a main page or table of contents (much like a home page
on the web), the author can customize the presentation based on what the audience
wants to learn about or explore, making the presentation much more dynamic and
engaging.
• We could spend an entire course discussing how to create effective multimedia
presentations in the classroom. Highlighted here were just some key concepts to
keep in mind. If you are interested in learning more about how to create multimedia
projects, conduct your own research and explore some of the resources provided in
the Week 6 resources section. This section also includes resources on
assessment strategies for multimedia projects, since there are unique elements to
consider when grading these kinds of assignments.