Chapter 5 (due October 17)

Digital Media is a branch of multimedia that has become its own discipline. One of the central parts of digital media is interaction. This allows for individual instruction and exploration, which enhances the educational value of computer technology. Software in this field is often referred to as interactive digital media, which allows users to move through the material at their own pace. This is extremely applicable to education, as all students work at different paces in acquiring information and concepts. This ability to interact with different medias is the most unique and important feature of digital media! It can aid in encouraging students to think independantly and creatively. This field of multimedia could also affect us as teachers through online professional development training for teachers.

Another application of digital media is in the area of educational software applications. These applications are used to support learning and teaching. This type of software offers many different routes such as risk-free skill checks, instant feedback, reviews, and online exploration of information. Another topic that I think falls under this is Computer-assisted instruction. This type of program helps teach facts or skills associated with a certain subject. I think this includes tutorial programs as well, such as SAM that comes along with this course.

Speaking of tutorials, since my last post I have done the powerpoint tutorial and I have learned how to do a bunch of fancy stuff on PowerPoint! I am excited to see how my powerpoint for the class comes out. This is obviously a helpful tool in the classroom. Though I dont believe that PowerPoint needs to be in every lesson I think that when used sparcely in the classroom it can be very helpful in presenting information in a creative way.