Multimedia Technologies in the Classroom

There are many multimedia technologies available nowadays for teachers to use some of them include presentation programs, educational games, and different kinds of software. As a future educator, some of my favorite are presentation programs such as PowerPoint, Prezi, Google docs, etc. Essentially what these programs do is revolutionize the traditional overhead projector, transparency to transparency presentation. Programs such as PowerPoint allow for the teacher to add pictures, videos, hyperlinks, and other creative ways of introducing a concept to the student. They also give the teacher the option to change the font, the font color, or the layout of the PowerPoint giving it a more interesting look.  When you apply these changes to the presentation it keeps students interested and engaged in the lecture. For example, while giving a classroom lecture on a subject that most children are not really interested in I would try to make the presentation more fun by including different types of font and font sizes, embedding videos, and including fun and interesting slide transitions.

Another contemporary form of teaching that I would use and many teachers nowadays are would be through videos. One of the most known websites for its extensive variety of videos is YouTube. YouTube is described as a video hosting and sharing website where people upload videos they have made and watch those made by others, on YouTube anyone can make an account since it is free and use it as they please. Videos on this website can range from music videos to cooking to educational and instructional videos. This website is an amazing tool for teachers since it allows them to show how a concept is played out through cartoons or real life, or it also can help teach the concept in a different way from the teachers. Using this in the classroom allows for more than one type of student to learn what is being taught. For example, if I as a high school history teacher wanting to reinforce a lesson I might look up some interesting videos on what I was teaching or look up a cartoon video of how the issue on hand worked out. Although cartoon videos sound silly they are actually just as educational if not more than if I were to stand in front of my students and teach exactly what was said in it, this references to my previous statement of reaching all the different types of learners in a classroom.

My next concept is a new one to me since it was not used when I was in school however I find to be an amazing tool for grade school children. Alphabet books are made and illustrated by children, they allow for students to practice spelling, pronouncing, and reading. An alphabet book can be made by hand on paper or digitally on the computer. When creating alphabet books the child can pick whatever illustration they associate with the letter, write out the name and use it in a sentence. As a future first grade teacher, I personally would love to include alphabet books in my classroom, not only creating them by hand but on the computer too. For example, each student can pick a letter, then that student can draw on the program Paint what they associate with this letter along with the letter itself, finally, the child can present their letter to their classmates.

Alphabet book example pictures.