USE OF MULTIMEDIA ON THE MOTIVATION AND LEARNING OUTCOMES IN

PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

GROUP 26:
DIANNE MELISSA B. YANTO
KRIS JOY M. VILLALUZ
IRENE YONGCO
EMERLYN SOTERIO
SONNY M. ALMAZAN
MELODY ORPIADA
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In order to address the research questions described in the previous section, a variety of

research databases, journals, reports, policy documents, literatures and web sites were reviewed

to draw together appropriate research evidence to address the core question of the use of

multimedia in the motivation and learning outcomes of public and private elementary schools.

Multimedia is an integration of multiple media elements (audio, video, graphics, text,

animation etc.) into one synergetic and symbiotic whole that results in more benefits for the end

user than any one of the media element can provide individually (Muhammad Asif, 2003). It is

use to denote the property of handling a variety of representation media in an integrated manner.

Multimedia is usually recorded and played, displayed, or accessed by information content

processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live

performance.

Multimedia offers unique advantages in the field of education. It enables teachers to

provide a way by which learners can experience their subject in a vicarious manner. Multimedia

enables learning through exploration, discovery, and experience. Technology does not

necessarily drive education. That role belongs to the learning needs of students. With

multimedia, the process of learning can become more goal oriented, more participatory, flexible

in time and space, unaffected by distances and tailored to individual learning styles, and increase

collaboration between teachers and students. Multimedia enables learning to become fun and

friendly, without fear of inadequacies or failure.

Multimedia is fast emerging as a basic skill that will be as important to life in the twenty-

first century as reading is now. In fact, multimedia is changing the nature of reading itself.
Instead of limiting an individual to the linear presentation of text as printed in books, multimedia

makes reading dynamic by giving words an important new dimension. This is accomplished not

only by providing more text but by bringing it to life with sound, pictures, music, and video

(Syed M Rahman, Kei Nam Tsoi, and Graham Dettrick, 2005). Multimedia will help spread the

information age to millions of teachers and learners who have not yet used the computer (Borgh,

K., & Dickson and W. P., 1992). The search for educational effectiveness has always been a

primary objective for the educators and trainers. "Even a clever housewife cannot cook without

rice" is an old ancient Chinese idiom. It means that we cannot make something out of nothing. In

order to achieve educational effectiveness, it is important for the educators to adopt an effective

teaching method with the assistance of advanced technology that suite the individual's learning

style. Learners of the present days tend to demand more knowledge and are becoming more

innovative. It is very common for a primary school kid to ask his parents question about how he

was born and urge to have answers.

Multimedia technology plays an important role in the education and training because of

its ability to provide a virtual environment for learners to effectively acquire knowledge. With

sound and visual effects, multimedia enhances the computer simulation of the real life events. It

has the potential to transform the classroom from a physical world to an unlimited imaginary

virtual environment.

History

Multimedia was coined by singer and artist Bob Goldstein (1966) to promote the opening

of his "Light Works at L'Oursin" show at Southampton, Long Island. Goldstein was aware of a

British artist named Dick Higgins, who had two years previously discussed a new approach to art
making he called “intermedia”. Richard Albarino (1966) borrowed the terminology, reporting:

"Brainchild of songscribe-comic Bob Goldstein, the 'Lightworks' is the latest multi-media music-

cum-visuals to debut as discothèque fare." In 1968, the term multimedia was re-appropriated to

describe the work of a political consultant, David Sawyer, the husband of Iris Sawyer—one of

Goldstein’s producers at L’Oursin.

In the intervening forty years, the word has taken on different meanings. In the late

1970s, the term referred to presentations consisting of multi-projector slide shows timed to an

audio track. However, by the 1990s 'multimedia' took on its current meaning. In the year 1993

first edition of McGraw-Hill’s Multimedia: Making It Work, Tay Vaughan (1972) declares,

“multimedia is any combination of text, graphic art, sound, animation, and video that is delivered

by computer. When you allow the user – the viewer of the project – to control what and when

these elements are delivered, it is interactive multimedia. When you provide a structure of linked

elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia.”

The German language society, Gesellschaftfür deutsche Sprache, decided to recognize

the word's significance in the 1990s by awarding it the title of 'Word of the Year' in 1995. The

institute summed up its rationale by stating, "Multimedia has become a central word in the

wonderful new media world."

Multimedia Resources

Sponder and Hilgenfeld (1994) reports that most experts advise teachers to make their

multimedia interactive, motivating, and relevant, with plenty of action and novelty. Strategies

exist that provide better guidelines. Gagne's (1985) nine events of learning, first applied to

teaching concepts to humans, serve well as a framework for the successful development of
educational multimedia modules (Hannafin & Rieber, 1989; Reeves, 1986; Sweeters, 1994). The

nine events include: (a) gaining attention; (b) informing the learner of the lesson objectives (s)

and activating motivation; (c) simulating recall of prior learning; (d) presenting the stimulus

material; (e) providing learning guidance; (f) eliciting performance; (g) providing feedback; (h)

assessing performance; and (i) enhancing retention and learning transfer. Gagne's nine events

have been recommended, in one way or another, by a multitude of multimedia researchers

(Reeves, 1986; Sponder & Hilgenfeld, 1994; Sweeters, 1994). Many of the multimedia features

correspond to Gagne's events and represent the functions performed by instruction that support

the internal learning process (Gagne, 1985).

Animation. Most graphics or pictures can be animated to illustrate points, teach facts or

concepts, motivate students, and demonstrate procedures (Sponder & Hilgenfeld, 1994).

Animation can serve motivational and attention getting functions, but no extra learning effects

can be attributed to the use of animation (Hannafin & Rieber, 1989). Animation is use, however,

both for the explanation of dynamic processes and for heightening the impact of presentation. It

is generally recognized that the use of animation can offer many subtle benefits (Rieber, 1994)

such as highlighting key information, heightening student interest, and facilitating recall (Orr et.

al., 1994). When the animation is congruent to the learning task, it can offer instructional

benefits to the learners (Rieber, 1990).

Audio. Many multimedia programs rely on text as a critical instructional component

which poses difficulties for poor readers. Text-based information is easy and inexpensive to

develop and has minimal computer memory requirements (Kensworthy, 1993). Nugent (1982)

found research that pointed out that audio has obvious advantages for presenting simple material

to younger children with undeveloped reading skills. Orr, Golas, and Yao (1994) state that
students find it easier to complete lessons which use audio extensively to present information.

The combination of visual presentation with audio explanation delivers information in an easily

understood format (Wright, 1993).

Audio can be used to explain icon choices with the choices highlighted as they are

explained. Audio could also be used to explain further the findings from x statistics screens that

present a range of data in bar charts and pie graphs. Audio should be designed so that the leaner

can interrupt the audio at any time and continue the program. Whenever audio is used to support

text, it is important to provide a way for the learner to pause or repeat the sound. Poor readers

may want to go through a text passage more than once, or may want to pause the audio to study

an unfamiliar word (Kensworthy, 1993)

Multimedia as a motivation

When considering multimedia development, motivation must be carefully considered.

Motivation is one of the primary factors that influence the effectiveness of instruction. (Lepper &

Malone, 1987) Multimedia provides an opportunity to incorporate many motivational factors.

(Jacobs & Dempsey; 1993, Malone & Lepper,1987) Motivating a student means the student is

excited and will maintain interest in the activity or subject.

It is important for teachers to be able to motivate their students to effort and persistence

and therefore, improve performance. Mark Lepper and Ruth Chabay (2004) state in their article

“Intrinsic Motivation and Instruction: Conflicting Views on the Role of Motivational Process in

Computer-Based Education”: “To be most effective, instructional choices must be suited to the

motives and interests of students as well as their cognitive aptitudes and capabilities.”

Malone and Lepper (1987) identified four major factors: challenge, curiosity, control, and

fantasy, which make a multimedia learning environment motivating. To be challenging, activities

should be kept continuously at an optimal level of difficulty to keep the learner from being either

bored or frustrated. To elicit sensory or cognitive curiosity in activities, one can use audio-visual

devices or present information that makes the learner believes that his/her current knowledge

structure is incomplete, inconsistent, or un-parsimonious. Multimedia can engage the learner in

make-believe activities or fantasy contexts that allow the learner to experience situations not

actually present, but intrinsically motivating. It summarizes and categorizes motivationally

relevant factors in multimedia learning.

These prescriptions are related to multimedia as they include for example, audio-visual

strategies. In addition, they are comprehensive, exclusive, and concern motivationally effective

parameters. Teachers have stated that multimedia enables students to work at a different pace,

and some packages can be tailored to student needs. Teachers have also suggested that they

regard students as learning co-operatively when multimedia is used. The teacher becomes a

facilitator, problem setter and guide as opposed to taking a central role. Motivation is one of the

primary factors that influence the effectiveness of instruction. (Lepper & Malone, 1987).

Multimedia as a Teaching Tool

The basic objective of multimedia material is not so much to replace the teacher as to

change the teacher's role entirely. As such, multimedia must be extremely well-designed and

sophisticated enough to mimic the best teacher, by combining in its design the various elements

of the cognitive processes and the best quality of the technology.

In recent years, technology has assumed an increasingly important role in every aspect of

instructional planning and design. The process began with the use of visual aids in support of

instructor-centered teaching, evolving until today, when frequently seen computers in the
classroom. As Sponder (1994) quoted: “While traditionally good teachers made use of

blackboard, pictures, excursions, models, charts, slides, drama and graphs as audiovisual aids to

education, along with these, the modern teacher makes use of technological advances such as

movies, radio, recording devices, television and computers.” Modern teachers have traditionally

dealt with many different media - print, audio tapes, videos, slide projectors, overhead projectors,

flashcards, and the likes. Each has its own advantages as well as limitations, but all help the

language learning process.

Kinnaman (1990), notes that the information age has clearly arrived and in the '90s, the

educational use of computer technology will surely continue to grow. The use of multimedia

technology has offered an alternative way of delivering instruction. Interactive multimedia

learning is a process, rather than a technology, that places new learning potential into the hands

of users. With today's multimedia, once a programme has been designed and built in with the

appropriate responses, it should be flexible and permit change and alteration. Multimedia

enhances student engagement by facilitating active learning, and enriching learning experiences.

Multimedia on Students Learning Outcomes Activities

There is considerable evidence that well-designed multimedia resources can enhance

learning outcomes. Yet there is little information on the role of multimedia in influencing

essential motivational variables such as student engagement.

Learning outcomes are statements of what is expected as a result of a learning activity.

To suite the purpose, multimedia activities were classified into the following categories:

Content/Basic-Thinking Activities. The Iowa Department of Education defines

Content/basic thinking as "the skills, attitudes, and dispositions required to learn accepted
information -- basic academic content, general knowledge, 'common sense,' -- and to recall this

information after it has been learned" (1989, p. 7). Multimedia activities that would fall into this

category might include students labeling a map in a graphics program or creating an animation

explaining how to measure perimeter.

Communication Activities. Communication skills involve the ability to convey ideas

and information and to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and others.

Multimedia can be used to enhance and encourage communication skills by allowing students to

illustrate ideas via graphics, sound, or video. In addition, students can use the Web or

presentation software as a forum for presenting their ideas. Multimedia activities that would fall

into this category include creating a presentation focusing on factual information or developing a

graph on data that has been gathered concerning a specific topic.

Collaboration Activities. Collaboration skills include the ability to distribute roles,

accept responsibility, and interact effectively. Multimedia is a good forum for developing these

skills and enhancing cooperation and social negotiation. Although two or more students may

share a computer, true collaboration requires the ability to work as a team toward a common

goal. Multimedia activities that would fall into this category might include collaborating on a

digital video project or using Inspiration to brainstorm an idea.

Critical Thinking Activities. Critical thinking involves three critical skills -- analysis,

evaluation, and making connections (Jonassen, 2000). Analysis involves the ability to identify

individual parts of relationships, conduct comparisons, and classify objects into categories.

Synthesis focuses on activities that require students to integrate, combine, or connect ideas into a

plan or project. Evaluation involves assessing the reliability, usefulness, and accuracy of

information, on the basis of specific standards or criteria. Multimedia activities that would fall
into this category include contrasting writing styles of famous Floridian authors on a web page or

creating a Venn diagram using concept-mapping software.

Creative Thinking Activities. Creative thinking focuses on the generation of new

knowledge and involves skills such as synthesizing, elaborating, and imagining (Jonassen, 2000).

Elaborating involves the ability to modify, extend, and hypothesize. Imagining focuses on being

able to visualize, speculate, and predict outcomes based on specific circumstances. Multimedia

activities that would fall into this category include scanning objects of family heritage to create a

digital video or reflecting on various student projects in a web-based electronic portfolio.

Conceptual Framework

The researchers conceptualized the use of multimedia to the motivation and learning

outcomes of private and public elementary schools in Noveleta Cavite. According to Okolo and

Ferretti (1998), the student composition representing ideas simultaneously through text and

audio, video, and sound increased the likelihood that students will acquire an understanding of

complex information. However, not all multimedia resources are equally effective, this research

will assess the challenges that the teachers are facing, how to assess and select multimedia

resources that best to promote meaningful learning and motivation of the pupils. Integration of

multimedia into instruction can help to improve learning for all pupils. The researchers found the

effects of multimedia to the pupil’s motivation in learning and found results on their learning

outcomes.
 Pupils

Use of Learning Outcomes

Motivation
Multimedia

Teachers

Figure 1. The conceptual framework

The teacher uses multimedia resources as a tool for teaching and learning process.

Multimedia offers unique advantages in the field of education. It enables teachers to provide a

way by which learners can experience their subject in a vicarious manner. Multimedia enables

learning through exploration, discovery, and experience. Multimedia technology plays an

important role in the education and training because of its ability to provide a virtual

environment for learners to effectively acquire knowledge. The multimedia help the student’s to

be motivated towards learning to improve learning outcome.

Theoretical Framework

Gagne was influenced by many other educational theorists, which led him to suggest that

these events in their entirety should be regarded as one form of instructional strategy. Further, he

noted that the order of events can be altered and not all events need be present in every lesson

(Gagne et al., 2005). In the end, the nine events are useful in that they represent repeatedly

validated key stages in the instructional process (Richey, 2000). The key question designers need

to ask themselves is, "What does the learner need at this point in the task?"

Gagne's (1985) nine events of learning, first applied to teaching concepts to humans,

serve well as a framework for the successful development of educational multimedia modules

(Hannafin & Rieber, 1989; Reeves, 1986; Sweeters, 1994). The nine events include: (a) gaining

attention; (b) informing the learner of the lesson objectives (s) and activating motivation; (c)

simulating recall of prior learning; (d) presenting the stimulus material; (e) providing learning

guidance; (f) eliciting performance; (g) providing feedback; (h) assessing performance; and (i)

enhancing retention and learning transfer. Gagne's nine events have been recommended, in one

way or another, by a multitude of multimedia researchers (Reeves, 1986; Sponder & Hilgenfeld,

1994; Sweeters, 1994). Many of the multimedia features correspond to Gagne's events and

represent the functions performed by instruction that support the internal learning process

(Gagne, 1985).
 Developing Learning Learning Environment

Pupils Teacher

Learning Outcomes

Figure 2. The inverted theoretical framework pyramid of Gagne’s nine events of learning.