Multimedia Instruction and the Constructivist Theory

Anyone who has watched a very small child play knows that they touch, taste, and smell, all objects they see. They learn so much those early years, how to speak, physical coordination, emotional well being, and the development of social skills. Young children interact with their environment, experiencing the world, and framing a set of ideals from those experiences. In fact, educators evaluate young children entering school on how well they have developed knowledge and what skills have been mastered. This type of learning is constructivist. Children "construct" new ideas and form an understanding of those ideas from their experiences, both new and old.

Constructivism is a set of beliefs regarding the structure and nature of knowledge (Reid,1993). Constuctivist teaching encourages the student to be responsible for the acquisition of knowledge (Flavell,1992; Stone and Reid,1994; Wong,1993). It is the personal experience of the learner with knowledge that facilitates learning, not the mastery of a set of predetermined, written objectives. How many times has it been said, "I remember that when we studied- ", or " that's like when we did- ", taking knowledge gained from a prior experience and applying it to new situation to extend or problem solve. The focus of instruction is centered on the student not the curriculum( Reid, Kurkijian, & Carruthers, 1994). The student's abiltiy to constuct new knowledge based on previous experiences and new information, are basics of the constructivist view.

Constructivist teachers respect students' integrity as learners, recognizing their ability, individual strengths , interests, needs. and emotions. These educators help children interpret new information in relation to existing knowledge (Reid and Carruthers, 1993), and in doing so, the information has personal meaning for the student.

This epistomology lends itself to the instruction of elementary students with attention problems. Making a student responsible for the scope of his knowledge gives him an added focus. Allowing that student many different avenues of exploration will enrich the experience that much more. Couple these strategies with a multimedia based delivery, and high expectations, and success will be realized.

The best learning is interesting, relevant, and fun (Taylor, 1994). What better way to capture any student's attention than with graphics, action, color, and interaction of a media format? . Give the students an idea or a problem and see where they can take it. Teachers assume the role of facilitator of knowledge instead of a dispenser of knowledge. The constructivist approach involves students in real-world possibilities , then helps them generate the abstractions that bind phenomena together (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). The teacher offers suggestions, makes recommendations, challenges creativity, encourages independent thinking, and captivates the students . Interaction between students will increase as they become more engaged in dialogue, high level thinking is encouraged, and iniative and autonomy are fostered (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). Children can decide what concepts will form their world view, not have it decided for them.

The multimedia approach is an obvious format for constructivist teaching. Students are given the opportunity, the tools, and the support to enjoy success.

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