Pioneers in Applying Media Technologies in Teaching and Learning
By Joseph E. J. Habowsky, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences [Retired]
279 Kayoshi Road, RR3, Harrow, Ontario, Canada NOR I GO
Dr. Habowsky is a founding member and Distinguished Fellow of ISETA. He was also the twenty-fifth year historian. He has won numerous awards, not only for research in his discipline, but also for his innovative and engaging teaching strategies.
INTRODUCTION
When I attended elementary school in Germany more than sixty years ago, the medium of communication in the lecture was the "chalk-board," a technology which still exists. As a pupil then I possessed a miniature slate board and chalk, which was the current technology, to practice writing letters from the alphabet. When I made a mistake, I erased the letter using a sponge. With time, additional media were incorporated in the lecture method such as printed hand-outs, projected slides, films, overhead projection and others. When television and reel to reel audio machines became commercially available, some educators thought to use them effectively to improve the delivery of information. In the lecture system, students play a passive role in acquiring knowledge, whereas media technologies can enable the learner to become actively involved in the teaching and learning process. Another problem is that students vary in background, in their ability to acquire knowledge, perform and solve problems; appropriate media can accommodate these variations.
THE USE OF THE MONITOR
Toward the end of the fifties some reasonably priced combinations of TV cameras and monitors became commercially available. It is more than likely that not only the Zoologist Prof. W.E. Beckel thought of the idea to put such technological devices into teaching. In 1961 he introduced a closed-circuit TV system into the laboratory portion of the first year zoology course, Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Since I was a Ph.D. student of Dr. Beckel and assisted in the course, I also got involved in the use of this teaching aid at that time. The success of this introduction of media technology led to its adoption by other Universities. A similar system of instruction was introduced in the laboratory portion of the first year biology course in the Biology Department of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario; it was technologically improved by the use of a "feed-back-system," by means of which the student was able to communicate with the centre desk. In 1964 Scarborough College, a satellite campus of the University of Toronto, was in the planning stages. Professor Beckel, future Dean of this College, incorporated the closed-circuit TV system as an integral part in the teaching and learning process (Habowsky, 1983).
THE USE OF THE AUDIO PLAYBACK
In the Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, USA, Botanist Professor S.N. Postlethwait was concerned about the high failure rate in his basic Plant Science course; he thought that three factors seem to relate to this problem: high enrolments, the variable levels of knowledge of incoming students, and individual differences in learning ability. To assist those less successful students, he initially had his lectures recorded and provided the tapes to students who wanted this extra help in a botany course in 1961. This possibility of repetition of the lecture became so popular that a majority of students in his course requested the opportunity of listening to the recorded lectures. Based on the positive results, he fully implemented and developed the use of the audio tape in the laboratory portion of the first year biology course for 380 students in 1962.
The Learning Centre at Purdue University was frequently visited by scientists and teachers from all levels of education throughout the world; visitors were interested in studying and assessing implementations of this system at their own institutions. This instructional system, known as Audio Tutorial (Postlethwait et al. 1964, 1969, 1972, 1989) was used in many countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa and several Latin American countries.
MULTIPLE USE OF A LEARNING CENTRE AND MULTI-MEDIA INSTRUCTION
In 1969 we developed the first multi-media learning facility in Canada, in the Department of Biology, University of Windsor, Ontario. Due to increasing enrolment not only were we limited in space, equipment and even scheduling of the laboratory portions of certain courses (e.g., cytology and histology) but also faced declining quality in the "hands on" learning activities. In the planning we combined the laboratory portions of the courses cytology, histology, plant anatomy, mycology, and electron microscopy into a single learning facility (Habowsky, 1983).
Based on this experience we designed an enlarged learning centre in 1976; in addition the laboratory of the first year biology course was included. The number of students using this facility corresponds to approximately 700 course units annually distributed among seven different laboratory portions of courses and scheduled concurrently within the year; a total of 53 study stations was sufficient.
In 1985 the Joint Effort Agreement between the Department of Biological Sciences and IBM of Canada, Limited, provided both computer hardware and software for teaching and learning. From the beginning it was clear to us that the microcomputer was another medium with unique features. Based on our findings in multi-media instruction we were not satisfied simply to replace proven audio programmes and hands-on activities with either simulations or printed words on the screen, components in computer assisted instruction. Instead, the audio tape was used to integrate computer software by means of commentaries necessary for a proper understanding. We optimized inter-active audio by using portable play-back machines (Walkman). The attached chart indicates the use of the audio tape in multi-media instruction, involving a wide variety of media (Habowsky, 1983; Habowsky et al, 1990a, 1990b).
The multimedia system was adopted by the Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; (Habowsky, 1983); Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada; Biologie fur Mediziner, Universitat Koln, Deutschland; (Hoffman und Eickhoff, 1977) Lehrstuhl fur Physiks, Lehrstuhl fur Mathematik und Statistik, Technische Universitat Munchen, Deutschland (Precht, 1987).
DISCUSSION
In summary, over the past 40 years the evolution of media technology has provided education with exciting new electronic technologies for the delivery of information. The notable applications were Instruction Television (ITV) in the late fifties (Habowsky, 1983), Audio-Tutorial (A-T) in the early sixties (Postlethwait,1964, 1969, 1972, 1989), Multi-media Instruction (Habowsky, 1983, 1989) and Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) in the early eighties (Bork, 1981). Such applications have brought forth new instructional paradigms and each in turn was praised as the ultimate in teaching and learning.
The success is based on one's ability and desire to both modularly and meaningful implement these technologies (Habowsky, 1983). A co-requisite in this approach is to also provide the "personal attention" which students need, as advocated by the proponents of the "Personalized Systems of Instruction" (Keller, Sherman, 1974).
There has been a flurry of activities to explore the potential of these communication tools for enhancing the teaching and learning process, especially in schools at the high school level and below. There appears to be less interest by teachers at the college and university level. Why is this true? Perhaps it is because many college teachers perceive teaching as a secondary activity to their other professional tasks. Perhaps it is because a commitment to a major change in instructional procedures requires so much effort. Perhaps the risk of failure is so great that it makes no sense to leave the security of conventional instruction. Perhaps since the rate of change in communication technologies is so rapid, an obligation to one kind of equipment may be outdated by the time it is installed and is a scary thing to do. Whatever the reasons, the potential for better education through the use of these communication tools must not be ignored. Teachers at all levels must play a role in determining the ways technology is used in the development of instructional designs.
It has been demonstrated that instruction can be enhanced through the use of technology and that it enables the teacher to provide new dimensions to the instruction/learning process that are not possible under the more conventional approaches. Despite the value of these new technologies, the teacher remains as the most important component of the classroom. Quick access to extensive quantities of information is tremendously helpful but it is not the only requirement for helping students grow intellectually. Learning occurs through a great variety of experiences and interactions with subject matter and peers. The organization and planning for "helping students learn" must take into account a vast array of human factors and acknowledge that "students are a lot like people."
REFERENCES
Bork, A. 1985. Personal Computers for Education. New York: Harper and Row
Publishers.
Habowsky, J.E.J. 1983. Individueller Unterricht durch Medieneinsatz: Ein
Erfahrungsbericht aus Kanada und USA. Beitrage zur Hochschulforschung.
Institut fur Hochschulforschung und Hochschulplanung, Munchen, S.
255-266, Deutschland. -
Habowsky, J.E.J. 1989. Section four: Interactive Audio in Instructional
Television, Multi-Media and Computer Assisted Instruction, pp. 576-581.
Behringer, M.P. Techniques and Materials in Biology, second edition.
R.E. Krieger Publishing Company.
Habowsky, J.E.J., Sands, T.W., Hogue, C.W.V., Stager, R.A., 1990a. The
data base as a learning tool. J. College Science Teaching XIX (6):
363-366, U.S.A.
Habowsky, J.E.J., Sands, T.W., Hogue, C.W.V., Stage, R.A. and Postlethwait,
S.N., 1990b. An audio-directed multi-media Lab. J. College Science
Teaching, XIX (4): 232-234, U.S.A.
Hoffman, B. und Eickhoff, E, 1984. Individuelles Lernen mit
AV-Programmen, Hochschuldidaktische Materialien, No. 63;
Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur. Hochschuldidaktik Hamburg. Keller, F.S. and Sherman, J.G.
1974. PSI, the Keller plan handbook:
Essays on a personalized system of instruction. Menlo Park,
California: W.A. Benjamin.
Postlethwait, S.N., Novak, J. and Murray Jr., H.T. 1964; New edititions;
1969, 1972. The Audio-Tutorial Approach to Learning. Minneapolis:
Burgess Publishing Co.
Postlethwait, S.N. 1989. The Audio-Tutorial System, pp.550-560.
Behringer, M.P. Techniques and Materials in Biology, second edition.
R.E. Krieger Publishing Company.
Precht, M., 1987. Individueller Unterricht durch Medieneinsatz:
Kassettenlernerprogrammer in der Mathematik, Arbeitstagung,
Agrarinformatik Feb.