Digital Media for Educators
What is it?
Digital media is anything that informs us on a subject, helps us learn about something, or makes us aware of something electronically. The Internet is one of the biggest sources of digital media with an unlimited number of digital images and pictures, news articles, e-books, academic journals, blogs, discussion forums, online seminars, and information on anything you would want to know about anything. Other digital media includes video, PowerPoint presentations, video and computer games, virtual labs, media library's, audio files, and image generators such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Using digital media in the classroom helps teach material in a more creative way than just lecture and worksheets.
How and when do we use it?
Digital media can be used for both entertainment and educational purposes and is great tool for educators. It allows you to bring in an endless amount of information to students in the classroom, learn about things on a much wider scale, and teach the material in different formats so that it appeals to all students. In an art class setting, digital media is used when images of artwork are presented to the class by using PowerPoint, slide shows, or art history websites. Also, film and photography are now a big part of digital media because work is moving from manual to digital technology. Students use digital media with written reports, websites, presentations, photo essays, and more with projects that they make.
Why is it important?
Digital media is a great interactive learning tool that stimulates students visually and mentally. Especially in today's technology based society, it is important to use digital media in the classroom to expose students to it and get them comfortable with it. Digital media also provides a source of communication of individuals and groups with emails, blogs, and discussion forums, that keeps a conversation going among students outside the classroom.
Examples/Sources
Below are a list of websites that are based around digital media and are resources for teachers.
Side Note
I think that using digital media as a teaching aid is a great way to teach a variety of material and is often a missed opportunity in many schools today. The thing about the digital world is there are many possibilities and multiple paths to link you to your goal. This new generation has taken a greater enjoyment of learning because digital media has made it more fun and allows students with different learning styles to learn the same material. I believe it is important to incorporate different techniques in teaching coursework and we should be using even more digital media than there is in the average classroom now. Potentially, the use of digital media could change the dynamics in the classroom completely.
