Education2022

The Use of Media in online learning a review of recent studies

According to recent research it is beneficial for online learning and PLE environments to incorporate the use of digital media for learning for the young. “Common Sense Media or the American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Digital Media list to identify resources that target the skills and content you want to focus on in fun and interesting way.” Kennedy, J and Hupert, N (2021)

Recent changes in education and learning environments, especially since COVID-19 restrictions have further accelerated the use of online learning. Digital media such as applications, videos, games and even music can be introduced for learning environments to help in the process of learning.

Another specific example of this is called the Droplets App. “using the Droplets app, you can look up new vocabulary words in different languages.” Kennedy, J and Hupert, N (2021)

For children who are animal lovers there is, “…Molly of Denali’s Alaskan Adventure…..help them make their own animal notebooks, documenting what Molly sees as she travels around Alaska or what they see outside the window.” Kennedy, J and Hupert, N (2021)

In another study in the Use of Social Media to Enhance Personal Learning Environment in

Learning of Statistics was a conference paper published by: Yong, H. N. A (2015) named

International Conference on E-Commerce (ICoEC) 2015. 

In this study a verification of a survey questionnaire testing students from a private university on the likert-scale format and open-ended questions were used. “Findings from this study show that most learners are accessing internet. However, its use for learning was still low and required further improvement. Spending more time in social network was found correlated with receiving a stronger intrinsic motivation. Instructors should use social media integrated in the LMS with interesting

course content. Results from this pilot study have contributed to the questionnaire for future full implementation.”

In another article published called: The effects of using wiki on student engagement and learning of  report writing skills in a university statistics course by Neumann, David L and Hood, Michelle they  

found the following information:

• [A wiki was used as part of a blended learning approach to promote collaborative learning among students in a first-year university statistics class. One group of students analyzed a data set and communicated the results by jointly writing a practice report using a wiki. A second group analyzed the same data but communicated the results in a practice report that they wrote individually. Both groups were taught the same material. The report was used for practice as a way to support student learning and was not submitted for assessment. Both approaches improved report writing knowledge and did not differ in the mark obtained on an individually written research report subsequently submitted for assessment. The wiki approach produced higher engagement with other students, cognitive engagement, and class attendance than the individual approach. Qualitative feedback suggested some drawbacks to using a wiki. Overall participation was also low with only 2 of the 22 wiki subgroups completing all components of the practice report. The present findings suggest that student engagement, but not performance on assessment, may be enhanced when a wiki is used to support learning in higher education. Yes Yes] Neumann, D. and Hood, M. (July 2009)

 In the link attached, the graphs indicate a higher level of learning for Wiki environment users:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43694553_The_effects_of_using_a_wiki_on_student_engagement_and_learning_of_report_writing_skills_in_a_university_statistics_course

In conclusion, even from brief research, it is apparent that Multi-media formats can increase learning for online users.

References

Edutopia Online Learning: Using Digital Media to Support Early Learning; retrieved from article https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-digital-media-support-early-learning

Research Gate: Use Media to Enhance Personal Learning Environments in Learning of Statistics; Conference: International Conference on E-Commerce (ICoEC) 2015; Yong, H. N. A (2015)

Research Gate: The effects of using on wiki on student engagement and learning of reporting writing skills in a university statistics course, retrieved from; Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 25(3) DOI:10.14742/ajet.1141 (2009)