Abstract
In an increasingly interconnected world, it is highly important that professors and researchers alike not only find cost-effective solutions to further their work, but also methods to inspire their students to go beyond the traditional methods. This chapter aims to show a couple of examples of successfully integrating new media features in the teaching and research of new media emphasizing their effectiveness, as well as their innovation, involvement, and surprise factors. Furthermore, the methods suggested are easy-to-use and mostly accessible on a non-fee basis. Additionally, the chapter reviews a series of platforms that allow live video broadcasting such as Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Skype, Oovoo, Google Talk, PalBee, TokBox, PalTalk, TinyChat, TimZon, VoiceThread, Ustream.tv, and Livestream, giving some examples where they could be used in the daily teaching process. Finally, a call for more cross-cultural teaching and collaborative projects is launched.
TopEducation In The Internet Age
Changes in the professional world have a strong influence on the educational environment. After all, the universities’ aim is to prepare students for a smooth immersion in the professional world by providing them with skills, by helping them refine aptitudes and by enabling them to expand their knowledge while discovering their strengths.
The emergence of new technologies and the expansion of the Internet use have been studied by many authors and researchers in an attempt to provide better education as well as improve current pedagogic practices. Some have focused on improving the teaching process (Angelo, 1993; Braxton et al., 1998; Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Terenzini, 1999), while others looked at ways to adapt the teaching to the different learner types and learning processes (Conner et al. 1996). Debates on the role of and balance between media and pedagogy in the design of a technology-mediated class also emerged, Clark (1983, 1994) arguing, for example, that it is the pedagogical methods and the application of instructional design principles that influence and affect student learning rather than the medium used. Charman and Elmes (1998) as well as Ritter and Leuke (2000) support Clark’s argument. Others however, such as Kozma (1994) and Ullmer (1994) believe that it is the different attributes of each media that have the potential to influence a positively or negatively a learning experience.
The rise of new technologies has influenced academia as well. Distance education for example is one of the fields that benefited most from the changes in technology. It is therefore no wonder that most of the studies dedicated to technology-mediated learning are done from a distance learning perspective. According to Lou, Bernard and Abrami (Lou et al., 2006) distance education knows several stages of development: from mail-in correspondence studies to broadcast-integrated programs, to teleconferencing and hypertext reliant courses. To these Taylor (2001) added two more stages: flexible learning and interactive courses both of them using Internet accessible courses, computer-mediated communication as well as a wider variety of resources available online.