Arts And Entertainment
| Can You Imagine A World Without Multi Media? |
| By : Supriya Sahu | Previous | Next |
| Posted on : 01 Jan, 2006 | Total Views : 571 |
The study of media in education implicitly assumes that each medium entails some particular attributes that matter in learning depending on the symbol system it involves. Media are our cultural device for selecting, gathering, storing, and passing knowledge on in representational forms. Representation, as differentiated from direct experience, is always coded within a symbol system. If one attempted to remove picture from film, cartography from maps, or language from texts, what would be left? Media without symbol systems are as inconceivable as mathematics without numbers. If symbol systems are central to media of communication and to thinking, then the interactions and interdependence between the two systems cannot be disregarded. For an example, it is possible that symbolically different presentations of information differ as to the mental skills of processing that they require. It is also likely that the major symbol systems of the media cultivate mental skills differentially and that one learns to use media’s symbolic forms for purposes of internal representation.
It is difficult to ignore the possible role media’s symbol systems play in the cultivation of mental skill not just as a carriers of information about skills or as carriers of skill-models, but rather as the mental skills to be. Our era, the twenty first century, can be characterized as the age of media and technology. As a channel for information and entertainment mass media surrounds us day and night.
The term “media” comes from the Latin for middle. Media for that reason stand between different groups in society but do not occupy (in terms of opinion and power) an exact place mid-way between ´dominant´ and ´subordinate´ classes, if such a point could be found. The media, defined as those institutions and techniques used to disseminate symbolic content to audience, include radio, the press, television, the music industry, film and in some accounts advertising.
The audiovisual movement advanced early in the century, focusing on the machines and materials, rather than the learner. This thought was concerned with the effects of devices and procedures, which were seen as acting as a remedy to the extreme verbalism of traditional methods (Spencer, 1991). The rapid development in the field came during and after World War ll, in the 1940s. The military personnel had to be trained for their own survival and the war effort. To meet this need, a thousand of training films and other mediated learning material was distributed. 16mm projectors and filmstrip projectors were purchased and given out. Still photographs, audio recordings, transparencies, and slides were used for instructional purposes.
Much radio content since the early days has consisted of music, even more so since the rise of television (MTV).
Written By : Supriya Sahu
