This chapter focuses on the understanding of communication aids and strategies using

tools of technology.

LESSON 1: TOOLS FOR LEARNING: TECHNOLOGY

LESSON OUTCOMES:

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

1. Convey ideas through oral, audio-visual, and/or web-based presentations for different
target audiences in local and global settings using appropriate registers;
2. Adopt awareness of audience and context in presenting ideas; and
3. Create an audio-visual, and/or web-based presentation to promote cultural values

WEBQUESTS

WebQuests were created as a learning activity not long after the initial development of
the worldwide web. A WebQuest is an inquiry based activity that embeds the use of a variety of
learning resources – with most being digital learning resources available on the internet. The
inquiry activity may take the form of tasks such as a problem to be solved, a position to be
taken, a product to be designed or a work to be created.

WebQuests have a consistent structure:

 Introduction: Orients students to the activity

 Task: Clearly and concisely describes the outcome of the learning activity
 Process: Lists the steps learners will take to accomplish the task and the digital, web-
based and other learning resources that support learners in this process
 Evaluation: Provides a rubric to indicate how learners’ performance will be assessed
 Conclusions: Summarizes what students will have covered and learned.
Tools for Analysis

Analysis and simulation tools support knowledge construction by allowing learners to

manipulate information and visualize information in different ways. The curriculum in History,
Mathematics and Science includes learning elaborations that involve students collecting,
organizing, analyzing and interpreting various forms of data and information. Some examples of
technological tools that support these processes include:

• Concept or mindmapping tools: These tools help learners to identify and link relevant
concepts and represent those concepts visually.

• Database software: This type of software allows learners to record, sort and report on a
variety of data in numerical, textual and media forms.

• Spreadsheet software: This type of software allows learners to record, sort, mathematically
analyse and represent numerical data in tabular and/or graphical forms. Using technology to
communicate

BLOGGING

Journal writing has long been an activity utilised in the primary classroom. Journal
writing allows students to reflect on what they are learning and how they are learning. This
traditional, notebook-and-pencil activity can become digital when wordprocessing software is
used. Or it can go online as a blog. Blogs (a short form of the weblog) are personal journal
websites on which a user can type an entry, add images, video and links to other websites.
Readers of a blog usually can post comments. For primary school students, the use of blogs
have been found to be an engaging and effective way to promote writing skills (Richardson,
2006), particularly when student peers provide feedback to the blog’s writer (Chen et al., 2011).
It is exactly this feedback and sharing mechanism that makes the blog different to the
traditional journal. In the notebook-and-pencil version, the contents of the journal are private
to the student, apart from the teacher and whomever the student decides to share the journal
with. With the blog, access can be provided to the teacher, the class, the student’s parents and
the world.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION

Multimedia is content that uses a combination of different content forms such as text,
audio, images, animations, video and interactive content. ...Multimedia is distinguished from
mixed media in fine art; by including audio, forexample, it has a broader scope.
 A presentation program is a software package used to display information in the form
of a slide show. It has three major functions: an editor that allows text to be inserted and
formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating graphic images, and a slide-show system to
display the content.

A multimedia presentation differs from a normal presentation in that it contains some

form of animation or media. Typically a multimedia presentation contains at least one of the
following elements: Video or movie clip. Animation Sound (this could be a voice-over,
background music or sound clips)

Twelve Tips for Creating Effective Presentations

PowerPoint has become the de facto presentation tool for most of us. However, when
used improperly, PowerPoint slides can actually interfere with communication, rather than pro
mote it. Communications researchers have identified concepts that have subtancial implication
for how we can create the most effective presentations (Harrington and Car, 2010).

Harrington and Car (2010) suggested some tips with good and bad visual
examples to help presenters identify and avoid bad PowerPoint habits, and to promote
awareness of how nest to use Powerpoint to create effective and meaningful presentations.

Note: The icon in the corner indicates the slide is an example of bad design with good content.

1. Design a template that is free from distracting items.

Strive for simplicity and readability. Most PowerPoint templates contain distracting ele
ments such as borders or shading that can detract from your messages. It’s best to create a
template of your own that has solid background and is free from non-essential items, such as
footers and logos. When creating your template, keep in mind the advice of French writer
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is
nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
2. Ensure your template promotes readability.

Choose color combinations that make it easy for the audience to read your slides. If your
audience is unable to read your slides, then your message has been compromised. Consider the
following advice from Reynolds (n.d.). If you will be presenting in a darkened room, then light
text on a dark background works well. But if you will be in a room with the lights on or
considerable ambient light, then dark text on a light background works better.

3. Select a sans serif font.

Limit your fonts to two, at most. Serif fonts, such as Garamond, Times New Roman or
Century Schoolbook, have protruding “feet” (called serifs) that extend beyond the main shape
of the letters. The serifs are beneficial in printed documents with a lot of text, but they will
produce a blurred look on the screen. Sans serif fonts (translated as “without serifs”), such as
Calibri, Arial and Trebuchet, produce a cleaner, less cluttered, easier to read look.

By limiting your fonts to two (at most), your presentation will have a consistent look and
feel. This limitation does not include the use of bold, italic or bold italic; these alterations are
considered the same as the base font.
 Be sure to select standard fonts or embed the fonts in your presentation. If the fonts
you use are not installed on the presentation machine, it will use a substitute font and
potentially change the entire look of your presentation.

4. Always use fonts that are 24 point or larger.

Displaying text that is too small to read compromises your message and frustrates your
audience. If you have more text than can reasonably fit on a screen using at least 24 point
fonts, then either: (a) create another slide or (b) shorten your text. As noted in tip #11, let your
handout contain the detailed information and use your presentation to highlight your most
significant points.

5. Incorporate high quality photos, images or diagrams that reinforce your verbal message.

Research has shown that communication is enhanced when a verbal message is combin
ed with a powerful image on the screen. Many free high quality photos are available on‐
line (but pay attention to copyrights) and a plethora of professional photos are available at very
reasonable costs (such as at iStockphoto.com).
 Avoid clip art, since it can make your presentation look dated and unprofessional. Incorp
oratingyour text into the photo presents a more unified and visually pleasing message than havi
ng them completely separate

6. Use phrases or abbreviated sentences, rather than full sentences.

With the possible exception of short direct quotes, keep full sentences in your oral prese
ntation and off the screen. “Humans are incapable of reading and comprehending text on a scr
een and listening to a speaker at the same time. Therefore, lots of text (almost any text!), and l
ong, complete sentences are bad, Bad, BAD” (Reynolds, 2010, p. 57).

7. Use bullet points sparingly. If using bullet points, be sure they are less than six words long.

The most effective sliders are often with the least text. “Your presentation is
for the benefit of the audience. But boring an audience with bullet point after
bullet point after bullet point is of little benefit to them” (Reynolds, n.d). If you want to use and
outline organizer your talk, keep it on paper rather that putting it on as bullets.
8. Eliminate the use of headings or titles unless they communicate the main message.

Headings should not be used to introduce or identify the topic of the slide, though they
may be useful to call attention to the main finding in a chart or graph. Otherwise, headings tend
to be redundant and should be eliminated. 98% of headers are redundant 0 0.5 1 Redundant
headers Useful headers

9. Use animation, slide transitions, audio, and video sparingly and if used, do so only to
reinforce a key concept.

No examples are provided because they would be difficult to illustrate in this written
format. Research has shown that when there is movement on the screen, the audience’s
attention is immediately drawn to the movement, thus breaking their concentration on the
presentation content. Audiences judge presentations on their interest in the content, not
on how many fancy features are used in the slides.

10. Highlight the most important information in tables and graphs.

If needed, use builds to present data in a series of bite-sizes pieces. There are many
resources about how to create effective tables and graphs (e.g., Few, 2004; Sanders & Filkins,
2009). The rules of good design will be the same as for printed documents, but you need to
consider the pace when presenting tables/graphs on screen. By highlighting the most important
information and presenting only as much data as can be readily understood (perhaps by
presenting it incrementally), the audience will easily be able to discern the main message. If you
have complicated data to present, this is one application for using of slide transitions, which can
be used to “build” your table/graph and focus your audience’s attention. The following slides
show an example of both a better graph choice and how to highlight data for your audience.
See Paradi (2009) for an example of using builds to present a chart in PowerPoint.

11. Create a handout to accompany your presentation.

Many presenters try to make their slides function as both a handout and a presentation
and end up failing at both attempts. Slides should be designed to visually enhance
(not summarize) your presentation. Handouts should be well-written comprehensive reports,
containing detailed information such as (depending on your content) complex charts, data,
analysese, and references. Your audience will be grateful to take a well-written document with
them, rather than just their scribbled notes on your printed slides. This approach takes a
significant investment of tine, but will serve both you and your audience well.

12. Be passionate about your topic.

 Regardless of how well designed your slides are, the success or failure of your presentati
on willhinge on how effectively you engage your audience. If the audience can’t tell that the to
pic yo’re presenting is interesting to you, it won’t be interesting to them. The slides should serv
e to enhance your oral presentation, let them help you. Bullet points are not passionate, not ev
en when they’re highly decorated.

LESSON 2: CREATING AND ASSESSING MULTIMODAL TEXTS

 Creating is defined in the Australian Curriculum as ‘the development and/or production
of spoken, written or multimodal texts in print or digital forms’ and is an
embedded literacy expectation across all disciplines.

Multimodal is defined in the Australian Curriculum as the strategic use of ‘two or more
communication modes‘ to make meaning, for example image, gesture, music, spoken
language, and written language.

While the development of multimodal literacy is strongly associated with the growth of
digital communication technologies, multimodal is not synonymous with digital. The choice of
media for multimodal text creation is therefore always an important consideration.

A multimodal text can be paper – such as books, comics, posters.

A multimodal text can be digital – from slide presentations, e-books, blogs, e-posters, web
pages, and social media, through to animation, film and video games.

A multimodal text can be live – a performance or an event.

And, a multimodal text can be transmedia– where the story is told using ‘multiple delivery
channels’ through a combination of media platforms, for example, book, comic, magazine, film,
web series, and video game mediums all working as part of the same story.

Transmedia is a contested term and Henry Jenkins is worth reading for more
background. Jenkins argues that transmedia is more than just multiple media platforms, it is
about the logical relations between these media extensions which seek to add something to the
story as it moves from one medium to another, not just adaptation or retelling. Transmedia
enables the further development of the story world through each new medium; for example
offering a back story, a prequel, additional ‘episodes’, or further insight into characters and plot
elements. (Jenkins, 2011). It also can require a more complex production process.

Development of multimodal literacy knowledge and skills

To enable our students to effectively design and communicate meaning through such
rich and potentially complex texts, we need to extend their (and along the way, our own)
multimodal literacy knowledge and skills. Skilled multimodal composition requires new literacy
design skills and knowledge to enable students to make informed choices within and across the
available communication modes to effectively construct meaning.

Creatin g a multimodal text, a digital animation for example, is a complex meaning

design process requiring the strategic orchestration of a combination of modes such as image,
movement, sound, spatial design, gesture, and language. The process of constructing such texts
is also truly a cross-disciplinary literacy process, drawing on digital information technologies
and The Arts (media, music, drama, visual arts, design) to bring meaning to life.