H.M.Yunus Winarno S.Pd.,M.Pd.
Ratno Dwi Joyo S.Pd. (Yoga)
Midwife Educator Departement
STIKES ICME Jombang
First of all, we would like to thank to God the almighty, by his love and grace we have been able to accomplish the handout for the students of Instructional Media, Midwife Educator Department, STIKES ICME Jombang. This course provides the students with some practical knowledge of instructional media and skills in selecting and using appropriate media for teaching a particular language skill, and the ability to produce some. The knowledge offered will comprise principles of instructional media and various kinds of foreign language teaching aids. Practical skills especially in how to select and use teaching aids will also be given besides the skills in creating and producing inexpensive media.
This handout could be used as a means of exploring knowledge for the students Instructional Media, Midwife Educator Department, STIKES ICME Jombang. We hope that the handout may help the students to achieve optimum ability and skills to solve instructional problems by integrating instructional technology into the classroom.
We devote the deep gratitude to all parties who have helped in accomplishing the handout. Guidance and suggestion are welcome for further improvement.
Jombang, March 20, 2011
Kata Pengantar ii
Introduction : RPS 1
A. Course Outline 1
B. Reading List 2
C. Meeting Schedule 2
Unit 1 Definition and Theory 3
Unit 2 Kinds of Media 5
A. Real Objects 6
B. The Picture File 6
C. Flash Card, Word Cards, Number Cards 7
D. The Pocket Chart 7
E. The Flannel or Felt Board 8
F. The Magnetic Board 10
G. The Opaque Projector 10
H. The Overhead Projector and Transparencies 10
I. Kodachrome Slides 11
J. Filmstrips 11
Unit 3 Roles and Function of Media 12
Lampiran 1 14
1. Circular Cards 14
2. Flip Cards 15
3. Flashcards 16
Lampiran 2 Miscellaneous Materials 18
1. Audio Aids 19
Projects: Individual/ Group 24
Rancangan Perkuliahan Semester Ganjil 2010/2011
Midwife Educator Departement
STIKES ICME Jombang
This course provides the students with some practical knowledge of instructional media and skills in selecting and using appropriate media for teaching a particular language skill, and the ability to produce some. The knowledge offered will comprise principles of instructional media and various kinds of foreign language teaching aids. Practical skills especially in how to select and use teaching aids will also be given in class besides the skills in creating and producing inexpensive media.
Various types of teaching media, which include electronic and non-electronic, visual and audio-visual media, will be introduced to the students. However, this class will take most of the time familiarizing the students with the visual aids, especially those which teachers can afford to prepare. The students are expected to learn how to make effective use of the available aids in making their students gain the language skills, i.e. using teaching aids properly in presenting material as well as in giving practice.
Referring to the principles of foreign language learning, the students are let practice using teaching aids in peer practice after a brief introduction with adequate number of examples. Suggestions and discussions about teaching techniques follow each short peer teaching. The students are to prepare or create the aids that they have decided to use :
The evaluation is based on the score of the students attendance and participation (20%), final projects combined with the assignments and their performance during the peer teaching (20%), and midterm (20%) and final exams, ( spoken( peer teaching) or developing media) (40%).
Heinich, Robert, M. Molenda & James D. Russel. 1982. Instructional Media The New Technologies of Instruction. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Suyanto, Kasihani K.E & Yuswotomo. 1999. Instructional Media. Unpublished Course Material. Malang: UM.
Wright, Andrew. 1994. 1000+ Pictures for Teachers to Copy. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
Articles/other relevant materials.
Week Activity Notes
1 Course Introduction Agreement
2 Definitions and Theory Lecturing & Discussions
4 – 5 Kinds of Media Discussion
3 Role/ Function of Media Discussion
6 Practical Skills, selection, development operation Group discussion
7 Practical Skills, selection, development operation Group discussion
8 Midterm Test
9-10 Individual project: Developing Media
11-13 Peer teaching/individual report Final Project
14 Review and summary
Definitions and Theory
Instructional media encompasses all the materials and physical means an instructor might use to implement instruction and facilitate students’ achievement of instructional objectives. This may include traditional materials such as chalkboards, handouts, charts, slides, overheads, real objects, and videotape or film, as well newer materials and methods such as computers, DVDs, CD-ROMs, the Internet, and interactive video conferencing.
Hamijoyo as quoted in Latuheru (1988) states that instructional media are the media whose function is integrated in the instructional objectives stated in the syllabus. Heinich (1993) also states that media are considered as instructional media when they carry messages with an instructional purpose, i.e., to facilitate communication. Moreover, Suleiman (1988) asserts that instructional media are the media that bring information or messages from the information resources/senders (teachers) to the receivers (students). He further states that the instructional media are intended to increase the learning outcome. In line with the ideas of stated previously, Richards (in Kasbolah, 1993:10) defines the instructional media as the media which are used within the instructional design and are determined by the requirements of the objective content and instructional method. Instructional media also has a meaning as a means of communication used to carry messages with an instructional intent (Heinich, 1982).
According to Van Els et al. (1984), media are all aids which may be used by teachers and learners to attain certain educational objectives. Furthermore, media can be specified in different ways. Edmenger ( 1979:24) in Van Els (1984) lists a number of points of view from which media can be considered: (1) the nature of the information conveyed by the media (i.e. linguistic and non linguistic information); (2) the channel of the information (auditory, visual, or audiovisual media); (3) the phases in the process of teaching and testing whether they are used for the presentation, repetition, and exploitation of learning material, or for testing; (4) the didactic function whether they are used to motivate learners, to convey information, or to stimulate free language use; (5) the degree of accessibility and adaptability (Mindt 1978, Macht and Sclossbauer 1978, Heaton 1979:39) in Van Els (1984);(6) the possibilities for supporting ,supplementing, or replacing the teacher (Ahrens 1980) in Van Els (1984) ; (7) the use of media by individual or in groups.
Paiman (1992) in Sugiharto (1994) states that instructional media can be used in the teaching of English, because they can activate and stimulate the students’ interest in studying English, lessen verbalism, and make the acquisition of the result of learning permanent. However, it must be remembered that in the use of instructional media, it is important for the teachers to have certain ability and skill to use media effectively and efficiently.
Kinds of Instructional Media
In general, there are three kinds of instructional media. They are audio, visual, and audio visual media. Audio media are media that can be listened to, while visual media are media that can be seen. The instructional media that involve the senses of sight and hearing are named as audio visual media (Kasbolah, 1993:57).
Finocchiaro (1973:155-185) mentions some examples of the media for each type. The visual media may include blackboard, textbook, real object, picture file, chart, pocket chart, flash card, word card, number card, flannel or felt board, magnetic board, opaque projector, overhead projector and transparency, kodachrome slide, filmstrip, and miscellaneous materials. Finocchiaro and Bonomo (1973:164) also suggest that every classroom should contain a file of pictures which can be used to give interesting, meaningful practice of a foreign language. The file should contain three kinds of pictures: (1) pictures of individual person and of individual object, (2) pictures of situation in which persons are doing something with object and in which the relationship of subjects or people can be seen, and (3) a series of pictures on one chart. The audio aids include record player, tape recorder, and language laboratory. The last, audio visual media cover film, television, and programmed instruction. Edgar Dale’s “Cone of Experience” (1969) — organized learning experiences according to the degree of concreteness each possesses as the diagram below.
The diagram shows that at the bottom is hands-on experience. As you ascend the cone, concrete experience begins to drop out, with stimuli becoming more abstract; the stimuli require more skill on the part of the learners to interpret the messages they carry. You can see why lectures, even illustrated lectures, are considered to be some of the most abstract types of presentations. For certain types of learning (such as changing attitudes or teaching motor skills), experiences at the bottom of the cone are more appropriate than those at the top. Learning experiences at the bottom of the cone tend to hold student attention longer and involve active student participation. Media at the top of the cone are said to be more passive but are suitable for transmitting large amounts of information quickly. Which is best depends upon your purposes and circumstances. While the Web is becoming popular for distributing other types of mediated messages, it is not always practical, and other types of media are more appropriate.
A. Real Objects
Students understand and retain the meaning of a word better when they have been shown or have touched some objects associated with it. For this reason, teachers are suggested to make a collection of everyday objects, including such things as newspaper, tickets, posters, bottles, fruit, vegetables, cans, dishes, etc (Finocchiaro, 1973:96). For example, the teacher uses apples, bananas, and peaches. He uses them as tools to employ a concept. The teacher emphasizes the meaning of the objects by showing and demonstrating them into some relevant activities such as eating them, put them into refrigerator. Further the students can also group the items under fruit or food. By doing so, they can recode information into a classification scheme to enable them to learn and to make sense of stimuli which they experience (Ornstein, 1977).
Gerlach and Elly (1980) mentions some characteristics about real objects and models. They recite that real objects have the potential of increasing realism, real objects are preferred when authencity is desired, real objects and models help reduce the gap between instruction and later performance, and real objects and models can frequently be handled, manipulated, assembled, and observed very closely. If learning is increased through the use of several senses, then real objects will facilitate learning.
Heinich, Molenda, and Russel (1993) state that models and real objects are the recommended media when realism is essential for learning-with concepts that involve three dimensions; tasks that require identification by size, shape, or color; and hands-on or laboratory practice. Their suggestions about the ways to use real objects and models are shown below:
a. Familiarize yourself with the object or model before using it in classroom instructions
b. Practice your presentation. If your object or model is working one, be sure you know how it works and what might go wrong
c. Be sure your audience does not get the wrong impression of the size, shape, or color of the real object if the model differs from it in these respects
d. Whenever feasible, encourage your students to handle and manipulate the objects and model under study
e. Store objects out of sight when they are not being used for instruction. Left standing around, they are likely to take students’ attention away from other classroom activities.
Finocchiaro (1973:163) stated that the using and collecting of real objects depend upon the age group, the learner level and the presentation method which is employed. Furthermore, he mentioned that young learner might enjoy playing at housekeeping or moving about the rooms to hide or to find things.
For this reason, all teachers should make a collection of everyday objects, including such things as newspapers, tickets, menus, flags, bottles, cans, containers, toys (for children), magazines, dishes, bits of cloth, etc.
A collection of this sort will facilitate the presentation and practice of many language items. To illustrate – at beginning levels, the names of articles may be practiced first within categories and later at random. Students may be asked to name them, put them somewhere, give them to someone, etc. At a later date, they may be placed on a table and you or student may remove one of the objects. Another student may be asked to name the article which is no longer there using the verb in the past (e.g., Was it the …?). Many language games are possible, of course. A student may be asked to leave the room or to close his eyes and then guess what is missing from the collection on the table. He will ask questions of his classmates (limited to their level of language learning) such as, “Is it round (square, etc.)?”, “Is it food?”, “Is it green?”, etc.
In other lessons, you may exhibit a train ticket and map and begin a dialogue about traveling. Restaurant menus also form an excellent introduction to students for words for different kinds of food and for expressions related to meals. Students may pretend they are ordering a meal or that some piece of the china or silver service in a restaurant is dirty or missing from the table. Negatives can be practiced by having the students tell what foods they dislike. An activity using real objects which students of all ages enjoy is the setting up of a food or clothing store. All sorts of greetings and courtesy formulas, as well as concepts of sizes, brands, weights, measures, and prices may thus be practiced in a true-to-life situation.
B. The Picture File
Every classroom should contain a file of pictures which can be used to give interesting, meaningful practice in the sounds, structures, and vocabulary of the foreign language. Only pictures used in developing language items will be treated here. A file of up-to-date pictures reflecting authentic aspects of culture is also essential.
The file should contain three kinds of pictures: (1) pictures of individual persons and of individual objects; (2) pictures of situations in which persons are “doing something” with objects and in which the relationship of objects and/or people can be seen; (3) a series of pictures (six to ten) on one chart. You may wish to create several of these charts: for instance, one for count nouns (the objects or furniture in the classroom, for example); one for mass nouns (foods, for example); one for count and mass nouns placed at random; one for words illustrating difficult consonant blusters without regard to “count” and “mass”; one for work activities; sports; etc.
The file should contain more than one picture of individuals and of objects. This is necessary if students are not to assume that your finger touching the fender of a car, for example, indicates that “car” (the word you are teaching) and “fender” are synonyms. Many pictures of different kinds or sizes of cars, or pens, or boys, or women, or whatever you re teaching and, in addition, a sweeping movement or your hand over the entire picture will ensure the proper association of word and object of person.
What criteria should guide us in choosing or, drawing pictures? Pictures should be large enough to be seen by all students. The pictures of individual objects or people should be as simple as possible. Some of them should contain colour for later use in teaching adjectives of colour or in writing dialogues or compositions. The pictures should contain no captions of any kind since you will thus be able to use them in later stages to have students recall the association of word and object. Situational pictures should not contain captions either since you may want the same scene to serve as the basis for various oral discussions.
C. Flash Card, Word Cards, Number Cards
Cards with individual words (either printed or in manuscript) can be prepared and filed within the same categories and in the same order as. the individual pictures. The cards should be about twelve inches long and four inches wide.
Beginners can be asked to match cards and pictures as soon as they can read. They can also match the cards with words written at the blackboard on a large cardboard.
The individual cards can serve as word cues in the oral substitution drills outlines in Chapter III. They can be used for review purposes (“Make your own sentences using this word”) or in playing games (associations, synonyms, anonyms, word families).
Commands written on the cards can help students gain instant recognition of the written symbols, if they are asked to carry out the command as soon as the card is flashed. Practice of this type is helpful in the beginning stages.
Cards on which low numbers have been written can be used to practice such expressions as “How many?”, “Do (you) (have) (six) of them?”, and “No, (I) (have) only (four)”. High numbered cards will enable you to call on students by number instead of by name, thus, reinforcing listening comprehension. Later, the students themselves can call on their classmates, using the number cards.
Small cards are inva1uble in pairing your students for realistic, paired practice. Two students turn in their seats, face each other, and, using the cue cards as a stimulus, engage in a conversation.
D. The Pocket Chart
This simple teaching tool is an excellent device for dramatizing word order and for teaching beginning reading. It is easily made by taking a piece of cardboard or hard paper (about two feet in length by about one foot in height) and pinning (stapling or gluing) to it two narrow pockets about two inches high.
The pocket chart can be used, for example, to teach negatives, interrogatives, and relative clauses. In a base sentence such as “Peter is here”, pushing apart the words is and here and inserting not or adding a particle meaning not dramatizes the formation and position of the negative in English.
Placing a card with Don’t before a request illustrates the simplicity of negative requests. The word order in expanded sentences becomes immediately clear as cards are moved to other positions before the eyes of the students.
Younger learners particularly will enjoy going to the pocket chart themselves and making questions from statements, placing not or don’t in sentences, or later changing questions to indirect questions or statements. In fact, it may be desirable to have younger students make small individual pocket charts so that they can “manipulate” sentences at their seats as you or a student does so at the large pocket charts in front of the room.
Basic words (forms of be, do and have), and frequency words, pronouns, names, punctuation marks, etc., can be kept on individual cards in clearly marked envelopes for easy reference and quick changes.
E. The Flannel or Felt Board
Another widely used visual device is the flannel board. This inexpensive device is an excellent way of presenting and practicing structures and vocabulary and of clarifying the socio-cultural situations in which language is used. In the case of younger students, it can also provide an effective medium for dramatizing stories.
It consists of a piece of low-cost flannel, pinned to, glued on, or simply laid over a board – even a blackboard. On it can be placed pictures of paper (backed with flannel or sandpaper to make them stick to the flannel) or flannel cloth cutouts of various items (Flannel adheres easily to flannel).
The board may be used as a device for demonstration when you are telling a fairy tale, or for showing, role changes in a dialogue. It is very useful, too, in illustrating various structures and vocabulary items.
For example, you may prepare several pictures of silverware and table china. Students may then be asked to find the items and place them on the board. This might be followed with questions such as, “Where’s the spoon?”, eliciting the answer, “To the right of the plate”. Not only would an experience of this kind be useful in teaching agency and directional propositions and other vocabulary items, but it also affords an opportunity to talk about differences and similarities in table settings, meals, the use of hands, end so on.
A large letter X and a question mark made of flannel will enable you to teach Wh questions (Who, Where, etc.), inverted questions, and negative words. For example, a cutout of a girl and a stove (the stove symbolizing the kitchen) may afford practice in “Alice is in the kitchen”. By adding a question mark above the two cutouts, students will practice “Is Alice in the kitchen?” or “Where did Alice go?” By placing a large X on the stove, you can elicit “Alice isn’t (or is not) in the kitchen” or “She didn’t go into the kitchen”. By quickly having a student place a bed, tree, couch, etc., on the board, students can continue with “She’s in the bedroom” or “She went into bedroom”. You can devise other symbols to which you and students will attach the same meaning; etc., (is going to or went); (comeback); (a place).
A use of the flannel board which has been popular in many countries is one in which we cut the figure of a person from another piece of flannel: the head, ears, nose, mouth, eyes, neck, arms, body, legs. We’ve named it “Poor Jim”. Poor Jim service to practice the names of parts of the body, words like right, and left, and names of illnesses. (When a student points to various parts of Jim’s body, for example, a classmate would say, “Jim has a stomach .ache”, or “Jim. had a sore foot yesterday”, or “He would have gone to the party, but he had a sore throat”, or whatever you are teaching).
Fairy tales are more enjoyable to young students as some of the characters are placed dramatically on the flannel board and moved around as need be (Try doing with “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” someday, even with adult students).
Another amusing way in which the flannel board can be used is as follows: Make a cutout of a house or a room or anything which lends itself to this game. Let us assume you have made a house. Two students go to the flannel board. One removes the window and says, “This is a funny (peculiar) house. It doesn’t have a window”. The next student quickly places the window back, removes the roof, and says, “Oh, yes, it has a window, but it doesn’t have a roof’, etc. Two or three pairs of students may play this game during a class period.
F. The Magnetic Board
This can be used in much the same way as the flannel board. Small magnets are needed to keep the materials in place. It is not as easily available, however. The initial cost is greater, and the language teacher without a room he can call his own will 1’alk at carrying it, dramatic though it may be.
G. The Opaque Projector
This is a comparatively inexpensive, simple to operate machine which enables you to project—on a white wall or screen—anything printed, drawn, written, or painted. Such flat materials as sheets of paper on which is written material to be proofread, pages still bound in a book, pictures, photographs, small maps, graphs, or stamps can be effectively shown to a large class by means of the machine.
H. The Overhead Projector and Transparencies
The overhead projector is gaining in popularity for several reasons: It permits the teacher to face the class in a fully lighted room while writing or making quick line drawings on the transparencies used with the machine. The teacher may write with a grease pencil or water-soluble marking pen, both of which are erasable.
By utilizing overlays (transparencies which are either attached to the sides of the master transparency or superimposed on it), you can gradually build up stories, longer sentences, or paragraphs, by removing or folding an overlay back, phrases or words from a paragraph or picture can be removed, thus requiring students to recall them. Overlays can also be prepared for use with dialogues or drills of various kinds to illustrate that alternative utterances or single words may be substituted in slots or for whole utterances.
I. Kodachrome Slides
These are especially suitable for giving students cultural insights and appreciation. Colorful slides permit students to get the full impact of some aspects of the foreign country directly, without any need to hear an explanation in their native tongue or to translate inwardly. The slides can he held as long as needed. The language used to discuss them can be as simple or as complex as feasible: The students themselves can be asked to tell what they see.
Filmstrips (slides which are arranged in sequence and which can be projected by a filmstrip projector on a wall or on a screen) can be used effectively to practice vocabulary and structures while taking the pupils out of the confines of the classroom. Filmstrips need not have been prepared specifically for foreign language teaching. Any strip illustrating a fairy or folk tale or illustrating some aspect of the foreign country can be used.
The filmstrip—like slides—has several advantages. It can be stopped at each frame for as long as you desire. It can be turned back or pushed forward to any frame. Since it contains no sound, you and later the students can create appropriate utterances for each frame within the ability of the students. In harmony with the “spiral” approach, the same filmstrip or slide can be shown many times throughout the program, each time with more complex structures.
K. Still Pictures
Still pictures are photographic (or photographic like) representations of people, places, and things. The still pictures most commonly used in instruction are photographs, postcards, illustrations from books, periodicals, catalogs, and so on. (Heinich, Molenda, and Russel, 1993). They also stated the advantages of using still pictures. For example, nonprojected still pictures can translate abstract ideas into more realistic format. They allow instruction to move down from the level of verbal symbols in Dale’s cone of experience to a more concrete level. Still pictures are easy to use because they do not require any equipment. They are relatively inexpensive. Many can be obtained at little or no cost. Still pictures can be used in many ways at all level of instruction and in all disciplines.
Furthermore, pictures play an important role in facilitating the teaching and learning process. Wright (1989:29) states that pictures are very important to help students to retell experience or understand something since they can represent place, objects, people, etc.
Pictures and illustrations are not a substitute for books and other learning activities. Their function is a helping or supplementary one. Pictorial materials have proved their value in ways already enumerated, the chief four of which are (1) motivating interest and learning, (2) providing source material for study and investigation, (3) providing artistic and esthetic development, and (4) providing cues which led to creative effort (Kinder, 1950:102).
Yuswotomo (1991:14) states that there are two kinds of pictures that can be used as teaching media. They are the original pictures and the pictures of illustration. The original pictures show the concrete shapes of the objects, or person related to the topic being discussed. The pictures of illustration, on the other hand, are made in order to display a situation or an object needed for the teaching activities such as the illustration of a conversation between mother and father in a dining room.
According to Wright (1989:2) pictures contribute to interest and motivation, a sense of context of the language, and a specific reference point or stimulus. He also stated that picture can be useful on emphasizing the teaching of writing and speaking, listening and reading integratedly.
The most benefit of a picture can make is to contribute to the student’s understanding of a more general context which may be made up of pictures, the teacher’s actions, the student’s actions, sound effects and words. This overall context of new language will have meaning to the students (Wright, 1994:128).
When selecting a picture, some essentials should be kept in mind: grammatical structures which can be practiced with it, items of vocabulary which can be taught with it, size, clarity, appeal to the eye, and entertainment value. It is useful and time consuming to mark each picture on the reverse side and indicate the language item it can be used for (Ernestova, 1988).
Brown (1983:184) stated some research results on still pictures. The results of the research show that (1) pictures stimulates students’ interest, (2) well-selected and adapted pictures help the students understanding and remembering the content of presented materials, (3) simplified pictures or still drawing which contain simple line drawings are more effective as information transmitters than shaded drawings or real rile photographs, (4) the colorful pictures will reduce the teaching value of the pictures if the instructional materials do not involve color, (5) a sequence of still picture is more effective than a single picture whenever we want to teach concept involving motion, and (6) the use of arrows or other marks as symbolic cueing can clarify the message to be communicated. Still pictures can be in the forms of flats, opaque pictures, filmstrips, or slides.
Dale (1963:243) stated that still pictures have unique advantages of their own. They can bring us close to the very point of visual context with reality for teaching purposes or change the size of an object too small or too large to be visually understood in its actual dimensions.
Heinich (in Kasbolah, 1995:71) defines realia as the visual instructional aids which are most closely associated with a direct purposeful learning experience. It is very easy to buy mode of object or thing made from plastics. The examples of realia are plastic fruit, kitchen utensils, dolls, cars, furniture, etc.
Kasbolah et al. (1995:71) state that realia which are brought in EFL classroom would stimulate learning of the young students, who like to see, to touch, and to hold things. Finocchiaro (1973:163) mention that students understand and retain meaning of a word when they have shown or have touched some objects associated with it. For that reason, the teacher of language in elementary school should make a collection of every day objects, especially for children, toys would be better.
M. Drawings or Teacher Made Drawing
Brown (1983:83) stated that the most important aspect on drawings is the communicative aspect. Drawings will be in the form of sketches, graphics, cartoons, or other visual presentation. The practice of drawing will develop skill of drawing itself.
According to him again (1983:90), there are two important steps on drawing. They are starting figure drawing with simple stick figure and adding detail to character. Sketches of real thing can establish environments or activities.
N. Charts, Posters, and Cartoons
An important purpose of many charts according to Brown (1983:112) is to present visually ideas or concepts which are likely to be difficult to understand if they are presented in oral or written form. Chart also can highlight important points of presentations. An effective chart tends to be composed of mixture of several different types of graphics, pictures, drawings, graphs, diagrams, and verbal materials (Brown 1983:112).
Brown et al. (1983:112) said “Pictures in the charts should be big enough so the students sitting in the back of the class can still see them well.” The size of the picture used in the charts depends on the kinds of pictures; situation pictures must be bigger than pictures of one object.
A chart should have a clear, well-defined instructional purpose (Heinich, 1993). In general (especially for younger students), it should express only one major concept or configuration of concepts. The teacher should be sure that his charts contain the minimum of visual and verbal information needed for understanding. So, the most important thing that should be kept in mind is “keep it simple”. It is also stated by Callahan (1982) that “clarity, simplicity, and dramatics are essential consideration”.
According to Finocchiaro (1964:89) in Farida (1997), the series of pictures on a chart will be found extremely helpful in giving extensive practice in numerous structures with a limited known vocabulary. In giving the sentence pattern, a teacher should make sure all words (for pictures) could fit logically into it.
The other kind of visual aids is a poster. Poster is designed to convey information vividly, attractively and economically. According to Brown (1983:118), the more directly the design suggests the message to be conveyed, the more effective posters are. Brown et al (1983:118) also mentions the characteristics of the best poster. The best poster has just one purpose. The treatment is forceful and clear. It is full of color and the size is large enough to be easily seen and understood in brief glance.
Cartoons are one of the major forms of graphic communication. Brown says that cartoons have power to capture attention and influence attitude and behavior. The message of the cartoon is usually clearly communicated. He also mentions the characteristics of cartoon. The first one is that it has minimum details and the second one is that it contains of familiar symbols or characters, and stereotypes that are quickly recognized and understood.
O. Flash Cards
Flash cards can be in the form of photograph, drawings, or pictures cut from magazines and newspapers. According to Suleiman (1985), to be effective, pictures or drawings that are used in flash cards must fulfill some criteria. The criteria are as follows: (1) pictures must be good, clear, interesting, easy to understand and big enough to show detail; (2) pictures must be important and appropriate with the problem discussed; (3) pictures must be right and authentic. It means that the pictures have the same condition with the real things; (4) pictures must be simple. Complicated pictures will make students be confused and fail to find the real meaning of the pictures.
The pictures in flash cards must be big enough so that all students can see them clearly. The size of flash cards can be about 21 x 17 cm. The number of flash cards for vocabulary practices in the classroom can be seven to ten pieces of cards. According to content, there are two types of flash cards. First, flash cards which describe one action, one person, and one object. This type can be used to present new vocabulary, practices, and test some patterns. The second type describes a situation consisting some activities, people, or objects. This type can be used to describe situations such as a picnic, birthday, at the restaurant, in the class, in the kitchen, and other situations. This type can also be used to introduce dialogue, practice sentence patterns, and stimulate students to make composition orally or in written form (Suleiman, 1985:86).
According to Cox (1999:177), children are natural puppeteers. People can see any young child with a stuffed animal, toy car, or object that can become an extension of the body and voice, and people will see a born puppeteer. Therefore, teacher is better to be able to make and provide puppets in the classroom. Puppet is a perfect way for children to tell story. Cox (1999) states that a simple way to relieve and retell a story is through the use of puppets. By making puppets, students can play a part of or an entire story or create their own story based on a story’s characters.
Making puppets should be kept simple and left up to students. Teacher can ask the students to make puppets. They should use their imagination in creating puppets; their ideas are so much better than those of adults. Teacher should also collect puppet-making materials. Many of the materials needed are everyday objects that would be discarded anyway.
Functions and Roles of Instructional Media
(Make Easy, interested, creative,
A. Functions of Media
As a rule, educational experiences that involve the learner physically and that give concrete examples are retained longer than abstract experiences such as listening to a lecture. Instructional media help add elements of reality — for instance, including pictures or highly involved computer simulations in a lecture. Media can be used to support one or more of the following instructional activities:
1. Gain attention. A picture on the screen, a question on the board, or music playing as students enter the room all serve to get the student’s attention.
2. Recall prerequisites. Use media to help students recall what they learned in the last class, so that new material can be attached to and built upon it.
3. Present objectives to the learners. Hand out or project the day’s learning objectives.
4. Present new content. Not only can media help make new content more memorable, media can also help deliver new content (a text, movie, or video).
5. Support learning through examples and visual elaboration. One of the biggest advantages of media is to bring the world into the classroom when it is not possible to take the student into the world.
6. Elicit student response. Present information to students and pose questions to them, getting them involved in answering the questions.
7. Provide feedback. Media can be used to provide feedback relating to a test or class exercise.
8. Enhance retention and transfer. Pictures enhance retention. Instructional media help students visualize a lesson and transfer abstract concepts into concrete, easier to remember objects.
9. Assess performance. Media is an excellent way to pose assessment questions for the class to answer, or students can submit mediated presentations as classroom projects.
According to Davies (1980: 193), the functions of media are as follows:
1. Aids to instruction. Media serve to help teachers and instructors manage instruction more efficiently. Media assist teachers to communicate more effectively and take over the operating role of instruction from teacher and instructors.
2. Aids to learning. Media serve to help students learn more efficiently. Media promote understanding, assist in the transfer of training, and assist in assessment. Media can be used in assessing mastery performance.
Brown (1983) states that the functions of media are:
1. to save time,
2. to stimulate interest,
3. to encourage students’ participation,
4. to provide a review,
5. to help students learn communicate ideas visually,
6. to provide medium for individual or group reports, and
7. to make a classroom dynamic, relevant, and attractive.
Callahan (1982:360) stated that the effectiveness of involving media in teaching middle school students is as follows:
Audio-visual materials and devices can add interest and variety to your classes. Skillful use of audio visual material can be great motivator and can add life and color to the classroom. Furthermore, the use of audio-visual aids puts your points across. Well-used audio-visual aids add to the impact of the presentation. The cliche that one picture is worth a thousand words is true. The more important truth is that the skillfully used audio-visual aids reinforce the presentation so that you have both the picture and the thousand words work for you.
Gutchow (1981) in Sugiharto (1994) states that instructional media are instrument of motivation and they can also stimulate interest in language program. Furthermore, he states that with the help of media, the use of the students’ mother tongue can be avoided.
The main function of the instructional media usage is to support the instructional interaction between the teacher and the student (Latuheru, 1988:14). It means that within teaching and learning process, there should be two-ways communication, between the teacher and the students and among the students. This communication is to deliver the instructional materials.
Davies (1980:193) divides the function of media into two kinds. They are aids to instruction and aids to learning. The first function is that media serve to help teachers and instructors manage instruction more efficiently. Media assist teachers to communicate more effectively and take over the operating role of instruction form teacher and instructors. The second function is that media serve to help students learn more efficiently. Media promote understanding, assist in the transfer of training, and assist in assessment. Media can be used in assessing mastery performance.
Brown (1983) states that the function of media are saving the time, stimulating interest, encouraging students’ participation, providing a review, helping students learn to communicate ideas visually, providing medium for individual or group reports, and making a classroom dynamic, relevant, and attractive. Media can save the time mean that most media presentation requires a short time to transmit their messages. Media can make class situation more alive since the media can interest the students and attract students’ attention (Finocchiaro, 1993 in Farida, 1997). In case of media can provide a review for the learners is supported by Dale (1969) states that instructional media not only give concrete experiences needed by the receivers (the students) but also help the students to integrate the previous experiences. Media are able to make the students memorize some prior experiences and events more easily. Richard (1990) states that instructional media function to assist learners in learning and remembering the important concepts of a lesson.
Encyclopedia of Educational Media Communications and Technologies (1978) states that we can get greater learning results when media are integrated into the learning process; that equal amounts of learning are often accomplished in less time by using educational media; and that media generally facilitate learning and are preferred by the students when compared with traditional instruction. Media can increase interest, comprehension and retention; it is based on the hypothesis that the more abstract the context of a message, the more difficult it is to comprehend. Thus, it can be said that media have the ability to add concreteness to any learning situation.
Instructional media can enhance and promote learning and support a teacher’s instruction. Media can also be used effectively in formal education situation when the teacher is not available or is working with other students. It means that media replace the teacher when he must leave the class for certain purpose, because the class has to go on. The students can study through the media. Besides, media help the teacher become a creative manager of the learning experiences (Heinich, 1993).
Dale (1969) stated that there are several things instructional media can do in the teaching process such as heighten motivation for learning, provide freshness and variety, appeal to students of varied abilities, encourage active participation, give needed reinforcement, assure order and continuity of thought, and widen the range of students’ experience.
Furthermore Dale (1969:108) state that an experience of doing calls for a good deal of concrete, direct, immediate action in which people make full use of our senses and often of their muscles as well. When people merely observe something, however, the experience requires less physical or concrete action than an experience of doing. And in people symbolic experiences, virtually all the manifest physical action has been removed; people deal more with the experience through their thought or their general ideas.
B. Roles of Instructional Media
Richards (in Sugiharto, 1994), states that instructional media have several roles. Three of them are attention role, communicative role, and retention role. Attention role of media is to attract the students’ attention, to heighten the students’ curiosity, and to convey the information. Media can make the information more attractive. Picture and real objects are easily processed to catch and hold the young learner’s attention.
In its communicative role, media can function to enhance comprehension and to assist the learner in understanding the message. Instructional media can increase the communicative power of the instruction by explaining the message contained in the instruction. In other words, the communication role of media is a way of clarifying the message by making explicit certain concepts of the lesson.
The retention role of Instructional media concerns with retention of information presented in the instruction. Retention media, although seen and recorded by the learner during the lesson, have their effect later on when the time comes to remember the information. Many people believe that images are better retained in memory than words. It should be noted that memory processes are complex, and images are not necessarily the main determinant of retention. Instructional media are used to assist learner in learning and in remembering the important concepts of a lesson.
Media are generally said to have two main functions: they serve to make Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) livelier, and they are an integral part of the teaching/learning process (Van Els et al. 1984). With respect to the first function, visual and audiovisual media mostly provide additional information. This includes, for instance, furnishing the classroom with wall charts, notice boards, maps, posters, maps, pictures, etc., or providing visual or audiovisual support for part of the teaching programme, for instance, the cultural background part. With respect to the second function mentioned above it should be observed that the actual use of media largely depends on the particular phase in the cycle of teaching/learning activities in which they are used.
In the presentation phase, visual media (flashcards and filmstrips) provide the visual support for the acoustic memory (Schiffler 1973:22 as in Van Els 1984:291) and aid the semantization of the language material which has been presented auditorily. In the repetition phase, visual media may be used to aid the internalization of rules and to correct pronunciation. In situational exercises they may serve to initiate and guide practice. The exploitation phase media are especially important because they can provide the stimuli for free conversation.
Concerning the important of using visual media in teaching and learning activities in the classroom, the researcher is really interested in implementing the second function of media. It is very close related to the media that he uses in the classroom that is visual media. The role of media in an instructional situation according to Heinich (1993), is for supplemental of the “live” instruction in the classroom. This is in line with the statement of Finocchiaro (1973) stating that media can make a class situation more alive since the media can interest students and attract students’ attention.
From various functions of instruction media above, it can be concluded that instructional media are really important in teaching learning process. English teachers need to use instructional media in achieving the teaching objectives. However, the use of instructional media needs to be carefully made and planned. The teachers should follow some considerations in using instructional media in order to avoid difficulties and mistakes in using it in their teaching activities.
Wright (1989) mentions some considerations in selecting media.
First, it should be easy to prepare. If it is difficult to prepare, the teacher should not do it. But if it takes a lot of time and the teacher can use it many times with different classes, it is worth the effort.
Second, it should be easy to organize in the classroom. The teacher has to decide whether the effort of organizing a complicated activity is worthwhile. He has to consider that many activities require organizational time and energy.
Third, it should be interesting to the students and the teacher. If the activity the teacher is considering is unlikely to interest his students, then he will question whether it is worth doing.
Fourth, the language and the way the teacher wants the students to use the media will be authentic to the activity. The students will get more if the language they used is vital to the situation.
Instructional Media Selection and Use
From various functions of instructional media above, it can be concluded that instructional media are really important in teaching and learning process. English teachers need to use instructional media in achieving the teaching objectives. However, the use of instructional media needs to be carefully made and planned. The teachers should follow some considerations in using instructional media in order to avoid difficulties and mistakes in using it in their teaching activities.
Wright (1989) mentions some consideration in selecting media. First, it should be easy to prepare. If it is difficult to prepare, the teacher should not do it. If it takes a lot of time and the teacher can use it many times with different classes, it is worth the effort. Second, it should be easy to organize in the classroom. The teacher has to decide whether the effort of organizing a complicated activity is worthwhile. He has to consider that many activities require organizational time and energy. Third, it should be interesting to the students and the teachers. If the teacher’s activity does not make the students interested, then he will question whether it is worth doing. Fourth, the language and the way the teacher wants the students to use media will be authentic to the activity. The students will get more if the language they use is vital to the situation. Fifth, the activity must give rise to a sufficient amount of language in order to justify its conclusion in the language lesson. If it does not, the teacher should not do it. In choosing and using kinds of media, a teacher should also consider the importance of the media in attaining the objectives of the work, the availability of the media as compared with other media, and the effectiveness of the media as compared to the other media. It means that in using the media, the teacher must be sure that the media used are really important, good, and suitable for the class condition and material given.
After the teacher feels sure that the media have fulfilled the requirements above, the teacher can use the media in class. However, it is also important that the teacher know that he/she cannot use the same media too often, because it makes the students feel bored. So, the teacher has to have other kinds of media in teaching since the students need to have variations in learning so that they feel interested and motivated in learning the lesson. It does not matter for the teacher to find and have other kinds of media. There are still many kinds of media that can be used for teaching.
Steps in the Implementation of Instructional Media
One you conclude that using instructional media will help you achieves your explicit and/or implicit goals, it is useful to apply the basic steps in the instructional development process to choose and apply the appropriate media. These basic steps are outlined below (St. Cloud State University, 1997):
1. Review instructional goals, objectives, audience and instructional strategy
2. Determine the best medium for your lesson components
3. Search for and review existing media/materials
4. Adapt existing media/materials if necessary
5. If new media/materials need to be developed:
a. Determine format, script, visuals, etc.
b. Draft materials and media
c. Check for clarity and flow of ideas
6. Conduct formative evaluation
Factors in Media Selection
Step #2 in the instructional development outline above (“Determine the best medium for your lesson components”) is among the most confusing aspects of the process. Models for media selection range from simple procedures or algorithms to complex theoretical schemes. Some are based on the communication ‘channel’ being used (audio, video, etc) or the characteristics of the media itself. Other emphasize the learning outcomes being addressed, while still others focus on learner attributes or educational theory or the teaching-learning process.
Probably all of these factors are worthy of consideration. Strauss and Frost (1999) identify nine key factors that should influence media selection: institutional resource constraints, course content appropriateness, learner characteristics, professor attitudes and skill levels, course learning objectives, the learning relationships, learning location, time (synchronous versus asynchronous), and media richness level. These factors are summarized in the following figure:
Strauss and Frost (1999) identify nine key factors that should influence media selection
Reiser and Dick (1996) distill these nine factors down to three major criteria for selecting instructional media: practicality, student appropriateness, and instructional appropriateness
1. Practicality: Is the intended media practical in that the media is available, cost efficient, time efficient, and understood by the instructor?
2. Student Appropriateness: Is the intended media appropriate for the developmental and experiential levels of the students?
3. Instructional Appropriateness: Is the intended media appropriate for the planned instructional strategy? Will the media allow for the presentation of the proposed lesson in an efficient and effective manner? Will the media facilitate the students’ acquisition of the specific learning objectives?
Practicality. Gagné, Briggs, and Wager (1992) suggest that instructors address the following series of practical question before implementing any instructional media:
1. What size of group must be accommodated in one room on a single occasion?
2. What is the range of viewing and hearing distance for the use of the media?
3. How easily can the media be “interrupted” for pupil responding or other activity and for providing feedback to the learners?
4. Is the presentation “adaptive” to the learners’ responses?
5. Does the desired instructional stimulus require motion, color, still pictures, spoken words, or written words?
6. Is sequence fixed or flexible in the medium? Is the instruction repeatable in every detail?
7. Which media provide best for incorporating most of the conditions of learning appropriate for the objective/
8. Which media provide more of the desired instructional events?
9. Do the media under consideration vary in ‘affective impact’ for the learners?
10. Are the necessary hardware and software items obtainable, accessible, and storable?
11. How much disruption is caused by using the media?
12. Is a backup easily available in case of equipment failure, power failure, film breakage, and so on?
13. Will instructors need additional training?
14. Is a budget provided for spare parts, repairs, and replacement of items that become damaged?
15. How do cost compare with probable effectiveness?
In a similar fashion, Douglas College (n.d.) recommends that you proceed by considering what you already know about the media available and then begin asking yourself a series of questions that eliminate what isn’t feasible or possible. Typical questions that can help you decide on the appropriate media include the following.
• What are the most important tasks or requirements? What are my learning outcomes?
• Based on the learning outcomes, what are the most applicable media attributes?
• Are there any learning materials already available that I might be able to use?
• Should I consider using more than one technology or medium? Will they augment one another or detract from one another?
• Can student location, work schedule or other factors of access be addressed by the use of available technology?
• Where will I be teaching the material? What are the environmental factors?
• Do I have the skills needed to produce effective media? Do I have the resources to learn?
• Can the medium be produced by the time it is needed?
• Can the production, maintenance and operation costs be afforded?
• Does the medium fit the policies/programs at the college?
• Is the medium a practical choice given its environment?
• Is the technology I want to use readily available? Is it easy to use?
• What is the main benefit to me of using the technology?
• What are the benefits for students?
Appropriateness. The first of the above set of questions (What are the most important tasks or requirements? What are my learning outcomes? Based on the learning outcomes, what are the most applicable media attributes?) focuses on media selection by learning outcome. Gagné, Briggs, and Wager (1992) recommend that instructors apply the following exclusion and inclusion criteria in selecting media for the various common learning outcomes:
Learning Outcome Exclusions Selections
Intellectual Skills • Exclude media having not interactive feature • Select media providing feedback to learner responses
Cognitive Strategies • Exclude media having not interactive feature • Select media providing feedback to learner responses
Verbal Information • Exclude only real equipment or simulator with no verbal accompaniments. • Select media able to present verbal messages and elaboration.
Attitudes • Exclude only real equipment or simulator with no verbal accompaniments. • Select media able to present realistic picture of human model and the model’s message
Motor Skills • Exclude media having no provision for learner response and feedback • Select media making possible direct practice of skill, with informative feedback
Regarding media richness and instructional appropriateness, the following table specifies the various characteristics of common media that should be considered in the selection process (Newby, Stepich, Lehman, & Russell, 2000):
Learning will be enhanced
if media: Real
Objects Text (handouts, books, etc) Easel,
or computer presentations 35 mm
Slides Video (tape, discs, TV) Graphics (photos, diagrams) Audio
(tape, CD) Computer software
shows motion √ √
reproduces sounds √ √
shows realistic images √ √ √ √
is portable √ √
can be used as an aid or reference after the lesson √
allows drawing, writing or highlighting during lesson √ √ √
allows students to interact √ √
can be used independently √ √ √ √ √
allows user to review or control pace √ √ √ √ √ √
allows students to touch or see objects √
allows observation of dangerous processes or distant locations √ √
can be easily modified √ √ √
can be easily reordered √ √ √ √
Allows participants to respond simultaneously √ √
shapes attitudes √
presents problem solving situations √ √
Last but not least are your constraints. Constraints are addressed in both the Strauss and Frost (1999) and Reiser and Dick (1996) models. Dick, Carey, & Carey (2001) specify three major constraints operating on media selection, each of which may impede the selection process. These constraints include the following:
1. (Un)availability of Materials: Using existing instructional materials can facilitate the creation of instructional units; however, if no appropriate materials exist, then the instructor must create the materials. This usually leads to a production constraint.
2. Production Constraints: Creating quality instructional media can be a costly, in both time and money, enterprise. A central question to answer is what level of media quality is acceptable, that is, both time and cost efficient as well as instructionally effective.
3. Instructor Facilitation: Most forms of instructional media involve teacher modeling, demonstration, implementation, or more broadly, facilitation. The amount or difficulty of this process of media facilitation may inhibit a teacher’s ability to effectively utilize the particular media.
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