Journal 4: Finding Students Who Learn Through Media - NETS V

Classrooms have been able to use web-based tools to help aid lessons and research projects, allowing access to primary source documents. Students have been encouraged to explore the digital age and incorporate it with learning. PrimaryAccess is a program that has helped researchers gain a better understanding of how educators can integrate student-authored media into the curriculum of a formal school setting. It also can help cut costs as it is a free on-line tool.

A study was done with two programs offered by PrimaryAccess to see if by using the programs the student’s learning ability improved as well. PrimaryAccess MovieMaker allows students to make short film documentaries that can be shown on-line. The documentaries can range in subject matter from social studies to science, but the tools used and process remains the same. PrimaryAccess Storyboard allows students to create visual narratives. A pilot study concluded that teachers were able to incorporate the program without any extra class time and the students using the tools preformed the same on teacher –designed tests as those who wrote traditional essays.

Further study was done by comparing the engagement levels of students using a web-based processor and those writing a traditional essay, showed that there are four different Media Engagement Profiles. The first is high technology/high content, these students engaged in both the historical content and the storyboard activity. Around 40% of the students fell into this category. The second is high technology/low content. They were engaged in the storyboard activity and had good content knowledge with only some factual errors. The third is low technology/high content. They were interested in historical content and wanted to give information beyond what was asked of them but were not engaged in the storyboard activity. The forth profile was low technology/low content. These students were not engaged in the historical content or the storyboard activity. Around 15% of the students fell into this category. That left 45% of the students in the second or third category.
How can you incorporate PrimaryAccess into your classroom?
PrimaryAccess is a free online tool that could be used in any classroom. While navigating through the website I found that it is easy to operate and has instructional sites and tools for teachers. Students would be able to work on group or individual projects. It would be a good substitute for presentations or essays. As seen by the research, since not every student was engaged by this media tool, I could sometimes give students options on how they wanted to present the information they gathered for a project. It could be through PrimaryAccess, essay, poster boards, power point, trivia games, or any other creative means.
Is PrimaryAccess an effective tool to reach all learning styles?
Tools like PrimaryAccess reach different learning styles. A kinesthetic learner may benefit the most from projects using these types of tools. When working on either the MovieMaker or Storyboard there will be movement, group interactions, student paced work, and tangible information that the student has gathered and is presenting. A student can feel ownership towards a lesson or concept. A visual learner may benefit from these tools because almost everything is done visually. Information is gathered through the Internet, primary documents, or textbooks. Then a script is written and a movie or story is created to view that presents the information. An auditory learner may have the most trouble with this style of learning. They learn by listening and talking. They can benefit from the creation of the storyboard or the movie. They are able to talk through the information they have found; they speak it and hear it from themselves or group members.

Bull, Alexander, and Ferster (2010). Finding students who learn with media. Learning & Leading in Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201002#pg1