Date: 3/29/99

Time: 2:35

Type: Symposium

Number: 46

Playing to the crowd: Audience-friendly multimedia development

*W.W. Hoback, Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0816
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Distance education is significantly different from traditional classroom education. For example, distance learning lacks direct feedback and there are time lags between lecture presentation and audience attendance. Further distance education lacks classroom unity, causing students to miss opportunities of question and answer sessions. Beyond these limitations, another difference may exist. Multimedia including webpages designed to support traditional classes may not convey information equally to distance students. Distance students may learn better when provided with lecture notes and web resources that are tailored to their needs. I believe that multimedia designed to support lecture material should be constructed to stand alone, and can offer opportunities to learn through exploration and interpretation of the information. Recently, I co-developed a web page that explores a controversial scientific mystery- why aren't more insects associated with the ocean? Users participate in testing several alternative hypotheses. The hypotheses are presented plus short arguments and data that may both support and refute each hypothesis. Users become involved in inductive hypothesis testing, while integrating entomology, evolutionary biology, ecology, and physiology. At the same time, students are immersed in the scientific method. This form of web-based support will be discussed in the context of improving distance education.

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