Media Use In Educational Design

3 Interesting Articles in this edition of TC Record. http://www.tcrecord.org/ Media Comparison Studies: Problems and Possibilities by Bryan R. Warnick & Nicholas C. Burbules — 2007Background/Context: Media comparison studies aim to compare the relative effectiveness of different media at promoting educational outcomes. While these types of studies remain popular, they have been under attack for more than two decades. Critics of media comparison studies claim that continued studies are unhelpful because a great number of research projects have already shown that media produce “no significant difference” in learning outcomes. They also claim that the studies that do find a difference among media are flawed because of a conflation of “media” with “method.” These claims suggest the need for conceptual clarification. Information Literacy in the Laptop Classroom by Mark Warschauer — 2007Background/Context: Technological and economic changes have put a high premium on developing students’ information literacy and research skills. Previous attempts to deploy educational technology toward these ends have proved disappointing because K–12 teachers have difficulty integrating shared computers into instruction. In response, numerous schools and districts have piloted one-to-one programs, in which each student has access to a laptop computer connected wirelessly to the Internet throughout the school day. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This paper analyzes the information literacy and research practice in a purposely stratified selection of 10 one-to-one laptop K–12 schools in California and Maine. Software Infrastructure for Teachers: A Missing Link in Integrating Technology with Instructionby Yao-Ting Sung & Alan Lesgold — 2007Background: Based on analyses of the difficulties encountered during the process of integrating technology into instruction and the efforts made by researchers to overcome barriers to such integration, we propose that the efforts made to date (e.g., increasing the availability of computer equipment and enhancing computer literacy, support, and training) are not sufficiently comprehensive to achieve the goals of improving teaching efficiency and developing innovative teaching methods. Objectives: The objective of this research commentary is to highlight the importance of the software infrastructure for teachers (SIT) to promoting the integration of information technology into instruction.