This document discusses the use of digital media and learning management systems to enhance education. It provides an analysis using the SECTIONS framework to evaluate the appropriateness of technology for teaching and learning. Key factors discussed include students' access to technology, ease of use of the tools, costs, teaching approaches, types of interaction supported, organizational requirements, and advantages/disadvantages of new technologies. The conclusion is that information technologies allow for advances in education by providing a common platform for all students globally.

1. Media Enhanced Learning
PIDP 3240
Section –C: The Digital Media
SECTION REPORT
Instructor
Prof Pru Moore
VCC Bwy
Aman Biswas
Student ID - 000331986
Phone Number - 709 279 6731
Date of Submission: July18, 2012

2. In 1988, ACTIONS framework was created and that has been used successfully by a
number of organizations as a framework for selecting, using and evaluating technology in
distance education (Bates, 2005). This framework was subsequently revised in 2003 to become
SECTIONS, a practical tool in present age when provision of blended learning has increased and
constructivism is the backbone of teaching and learning. Especially the students who learn life
science with me (future doctors, researchers and scientists) has to have constructivist approach to
make projects and learn with real life experiences. I prefer LMS with blend of web 2.0 tools. A
Learning Management System (LMS) is a wonderful software provided to me by the portal
wiziq.com that automates the administrative tasks of training, such as registering users, tracking
courses in a catalogue, recording data, charting a user‟s progress toward certification, and giving
me provision to store my power presentations in my digitized library. These systems also serve
as a platform to deliver e-Learning to students. This is how these frame works differed as
instructional designs:
SECTIONS ACTIONS
S – student A – access
E – ease of use C – costs
C - costs T – teaching and learning
T – teaching and learning I – interactivity
I - interactivity O – organizational issues
O – organizational issues N – novelty
N - novelty S – speed
S – speed

3. SECTION analysis
S – Students. What do I know about the students regarding the appropriateness of the
technology?
I got the opportunity to start online delivery of lectures in year 2007 on wiziq.com. The first
challenge I had was that many of students in India who were so keen to join these classes either
had no PC at home or PC without internet connection or internet without broad band connection.
As reported by Bates and Poole, 2003, students‟ access to the internet must also be considered.
Many of the new programs as my own LMS delivery portal require large band width (Hughes,
2009). The type of internet provider that students have access to, will determine what Web 2.0
technologies they can readily access. For some students access to a computer may be a concern
(Bates & Poole, 2003), however the landscape of access to the internet is rapidly changing, and
today many students have access to social media and Web 2.0 on their smart phones (Magolda
and Platt, 2009). A significant number of students are not familiar with computers, and none of
them are familiar with e-learning. In the next 3 years I saw so many changes, almost all of my
students purchased computers and opted for broad band connections, suggesting they were
enjoying online sessions. Now all my students irrespective of which country they belong to can
catch me any time for lectures. Above all, the mobile companies have made services and devices

4. so reasonable that they have reached students in even far off villages in developing countries like
India.
E - Ease of use and reliability.
How easy is the technology to use for students and teachers? How reliable and
cost-effective is it?
Though for delivery of lectures, I prefer wiziq.com but the common second
generation web tools have opened a flood gate for easy applications and access.
A potential problem sometimes arises that few students are familiar with modern educational
constructivist approaches. Shift of paradigm sometimes take time but is fruitful in long run when
my students after learning with me go to professional institutes and find themselves more
confident in comparison to other students who lacked introduction to various tools. Although
there is a feeling that teaching with technology creates more work than face-to face teaching in a
well managed environment as the teacher has to work as part or a team of professionals.
Practically, I faced this difficulty only for couple of months, now I find this handier and time
saver as I have already abundant content loaded in my digital library as power points. It‟s cost
effective for a teacher so easy tool, as one has to pay only around $50 annually to be premium
member. For students there are lectures in public domain which will costs them nothing apart
from type of internet connectivity.

5. C – Costs. This includes time demands for teachers and support staff.
Though the time in my case varies from course to course ranging from
two months (for regular
grade 11 and 12, life science) to six months (for National Eligibility
cum Entrance Test, Medical College Admission Test, Council Of
Scientific and Industrial Research Exam, University Grant Commission
and Advanced Program in Biology), the general preparation required for the course is about two
months.
Wiziq.com provides 5-6 hours
tool education free for all
members of academic society.
Preparing materials (word One month
format/ power point slide) for
one course
Designing Web course by IT 3-4 hours About 2 months
experts of wiziq
Preparing interactive tests in 2 weeks
wiziq
Preparing video CD 1 week
- one 30 minutes film should
be done indoor or outdoor
Lecture delivery in virtual 1 to 2 hr
classroom
Student‟s test attempt 60 min About 3 hr/day
Test discussion with instructor 30 min
Revision of lecture/test from Varies as it is covered by
recordings students (self directed)

6. Since I have personnel PC and equipments like scanner/ printer/text books, it is not required to
spend more money on these, it is one time investment. Wiziq IT experts are always willing to
support new initiatives and modifications for know how of additional web 2.0 tools.
T (Teaching and Learning): What approaches to instruction best meet the type of learning?
Being a science teacher, my
programs involve amalgamation
of constructive and cognitive
approach. Most of topic related
to biochemistry or microbiology
require long term memory, a
cognitive approach. As many of my students have to be familiar with constructivist approach
(with elements of social reform) as they have to learn to work as a team for future research or
experimentation. My main motto is “It is not important how many data students hold within
couple of weeks after the end of lessons; it is important how many problem solving skills they
will have in the next five years when they will meet real life problems in professional
college/university”.
To get the most from it, this online training will be supported by media:
Extra personal discussions.

7. Providing text and graphics.
Giving links to important video on Youtube/DNAtube/Teachertube (which will cost
nothing to both learners and instructors).
Digital multimedia know how provided free of cost by wiziq IT experts.
I (Interactivity): What types of technologies support the desired forms of interaction?
This LMS allows much better communication and is
improving day by day.
Students and teacher –interactions.
World Wide Web, Workbook and video CD being the
important sources for interactions. The teachers‟ role is
– through interaction with students – to motivate their study and to enhance their
development as problem solving experts. Interactions are done through face to face
whenever required and online discussions.
Students with students. During lesions and examinations, through online course, students
are/will be motivated to work as a team to finish the given projects. They will be
provided help to have know how of Skype/GoogleTalk/Oovoo and such social networks.
Students and senior students are generally allowed to interact during sessions for
encouragement and to have know how of professional examinations from senior students.

8. Students and Online course includes text, pictures, short videos and interactive tests as
tools. Technology is changing people to interact socially and in learning environments
through digital media. New questions need to be considered, and some questions asked
previously are losing relevance. Technological changes are advancing rapidly in the 21st
century.
Students and video interactions. They catch watch videos loaded by instructor on
Youtube/DNAtube/Teachertube
Students and www.bisbio.in – students will be motivated to use all relevant data they can
find on this personal blog.
There will be a great improvement compared to when students are mainly passive listeners with
not much communication or project experience.
O (Organization): Organizational requirements and barriers are considered.
We have all the equipment we need and excellent support provided
by wiziq IT team members.
The only possible barrier is resistance by some students as how
effective is online course in comparison to face to face. If they can
understand the positive side of online courses from both learners
and instructors point of view in:
Saving time and gas cost to move away from home for learning/teaching.
Safety under your own roof.

9. Extra time available to revise from recordings for learners.
Easy access to more people for interaction from every corner of globe. I feel digitized
learning is knitting the world very firmly breaking barriers of boundaries, sex, caste,
religion and most importantly poor and rich.
On instructor‟s front it should motivate them to leave the dominating position and
accepting the challenging student centered approach which is very critical. To accept
project based planning, team work and pedagogic /e-learning skills as standards.
Clear vision and strategy developed by online teachers together could prevent many
possible educational problems.
N – Novelty. Advantages and disadvantages of new technology.
For some, online learning/ teaching may sound a
new concept, which need more of such approach
to bring rural and urban people on common
platform. Web 2.0 technologies allow for relatively intuitive, quick and easy use. “These tools
again are relatively simple to use….Posting video to sites such as YouTube is free, quick and
easy”. How quickly materials can be changed ties closely to an instructor‟s pedagogical
approach. Are they objectivist, constructivist or connectivist? If they are the former, speed

10. related to subject content developments, frequency of teaching material changes, ease of making
changes and who would be suited to make the change, may be a significant factor. If they are a
constructivist or connectivist these considerations will be less significant due to the structure and
organization that their program is likely to take. Questions to consider are, “What kind of
content do we want the learners to access? Where is it? Do we have to create it from scratch, or
does it already exist on the Web? Can learners find their own materials? (Bates, 2011). The fast
invention of new technologies has made instructors, life long learners.
S – Speed
Preparing of such course should not take more then 4.5 months for
one person. It can be stored in library for life long use and certain
modifications in future does not require much of time. Though few
points have to be considered always:
How fast is the pace of development of the subject matter ?
How frequently must materials be updated?
Which web 2.0 tools would best support for further revision or project making? How
easy and quick is it to make changes?
Can changes be handed over to someone else to do or must you make them?”

11. Conclusion
Information and communication technologies allow big
advances in the process of education as
well as in the aftermath for bringing all students from every
niche and globe to common platform. To get the best
results, education should be a well designed lifelong process
based on the practical needs of students. This project is designed to fulfill that condition. Also it
doesn‟t seek for big investments nor a change in educational systems should be done „in one
day‟. Students and teachers can choose the media they prefer (speech, book, notebook, web,
video…etc), and in few years all of them will find benefits of e-Learning.
The last but not least benefit of this project is students‟ familiarity with Learning
Management Systems, such as wiziq in my case and the constructive education they will get
through this program. That skill will be essential for almost all Lifelong learning courses they
will attend in their postgraduate carrier in professional college/university.

12. References
Bates, A., and Poole, G. (2003), Effective teaching with technology in higher education. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bates, T. (2011), Understanding web 2.0 and its implications for e-learning. In M. Lee, and
C. McLoughlin, (Eds.), Web 2.0 – based e-learning: Applying social informatics for
tertiary teaching (pp 21-42). Hershey: Information Science Reference.
Hughes, A. (2009). Higher education in a web 2.0 world. (May 12, 2009). JISC Publications.
Retrieved from:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/generalpublications/2009/heweb2.aspx
Magolda, P. & Platt, G. (2009), Untangling web 2.0’s influences on students’ learning. About
campus 14 (3), 10-16. Retrieved from:
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=15&hid
=13&sid=e7953502-dce4-43f0-9d98-2325a2a6d3c6%40sessionmgr13