MEDIA AND MATERIALS

 Media and Materials 

MANIPULATIVES

Real objects-such as coins, tools, artifacts, plants and animals are some of the most accesible, intriguing, and involving materials in educational use. They re known as manipulatives because students may handle and inspect them. 

Real objects may be used as is, or you may modify them to enhance instruction. Examples of modification include the following. 

Cutaways: devices such as machines with one side cut away to allow close observation of the inner working.

Specimens: actual plants, animals, or parts thereof preserved for convenient inspection.

Exhibit: collections of artifacts, often of a scientific or historical nature, brought together with printed information to illustrate a point.

Computer Programs and Manipulatives

The recent addition of manipulaatives and student hands on materials included in computer software packages is an source.

An exciting science CD-ROM series that combines the power of technology with the effectiveness of hands-on manipulaatives is available in an all-in-one easy-to-use kit.

FIELD TRIPS 

The field trip, an excursion outside the classroom to study real processes, people, and objects, often grows out of students’ need for firsthand experiences.

Virtual field trips are an extension of actual field trips. Often the expense or the time to travel to a particular interesting location is not possible. 

PRINTED MATERIALS

Printed materials include tetbooks, fiction and non-fiction books, booklets, pamphlets, study guides, manuals, and worksheets, as well as word processed documents prepared by students and teachers. 

Advantages 

• Availability
• Flexibility 
• Portability 
• User friendly
• Economical 

Limitation 

• Reading level
• Prior knowledge 
• Memorization 
• Vocabulary 
• One-way presentation
• Curriculum determination
• Cursory apprasial 

Integration 

The most common application or printed materials is presenting content information.

Utilization 

Ehrn using printed materials for instruction, one of the main roles of thhe teacher is to get learners actively involved with the materials. One technique is to have students use the “SQ3R” method: survey, question, read, recite, and review. 

FREE AND INEXPENSIVE MATERIALS

With the ever-increasing costs of instructional materials, teachers and trainers should be aware of the variety of materials they may obtain for classroom for use a little or no cost. 

Advantages 

• Up to date
• In-depth treatment
• Variety of uses
• Student manipulation 

Limitations

• Bias or advertising
• Special interests
• Limited quantities

Sources 

There are local, state, national, and international sources or free and inexpensive materials, and many of these are now available as websites. Many local government agencies, community groups, and private business provide informational materials on free loan. 

Obtaining Materials

When you have determined what you can use and where you can obtain it, write to the supplier; some agencies will not supply free and inexpensive materials unless you write on school or company letterhead. 

Appraising Materials

As with any other types of material, appraise the educational value of free and inexpensive materials critically. 

DISPLAY SURFACE

Visual may be displayed in the classroom in a variety of ways, ranging from simply holding up a single visual in your hand to constructing eleborate exhibits for permanent display. Classroom surface commonly used for display of viuals include chalkboards, multipurpose boards, copy boards, pegboards, bulletin boards, cloth boards, and magnetic boards. 

Chalkboaards 

Chalkboard is most commonly used to support verbal communication, you can use it as a surface on which to draw visuals (or pictures can be fastened to the molding above the chalkboard, taped to the board with masking tape, or placed in the chalk tray) to help illustrate instructional units. 

Multipurpose Boards 

Some classrooms are equipped with multipurpose boards instead of chalkboards. A multipurpose board will provide many years of use if cared for properly. Completely erase it after each use; it can be erased like a chalkboard using a felt eraser. 

Copy Boards

A high-tech variation of the multipurpose board is the copy board, or electronic whiteboard.

Pegboards 

It is a particularly useful for displaying heavy objects, three-dimensional materials, and visuals. 

Bulletin Boards

The term bulletin board implies a surface on which bulletins-brief news announcements of urgent interest are posted for public notice.

Criteria for Evaluating your Bulletin Boards.

• Emphatic
• Attrative
• Balanced
• Unified
• Interactive 
• Legible
• Letteren properly
• Relative
• Durable
• Neat 

Cloth Boards

Cloth boards are constructed of cloth atretched over a study backing material such as polywood, Masonite, or heavy cardboard. 

Magnetic Boards

Magnetic boards, magnets, and flexible strips of magnetic materials for use in backing are available commercially. 

Flip Charts 

A flip chart is a pad of large paper fasteneed together at the top and mounted to an easel.

Exhibits 

Eexhibits are collections of various objects and visuals designed to form an integrated whole for instructional purpose. 

Displays. A display is an array of objects, visuals, and printed materials (e.g., labels and descriptions).

Dioramas. Dioramas are static displays consisting of a three-dimensional foreground and a flat back-ground to create a realistic scene.