9-1 Multimedia Tools

Multimedia enhances messaging because it gives a visual aspect to information that is not always visual. There are different aspects to this. If looking at the messaging from a news and media studies perspective, visual information gives people some other way of seeing and understanding what is being presented. With this in mind, people often look for information that is visually appealing and with the technology world moving as quickly as it does, getting information quickly through a visual instead of reading a long article is preferred by many people. This again enhances the message and actually spreads it to more people.

If looking at this from an academic standpoint, then visual multimedia tools help to enable other types of learners. Many people learn best with visuals and thus multimedia tools help those types of learners. This gives them the ability to see the information and allows them to better learn and understand it. This allows the people that are putting out the information the ability to be able to reach other members of their audience with visuals that they may not have been able to reach otherwise.

Certain multimedia techniques are more effective than others. Those that can been used for wider audience are the ones that are more effective. Glogster for example (http://edu.glogster.com/?ref=com) is a very effective multimedia tool because it can present just about any information that a person needs it to (Educational Technology Resources, 2014; Glogster, 2014). Because it is so versatile, it allows for a wide range of use and that is more effective than something like GarageBand (https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/), which while still useful has a much more specific purpose and thus it cannot necessarily be used by anyone for anything (Apple, 2014; Educational Technology Resources, 2014; Glogster, 2014). Though each of these multimedia tools can enhance a message or enhance learning, because some can be used in more ways than others, some do become more effective than others (Apple, 2014; Educational Technology Resources, 2014; Glogster, 2014). In general, though, multimedia tools help to enhance messages and learning in ways that were almost nonexistent before technology (Educational Technology Resources, 2014).

Resources:

Apple. (2014). Garageband. Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/

Educational Technology Resources. (2014). Multimedia tools. Retrieved from https://aartechresources.wikispaces.com/Multimedia+Tools

Glogster. (2014). The standard for learning. Retrieved from http://edu.glogster.com/?ref=com