Towards effective teaching strategies with interactive multimedia

This study examined a process that introduced interactive multimedia technology to teachers. Teachers were the focus because they provide important links between learners and the interactive multimedia instructional materials. Teachers are unlikely to adopt interactive multimedia, if they find it complex and foreign, and one aim of the study was to find ways to make this technology accessible to teachers and learners. The study also suggested ways to encourage teachers to employ learner-centred strategies that support instruction delivered by interactive multimedia The findings suggested that effective training of teachers in the use of interactive multimedia technology requires more than instruction in the use of the technology. It also requires that teachers re-examine their attitudes and beliefs about learning, and to base their teaching upon a new paradigms constructed from this process. Instructional designers should consider the trairung of teachers as part of the total instructional package because well designed software and teacher support can make instruction with interactive multimedia more effective. Teachers and schools must also be prepared to make a real commitment in terms of time and effort as this will enable them to learn new skills, and reexamine and modify practices so that they can take full advantage of this mode of instruction.