Evaluating Nasa’s Multimedia 1

Running head: EVALUATING NASA’S LABORATORY MULTIMEDIA

Evaluating NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimedia

Benjamin Stewart

TEC 560

Ms. Gina Phipps

January 14, 2007

Evaluating Nasa’s Multimedia 2

Abstract

This paper evaluates three multimedia presentations taken from the California Institute of

Technology’s NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimedia web page as it pertains to

meaningful learning. Topics to be discussed include explaining likes and dislikes of each

presentation, enhancing student learning, providing an educational tool, providing

collaborative learning activities, and adapting to an English language learning

environment. Within these five domains, it was determined that meaningful learning best

takes place when the learner takes an active role in the process, is able to construct

meaning through intuitive means, and is able to collaborate with others toward a common

goal.

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Evaluating NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimedia

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimedia web page contains many

education sources that can be incorporated within the educational design. Three

multimedia presentations specifically were chosen here as a basis of discussion that

includes likes and dislikes, enhancing student learning, providing an educational tool,

providing collaborative learning activities, and adapting to an English language learning

environment.

Likes and Dislikes

The Alien Safari online presentation (Watanabe, n.d.b) provides information

about the planet through inquiry based multimedia. It contains good visual elements,

dialog, music, and hyperlinks that take the learner to different points of interest. For

those learners that prefer to read and look at pictures, there is also an HTML version. If I

had any complaints about this site, it would be that lack of a hyperlink in the flash version

that takes the learner to an individual topic. Sometimes the learner has to wait until a link

is available on the rotating globe before he or she can access that link.

Mars Rover: One Year on Mars (Watanabe, n.d.c) shows the learner wonderful

pictures of the planet Mars as the learner can interactively take the journey online.

Digital pictures provide close-ups of rocks and craters and near color accuracy gives the

learner an idea as to what the planet really looks like. Moreover, video clips also show

Rover’s landing on the planet, the journey on the planet, and the team that was

responsible for putting together the Rover project. The only thing I would have liked to

see was more pictures and video of this very interesting topic.

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The Earthquake Studies flash presentation provides a narrative about the

earthquake of 1906. The learner can navigate through the flash presentation to hear the

narrative and to read the corresponding text on various topics concerning earthquakes –

there is even a quiz to check for understanding. The presentation includes links as well

so learners can inquire further about the topic if so desired. The quiz section would have

been more intuitive if the answers and questions contained hyperlinks for learners to

inquire on give topics as they were presented within the quiz.

Enhancement of Student Learning

These types of media presentations enhance student learning because they

intuitively take the learner through an inquiry based online journey. There is not just one

way to view the information; rather the learner has some control over what and how the

information is to be presented. For example, the flash media offers a good visual element

and attracts those learners who tend to be more visual learners. Analytical learners that

prefer to read may opt for the HTML versions of the presentations. Learners are more

proactive in the learning process since they are required to make decisions during the data

collection process instead of being just passive respondents of comprehensive input.

Jonassen, Howland, Moore, and Marra say, “Meaningful learning requires learners who

are actively engaged in a meaningful task…in which they manipulate objects and

parameters of the environment they are working in and observing the results of their

manipulations” (2003, p. 7).

Educational Tool

These three examples of multimedia presentations offer effective means of online

inquiry to specific topics of science (i.e., earthquakes, the planet Mars, and an alien

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safari). Learners oftentimes get caught in “information overload” if they are not properly

directed to certain websites that contain information they need. The teacher should make

sure learners are directed to a list of online resources to get them started as they begin the

inquiry process due to the vast amounts of information that is available online. This will

help the learner to stay on task as they find those websites that provide the information

they need. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory presentations are good educational tools

because they list out each presentation with a title and picture of the topic so the learner

can quickly find the topic of interest.

Collaborative Learning Activity

Meaningful learning is a social phenomenon. Jonassen, Howland, Moore, and

Marra mention, “Humans naturally work in learning and knowledge-building

communities, exploiting each other’s skills and appropriating each other’s knowledge”

(2003, p. 8). Multimedia flash presentations are good educational tools for collaborative

group work because they provide a starting point for further inquiry. Since the

presentations are intuitive, each learner can pave their own way through the information

and then later regroup with the others to share what he or she found.

Adapting to an English Language Learning Environment

Multimedia presentations lend themselves well to teaching English as a Second

Language (ESL). For example, a world map could take the English language learner on a

virtual tour of English-speaking countries, perhaps providing an audio clip of different

English pronunciations that exist around the world. They could also show video clips of

different social customs that teach how verbal and nonverbal communication are

involved in various discourses.

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Conclusion

To conclude, multimedia presentations can offer meaningful learning to virtually

any topic. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Multimedia web page is well suited for

science topics and contains many education sources that can provide educational tools for

the learner. The learner can use these presentations in a collaborative way since each

student can intuitively inquire about information that can later be shared with others in

the group. As learners gather, arrange, and present information according to his or her

findings, they are required to rely on a higher order of learning that includes analyzing,

synthesizing, and evaluating data.

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References

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Moore, J., & Marra, R. (2003). Learning to Solve Problems with Technology: A Constructivist Perspective. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Watanabe, S. (n.d.a). California Institute of Technology: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Earthquake Studies (4/17/06). Retrieved on January 14, 2007 from http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/earthquake1906/

Watanabe, S. (n.d.b). California Institute of Technology: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alien Safari (7/29/05). Retrieved on January 14, 2007 from http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/AlienSafari_launch_page.html

Watanabe, S. (n.d.c). California Institute of Technology: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Rovers: One year on Mars (12/30/04). Retrieved on January 14, 2007 from http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/Anniversary_VisMar/index_noaccess_mars.html

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Appendix 1

Name of media Video (Java) Audio (MPEG) Image (JPEG) Text Executable FilesSoftware used to create

Sun Microsystems

Lossy Data Compression

Lossy Data Compression

Adobe Reader Computer Program

File Extension *.jar *.mp3 *.jpg *.pdf *.exePrint/Web-based

Web-based Web-based Both Both Web-based

Examples 1. Yahoo PageBuilder

2. Fox News Video

1. Songs2. News

programs

1. Photos 2. Graphics

1. Manuals 2. Technical

Journals

1. Plugins2. Installation

programs