The articles by Robert Kozma (Will Media Influence Learning: Refraining the Debate) and Richard Clark (Media Will Never Influence Learning) illustrate the debate among academics in educational technology on the importance of media vs. the importance of the underlying instructional method.
It is Kozma’s belief that the media by which instruction is presented can influence learning.
Clark on the other hand argues very persuasively that it is not the medium but the underlying instructional methods that shape the learning process and that similar learning outcomes can be achieved through the use of difference media; learning is not exclusive to one type of media presentation.
I find myself agreeing with both of them although I find Kozma’s defense of the importance of media in instruction to be weak.
To conclude, Clark puts forth a valuable point in that the design of instruction and its relationship to solid pedagogy and epistemological theory is very important in defining learning, however, to state that media has no influence over learning reduces the overall debate to a black and white argument. If learning is in fact multi-modal it goes to follow that certain types of media would be better suited for learning in different contexts with different learners (Lexmilton, 2007).
Clark on the other hand argues very persuasively that it is not the medium but the underlying instructional methods that shape the learning process and that similar learning outcomes can be achieved through the use of difference media; learning is not exclusive to one type of media presentation.
I find myself agreeing with both of them although I find Kozma’s defense of the importance of media in instruction to be weak.
To conclude, Clark puts forth a valuable point in that the design of instruction and its relationship to solid pedagogy and epistemological theory is very important in defining learning, however, to state that media has no influence over learning reduces the overall debate to a black and white argument. If learning is in fact multi-modal it goes to follow that certain types of media would be better suited for learning in different contexts with different learners (Lexmilton, 2007).
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