DURATION – 2 hours

KEY TOPICS

• Defining communication
• Basic theories of communication
• Exploring teaching and learning as communication processes and how knowledge of MIL can enhance this process
• Strategies for teaching through and about MIL

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this unit, teachers should be able to:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of communication
• Identify and analyze basic theories of communication and their relation to the teaching – learning process with consideration to the application of MIL skills

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES

If we are using the media, libraries, archives and other information providers (including the Internet or new technologies) in the classroom, we need to consider our ways of teaching: how are we using media and other information providers? How do they impact the ways in which information is communicated to students?

Communication models can provide a framework for conceptualizing the place of MIL within the teaching and learning experience. These models provide the opportunity to closely examine the roles of teachers, students and the media, libraries, archives and other information providers in the classroom. Many of these models share the components listed below (Shannon and Weaver, 1948; Schramm, 1954; Berlo, 1960):

• Sender (originator/source)
• Message (content)
• Channel (medium)
• Receiver (responder/decoder)
• Feedback (receiver to sender and vice versa as the loop continues)

Identify the ways in which this model could be applied to the learning experience in your classroom. What roles do you assume as teacher? What roles are available to your students? How is the learning experience shaped by these roles? How is the feedback process managed in the teaching-learning process? How can your knowledge of MIL help to improve this process?

Consider the opportunities students have to critically examine the platforms through which they receive information in your classroom. Related to this are notions of teaching about and through the media, libraries, archives and other information providers. Through which media are students receiving information in your classroom? What is the impact of these media on the teaching and learning experience? Identify the media and sources of information that students have access to in your classroom. Explain the rationale and selection process for including these in the curriculum.

Teaching about MIL requires awareness and analysis of the media, libraries, archives and other information providers and the role they play in lifelong learning and the conveying and shaping of information and messages(i.e. the media and technology themselves become the subject of study in the classroom). Teaching through the media and other information providers requires an awareness and analysis on the part of teachers of their own role and the role of the media and technology in the teaching and learning process. Phrased differently, what is being taught through media and/or technology in the classroom? Is there a particular topic or subject that is being taught through the use of technology or the media? How can teachers apply MIL skills to what they are teaching?

Identify general examples of teaching about MIL and through the media, libraries, archives and other information providers. Describe specific activities/examples in your classroom where both of these approaches are used. What do these approaches offer to students in terms of their learning experience?