Interactivity: The forgotten art?

     

Interactivity in learning is "a necessary and fundamental mechanism for knowledge acquisition and the development of both cognitive and physical skills. It is no longer adequate to see our field of practice (or are we bold enough to label it a profession?) being limited to products where interactivity is trivialised to simple menu selection, clickable objects or linear sequencing. Interaction is intrinsic to successful, effective instructional practice as well as individual discovery. The implementation of interactivity can be perceived as an art because it requires a comprehensive range of skills, including an understanding of the learner, an appreciation of software engineering capabilities, the importance of rigorous instructional design and the application of appropriate graphical interfaces. If we are to be recognised as developers with professional capabilities, as competent practitioners, then it is critical to understand what makes an application interactive, instructional and effective.
By way of providing a context for the discussion, the ideas are largely based on extensive work as an active multimedia developer of applications to support education and training in the post-secondary and vocational sectors, rather than those specifically designed for school applications. The concepts of interactivity presented relate as much to the complexity of development and implementation as they do to the quality, effectiveness and engagement of human-computer communications. Given this position, I hope this paper will challenge ITFORUM subscribers - contributors and lurkers alike. This challenge is to consider, reconsider and perhaps even reformulate your notion of the use of interactivity within computer-based multimedia applications - designed to support the teaching and learning process - within all educational and training environments.
Multimedia
As educational technology is increasingly being referred to as interactive multimedia (IMM), it is perhaps fitting to include a short reference to the term multimedia. , where multimedia is said to consist of the media (text, audio, visuals), the technology (computers) and the products (kiosks, education, games, information). The essential implication which can be drawn from this description is that multimedia itself is not inherently interactive, as many of you already appreciate. In fact, multimedia represents no significant challenge to developers who understand that quality in an instructional resource is a function of the design effort, not the technology. It is the use of the products which integrate multimedia elements where interactivity becomes important. Interactivity is generally at a basic "point and click" level for kiosks and information applications, whereas games and educational products require a higher degree of interactivity. This is not to say that basic interactivity is inappropriate - but rather that the level of interaction may not be adequate or relevant to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge or the development of new skills and understanding. On the other hand, educational products will likely require more complex forms of interactivity, depending upon the particular strategy employed for the application.
The Human-Computer Interface
An initial approach to the study of interactivity can focus on the relationship between the human operator and the technology - the Human-Computer Interface (HCI) perspective. In brief, this involves interactivity as relating to a wide range of disciplines including software engineering, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science (understanding, thought, creativity), sociology, ergonomics, organisational psychology, mathematics, cognitive psychology and social psychology.
For the purposes of this discussion and in the context of HCI, interactivity might be simplified to refer to a user who has access to a range of input devices (keyboard, drawing, pointing, touchscreen or speech) which can activate the technology being used; the result of this action is some form of visual or audio output (text, graphics, printing or speech), and the sequence of actions form an interaction.Instructional technology is about making that interaction both meaningful and engaging to the user, and interactivity can be viewed as a function of input required by the learner while responding to the computer, the analysis of those responses by the computer and the nature of the action by the computer.

Be netwoked today and make your life effortless

Online social networks are webs of relationships that grow from computer-mediated discussions. The webs grow from conversations among people who share a common affinity (e.g., they work for the same company, department, or in the same discipline) and who differ in other ways (e.g., they are in different locations, keep different hours, specialize in different disciplines, work for different companies). When the people are distributed across time and space, then these conversations need to take place online, over an intranet or private internet forum.

Within a company, a well-tuned online social network can enhance the company's collective knowledge and sharpen its ability to act on what people know in time to be effective. We have long recognized that this kind of network is critical to an organization. Creating these opportunities to connect is often the stated or unstated purpose of facilitated off-site meetings and other communication initiatives. However, the half-life of connections made at these meetings was very short until online technology provided us with a means to support the network over time.

Social networks grow from the personal interactions of human beings over time, as well as from from the technological infrastructure that connects those humans. This means that growing a successful online social network requires social know-how as well as technical expertise. Interactions include those that take place face-to-face, via telephone, online, and even via things we send each other in the postal mail.

Witness admits lying agaist vice president William Ruto

 
A witness has admitted to International Criminal Court (ICC) judges that he  lied about evidence against Deputy President William Ruto after prosecution investigators offered him wealth and other benefits.

He also made a stinging indictment of the prosecution through a sworn affidavit, saying they collected evidence from him knowing that it was false.

Following the admission by Witness 604, prosecution lawyer Mr Anton Steynberg made an application that he be declared a hostile witness.

However, Mr Ruto's defence team, lead by Mr Karim Khan, vehemently opposed the move.

In his testimony on Thursday, the witness appeared to tear apart his earlier, recanted evidence, denying knowledge of obvious subjects such as being aware of the violence that took place during the post-election violence in 2008, saying he only heard of it from neighbours.

This is despite the fact that he had told the court he lived in Turbo in the Rift Valley, which was one of the places affected by the post-election violence.

The witness  told the court he had forgotten the names of armed Kalenjin youths behind the killing of Kikuyus in the Rift Valley in his earlier evidence given to ICC investigators

The witness had unsuccessfully made a new request for postponement of the hearing earlier in the morning, with presiding judge Chile-Eboe Osuji saying some of the reasons advanced by his lawyer did not provide valid grounds.

Former Raila Odinga allies spill the beans

 

Two key members of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s 2013 election campaign team are now blaming each other over the way they handled his unsuccessful presidential bid.

In a spat that could reveal intricate details of the Cord presidential candidate’s campaign machinery, Mr Eliud Owalo, who was the campaign manager, and Mr Caroli Omondi, the chief of staff at the PM’s office, on Monday disagreed over the fate of Sh94 million meant for election agents and for the tallying centre to monitor votes for their boss during the March 4 polls.

Mr Owalo blamed Mr Omondi for running down the campaign structure of the ODM leader, including making it difficult for the campaign secretariat to work.

He claimed that Mr Omondi was in charge of the Sh94 million released by Mr Odinga two weeks to the election date to pay more than 20,000 agents at more than 31,000 polling stations designated by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).