Edu 800 Annotation Week 2

Hastings, N. B., & Tracey, M. W. (2017). Does Media Affect Learning: Where Are We Now? DigitalCommons@WayneState. http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/coe_aos/15 

In this article, the authors weigh in on the long-standing argument regarding the impact of media on learning and learning outcomes. Hastings and Tracey assert the idea that Clark’s ideas about the effects of media on learning are no longer valid in this day and age. In fact, the authors suggest that the idea that media will never affect learning is both obsolete and wrong. According to the authors, it is no longer a question of whether or not media will impact learning, but how media will, in turn, affect learning and learning outcomes.

   Under his 1983 declaration, Clark makes the analogy that media are only “vehicles” in instructional delivery, wielding absolutely no influence over achievement whatsoever. However, Hastings and Tracey insist that due to the enormous leaps and bounds that have occurred in technology in the past 20 years, media is now almost essential when it comes to online/distance learning environments. The authors further suggest that focusing on archaic forms of media, such as print and videos, which are still compatible with the instructional methods of today, will never clear up the arguments surrounding this topic. The strength of this argument lies in the fact that since this article was published in 2005, various types of technology and media have evolved at the speed of light. Today, many pedagogical methods stress the importance of multiple modes of learning and presenting materials, which makes having access to various forms of media essential to the learning process.

  As an education researcher, the relevance of this article remains impactful for so many reasons. Although Hastings and Tracey published this article nearly 20 years ago, the ideas that they asserted regarding the changes in technology and the use of media still ring true today. Even with the use of strategies like Universal Design for Learning, one of the main tenets is the use of multiple modes of learning and media to impact learning outcomes. It remains vital that, even though some forms of media remain available that educators try to consider the larger impact that the use of various media can have on student outcomes.