The Application of Information Technology & Multimedia in Teaching English Literature

Introduction:

There has been a sea change, during the past two decades, of the teaching of English literature world wide in the schools and colleges by the introduction of scientific equipments. The earlier teaching of English was characterized largely by a type of instruction which is a type of a lecture method in teaching poetry and prose. But, presently, universalisation of education technology is a matter of great prosperity for the teaching ideology. Particularly Information Technology achieves a wide possible reach for the students. A large number of schools and colleges have been upgraded with emphasis on enhancing visual teaching, reducing abstract rate of insipid learning. Multimedia can succeed in achieving most of these targets. While this is true for teaching every subject, The Application of Multimedia in Teaching English Literature is our primary concern.

What is Multimedia and how is it an Educational tool For English Literature Learning And Teaching?

The abundant availability of Multimedia presentation in scientific, technical and literary fields is one of the strong factors helping rapid Teaching Methodology development and an attraction to teachers and students. The Multimedia applications are computer programs; typically they are stored on compact discs (CD-ROMs).  There are different multimedia applications in the field of education.

The overall aim of this The Application of Information Technology & Multimedia in Teaching English Literature is to promote experimentation and innovation, and to complement in diverse ways the goals of scientific teaching for creating environmental consciousness and related behavioural practices among students. Some of the activities envisaged under the Practice are:

World Wide Web: They may also reside on the World Wide Web, which is the media-rich component of the international communication network known as the Internet. Multimedia documents found on the World Wide Web are called Web pages. Linking information together with hyperlinks is accomplished by special computer programs or computer languages. An English Literature student now can access throughout the world library, student forum, Q&A, University Pages etc. Most of the pages are free and easily assessable in the college and university campus. Even a few days ego there had been a monopoly of few Elite universities and colleges of accommodating all such scholarly papers or so. But now a day a student of literature even from a rural setting can access the internet. 

E books: E-Book, fiction or nonfiction text that is distributed and read in digital form, usually on a computer or handheld display device. Because they can be cheaply distributed worldwide over the Internet and do not require shelf space, e-books have the potential to someday replace the printed book. E-books and e-book devices have several advantages in teaching English. Apart from free E- text new and those out of print books digitized, many reference studies can also be done from here. In Mobile Now we have the E Book reader, Dictionary etc and students are taking a lot of fun reading them and using them. I once scolded a boy toying on mobile but found it that he was in fact watching a Polanski’s Macbeth on You tube.

Projector: It is a device that projects an image on a surface, a video signal from computer, home theater system etc. or those projects moving pictures from a filmstrip device. Encouraging and undertaking curriculum enrichment projects in the area of English Literature, including making English Literature education an integral part of curriculum in school and college education, leading to development of local-specific teaching-learning materials , the teachers may suggest Syllabus Oriented Projector. For Example, in teaching A Storyline, a teacher can display the text with animated images of the said story line. Through the projector, all the multimedia programs can be displayed. For Examples:

1.PowerPoint presentations of Literary Texts consisting of a number of individual pages or "slides" that scroll making their points clearly.

2. Video game can be used as Edutainment = Education and entertainment. Act wise and scene wise matching game can be best displayed through video games.

 

Video Conference: Distance education increasingly uses combinations of different communications technologies to enhance the abilities of teachers and students to communicate with each other. With the spread of computer-network communications, large numbers of people gained access to computers linked to telephone lines, allowing teachers and students to communicate in conferences via video call. Distance education also makes use of computer conferencing on the World Wide Web, where teachers and students present text, pictures, audio, and occasionally video. Presently the 3G mobile makes it easier to all.

Ardhendu De