A constructivist learning experience: Reconstructing a web site using web based multimedia authoring tools

Abstract

This paper focuses on using multimedia to create a constructivist learning experience as well as to innovate a multimedia mediated constructivist learning (MMCL) model based on a course given to students at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Students were required reconstruct any existing website of their choice in the Internet that they thought required improvements. The purposes of the project were to assess problem solving skills and ability to evaluate a website's design, creativity and navigational structure. The students were required to enhance the site by adding sound and animation and to improve the overall look and feel of the site, using Web based multimedia authoring tools, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash. The course was structured for constructivist learning whereby students constructed their own knowledge of the project, determined their own learning outcomes, and worked in a collaborative and cooperative manner, thus taking an active part in the processes. A survey used to obtain feedback from the students indicated that using multimedia in a constructivist learning environment helped them to become more analytical and critical thinkers, more apt to seek information, and more motivated in their learning.