Multimedia technologies are discussed by educators as effective instruments to enhance instructions and contribute to learning different concepts. Researchers often propose using multimedia technologies to improve the results of students with learning disabilities. In their article, Kennedy, Deshler, and Lloyd (2015) discussed the effects of multimedia on teaching and learning vocabulary about adolescents with learning disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed review and summary of the article on the impact of technologies on learning vocabulary.
Purpose
The purpose of the study by Kennedy et al. (2015) was to conduct an experiment and examine how multimedia-based instructions could affect the process of learning vocabulary by students with disabilities. The focus was on studying changes in students’ results in the context of a general curriculum. Thus, the researchers were interested in discussing how content acquisition podcasts could influence the vocabulary instructions for children with certain disabilities.
Participants
The sample selected for the research included 278 students who studied in the 9th-12th grades of urban schools. In this sample, 30 students had disabilities related to reading. The sample included both males and females, and the numbers of boys and girls were almost equal. African Americans represented more than 65% of the population, Caucasians constituted about 20%, and Hispanics represented about 8% (Kennedy et al., 2015). The average age of all students involved in the study was about 16 years. The researchers did not provide information regarding the socioeconomic status of these students.
Dependent Variables
For this study, Kennedy et al. (2015) chose to investigate students’ achievements associated with learning vocabulary after the application of multimedia-based instructions. The focus was on using content acquisition podcasts to affect learning. The researchers have measured how the results of students who received the multimedia-based instructions can differ from the results of students who were provided with alternative instructions. To support the measurement of the variable, the researchers also used a student satisfaction protocol.
Results
It is important to note that Kennedy et al. (2015) have found that students with learning disabilities related to reading can benefit from using content acquisition podcasts as a type of multimedia-based instruction. Thus, the application of technologies can have positive effects on learning vocabulary and terms. However, the researchers have noted that it is more appropriate to use technologies to support traditional instructional methods rather than to use multimedia as a single instrument.
Reaction and Evaluation
The article by Kennedy et al. (2015) is important to be used by educators who are interested in applying multimedia technologies in their work with students who have learning disabilities. The reason is that it is essential to refer to empirical results in a situation of choosing the latest technologies while helping adolescents with disabilities to learn vocabulary and other types of material. This study allows educators to make conclusions regarding the appropriateness of using content acquisition podcasts in a concrete situation.
Conclusion
This paper has provided a review of the article written by Kennedy and the group of researchers on the effects of multimedia technologies applied to instructions on learning vocabulary by students with disabilities related to reading. The findings of the study demonstrate that there is a positive correlation between using multimedia and improvements in learning vocabulary. As a result, this study can be viewed as contributing to practice in the field of special education.
Reference
Kennedy, M. J., Deshler, D. D., & Lloyd, J. W. (2015). Effects of multimedia vocabulary instruction on adolescents with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(1), 22-38.