Authors: Darren Fischer & Allie Munro
“media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition.”
– Richard Clark
The “Great Media Debate” has been a contentious topic in education for decades, generating discussions about the impact of media on learning. Two prominent figures, Richard Clark and Robert Kozma, are central to this debate, whose polar views have shaped the discussion on whether media does or will influence learning.
Richard Clark (1994) argues that media is just a method for delivering instruction and does not directly affect learning outcomes. He highlights an early instance of this debate from 1963, when Lumsdaine, in the Handbook of Research on Teaching, stated that media serves primarily economic purposes, enhancing instructional methods without influencing learning itself. Clark (1994) builds on this, concluding that research consistently shows no significant differences between media types in learning outcomes. He uses the analogy of a truck delivering food, where the truck (media) has no impact on the nutritional value of the food (learning). Clark hopes his position will encourage a more focused discussion on instructional design, emphasizing that content, not media, drives learning.
In contrast, Robert Kozma (1994) reframes the debate, asking not whether media influence learning but whether they will when used effectively. Kozma argues that when aligned with instructional methods, media can enhance the learning experience by supporting cognitive and social processes. He believes that media offer unique affordances, such as social and interaction capabilities, and can subsequently enhance learning outcomes. For Kozma, isolating instructional design from media ignores the potential benefits different media types can provide.
While Clark’s position is supported by decades of research, three decades have passed since Clark (1994) reaffirmed his position in the debate. The educational technology and media landscape has changed drastically, and therefore, Clark’s and Kozma’s perspectives merit reevaluating to see how they hold up today. The following two article reviews provide a modern context in which to speculate Clarks and Kozmas position in the Great Media debate.
Critiquing Educational Technology in the AI Era
Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, a non-profit organization that offers free online educational resources (OER), discusses the need to change the negative perception of artificial intelligence (AI) in the education industry in both a recent MSNBC interview titled Why Artificial Intelligence Will Revolutionize Education and his earlier TED Talk in May 2023. He emphasizes the positive and transformative potential AI holds for teaching and learning. Khan offers AIs, such as Kkanmigo, to engage students at a deeper level using means such as Socratic questioning that fosters creativity. According to Khan, AI can help students collaborate with technology, running parallel while guiding and supporting student learning.
How Clark Would Respond?
Clark would likely still disagree and argue that AI’s role in education does not change learning outcomes. In his view, AI would be a more recent vehicle, and it is the method of instruction, not the medium, that influences learning outcomes (Clark, 1994). AI might speed up learning or make it more accessible, but based on his position in this debate, he would still insist that authentic learning results from well-designed instruction and not the media itself.
How Kozma Would Respond?
Kozma, however, I feel would openly support Salman Khan’s perspectives, both viewing Ai as providing a Transformative Medium. Kozma (1994) believed media, like AI, can influence learning actively when aligned with the social (Vygotsky, 1978) and cognitive (Sweller, 2019) processes, developing what is known among others and minimizing extraneous load. Kozma would likely champion Khanmigo’s ability to foster deep interactions and engagements through its creative tasks, enriching the whole experience, increasing its impact level and thus its learning potential, and doing much more than simply delivering the information.
COVID-19’s Impact on the Media Debate
The COVID-19 pandemic presented a real-world test of the Great Media Debate, as educators were forced to transition to online learning almost overnight across both K-12 and higher education. This shift required various technologies and media to facilitate online classrooms, settling the argument that educators do not use technology, thereby setting the stage for technology to demonstrate its ability to revolutionize the educational industry (Wexler, 2021; Gardner, 2021). However, educators like Wexler and Gardner highlight that a year ago, the education environment shifted due to COVID-19, and technology has yet to improve student performance significantly (Wexler, 2021). Wexler points out that despite investing $13-38 billion annually in education technology, the return on investment is absent, highlighting that student performance is stagnant or decreasing. Gardner (2021) argues that due to the lack of evidence that the use of media increases student performance, technology only changes and expands on existing mediums. In a comment in his article, Gardner attests that the laptop is merely a $1000 pencil, and that is if it is used correctly. The debate that instructors do not use technology has been put to rest; however, the argument now shifts to teachers not using the technology correctly.
How Clark Would Respond?
Considering the lack of evidence in a primed education setting, which should produce evidence that media influences learning, Clark would likely view the outcome as validating his position. He would reaffirm his argument that technology, as a medium, does not inherently improve learning outcomes. The lack of significant student performance gains during this pandemic supports his view that the instructional design, not the technology itself, drives learning.
How Kozma Would Respond?
On the other hand, Kozma would argue that the problem lies not in the technology itself but in how it was implemented, a position he postured in 1994 (Kozma, 1994). He would suggest that the failure to see significant improvements in student performance reflects the lack of integrating media with instructional strategies. Kozma would likely attest that technology can enhance learning. However, this potential was not realized during the pandemic because educators were not using it to engage students cognitively and socially. Instructors most likely used it out of haste and as a stopgap measure. Due to this, Kozma would reaffirm his position that a theory that aligns learning and media would allow instructors the tools and knowledge to leverage media, which focuses on cognitive and social processes, thereby demonstrating that media can influence learning.
Conclusion
Although more than three decades have passed since Clark and Kozma took opposing positions in the Great Media Debate, little evidence has emerged to overturn the stance that media does not influence instruction. While cognitive and social processes afforded by AI may present a solid counterargument to Clark’s claim, AI’s maturity and adoption in education are still in their infancy. The lack of evidence showing a correlation between media use and student performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, an ideal situation to explore this relationship, further supports Clark’s position.
References
Clark, R. E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299088
Gardner, N. (2021). Technology can revolutionise education, but is it already a failed revolution? Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/technology-can-revolutionise-education-but-is-it-already-a-failed-revolution-160f6186e1ea
Kozma, R. B. (1994). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 7-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299087
MSNBC (Director). (2024, May 17). Why artificial intelligence will revolutionize education [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-yTR2kCvsE
OpenAI. (2024). Traditional classroom vs. tech-filled modern classroom, showcasing educational contrast. https://chat.openai.com/
Sweller, J. (2019). Cognitive load theory and educational technology. Education Tech Research Dev 68, 1–16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09701-3
TED (Director). (2023, May 1). How AI Could Save (Not Destroy) Education | Sal Khan | TED [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJP5GqnTrNo
Wexler, N. (2021). Why technology hasn’t boosted learning—and how it could. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/01/21/why-technology-hasnt-boosted-learning-and-how-it-could
Vygotsky. (1978). Mind In Society The Development (z Lib.org). http://archive.org/details/levs.vygotskymindinsocietythedevelopmentzlib.org
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