Education through multimedia among Agricultural Diploma school students: An impact study

ABSTRACT The present study was conducted in the Gujarat State of India to measure the effectiveness of a multimedia on paddy cultivation on gain and retention of knowledge of students of Agricultural Diploma school. There was a substantial net gain in as well as retention of knowledge about the topic by students at selected agricultural diploma schools on viewing the multimedia. The results indicated that the knowledge level before viewing the multimedia was correlated with some of the personal characteristics of the students; while no such correlation was observed with the level of knowledge after viewing the multimedia. Similar results were also observed at the level of retention. Keywords: India; multimedia; agriculture; personal characteristics; knowledge gain. INTRODUCTION Rapid agricultural growth will continue to be the key to poverty reduction and overall economic development in India. The Green Revolution has been the cornerstone of India's agricultural achievement, transforming the country from food deficiency to self-sufficiency. At the present time, the technologies required to address total farming systems are knowledge intensive. In the wake of globalization and liberalization of agricultural trade, the farmers are now becoming more diversified in terms of cropping systems, more conscious about the quality of products and more market oriented. To help ensure success in these uncertain times, it is essential to effectively communicate useful agricultural technologies to the farmers. For this, they should also need to be able to access the expertise in the field of agriculture. In the same way, the Agricultural Diploma School students, who will in future be the key transfer of technology (TOT) agents; are also required to be updated about the latest technological developments. Such institutions cannot bear the cost of employing experts from various disciplines of agriculture. However, the use of information and communication technologies can serve the same purpose. The correct communication media, used effectively, can be a useful tool for teaching the students in a more effective way. Multimedia can be one such tool that can be helpful in enhancing the communication capabilities of teachers in the educational system as well as of the TOT experts working in the extension system of India. Among all the means of mass communication, multimedia is one of the most versatile audiovisual mediums of communication (Brun & Mangstl, 2001). Multimedia instructional material allows the learner actually to see, hear, and use the content to be learned (Roden, 1991). Interactive Multimedia Compact Disks can be used as an effective tool for the transfer of technology (Senthil, et.al., 2003). Hooper (1986) also stressed the utility of multimedia in education. It would be an ideal tool to transmit information to the huge illiterate section of the Indian population, especially the farmers, on whom such an audiovisual medium could have a profound impact. It is also an effective tool for the students studying at below college level. It can reproduce an experience with its sound and motions simultaneously and thereby creates an excellent learning effect. Not only can it be used at the convenience of the user, but it has an added advantage in being demand driven. Beside the preparation and use of multimedia, its evaluation in terms of its effectiveness is also essential to justify investment and to demonstrate results (benefits). A multimedia compact disk (CD) on paddy cultivation has been developed by the Cyber Extension Cell of Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU) in the Gujarati language; which can be used in an equally effective way for the farmers as well as for the students studying in the vernacular language. To evaluate the effectiveness of multimedia in the educational system, the present study was undertaken with the following objectives: 1. To measure the knowledge level before and after viewing the multimedia as well as the retention of knowledge of the students of selected agricultural diploma schools about the seedling raising of paddy crop. …