Roles and Functions of an Educational
Media Center
An
EMC is a facility designed for the housing and utilization of all educational
media within the school. It is a basic requirement for a school to render
quality service. It is not independent of the school. Rather, like any part of
the human body, it is a unit in the school that cooperates with other units or
departments that help the school fulfill its mission.
An
EMC renders various kinds of services. Its services boil down to improving the
teaching-learning process by making it more interactive, collaborative,
interesting and authentic.
What
must an EMC have to be a functional EMC?
The
evaluation questions for a functional EMC
1. The
institutional media services
·
Is the administration committed to a
media program?
·
Is the program of media services
administered by a media specialist through media center?
·
Is the center operating at the same
level as other major institutional services of the school?
·
Are there clearly defined policies,
procedures, and plans for short, medium and long term coverage?
·
Is the center provided with
appropriate facilities?
·
Is the center capable of giving
media and/or educational media technology advises/assistance to the faculty.
2. Media and instruction
·
Are the faculties encouraged to use
media as an integral part of instruction?
·
Are classrooms equipped and/or
adapted for the best possible use of educational media?
·
Is the media center accessible to
all classrooms and lecture/conference rooms?
·
Is there educational media
technology information dissemination?
·
Is there proper cooperation between
faculty and the professional media staff in the planning, developing, and using
media for instructions?
·
In particular, are faculty members
assisted by the media center staff in analyzing teaching needs and in
designing, selecting and using educational media to meet these needs?
·
Is there a capability for production
of graphics, audio, visual and other media materials for instruction?
3. Classroom facilities
·
Are classroom designed for and
provided with essential facilities for effective use of educational media?
·
Specifically, are classrooms
equipped for full light control, electrical outlets, appropriate ventilation
and media operations space?
·
Are classrooms equipped with a
bulletin board?
4. Media program
·
Are there clear-cut administration
policies on the media program?
·
Is there an adequate source/system
of funding?
·
Is there appropriate hiring of media
center supervisions, creating and technical personnel, consultants and clerical
staff?