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 (Lucido & Borabo, 1997)
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 faculty encourage 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?