Multimedia Principles

Summary Week 3
The authors explain how research finding recommend the use of text and graphic for e-learning courses. The rationale behind it is that multimedia presentation foster active learning; the learner makes a mental connection between the text and the graphic, and eventually integrates this material into their existing knowledge. But multimedia presentation will not always foster active learning. If the text and graphic do not support each other, then the graphic could serve just for decorative purposes. The authors recommend the use of relational, organizational, transformational and interpretive graphics over the use of decorative and representational graphics. In addition, the authors highlight a research that recommends the use of static images and text over animations and text. The author stated that the illustration and text could foster active learning because the learner needs to mentally connect the image and text, and the animation could increase the cognitive load on the learners. An exemption to this rule is when the designer is trying to teach motor skills or to illustrate invisible relationship between two things. For this, research indicates that animations or videos are more effective. Finally, the authors highlighted that the multimedia effect works best for novices, and the same results are not achieved on experts. Experts learn equally well from text alone or multimedia presentation.
On chapter 4, the authors add variable of contiguity to the multimedia effect. Presenting a graphic and text will not necessary enhance learning; they must be placed near each other. The same principle applies to graphic and narrations. The contiguity principle reduces extraneous processing by taking into account the limits of human perception and memory.