Category: Assignment 1 – Blog Posts

3D Design integration is an interesting concept for educators to integrate into their lesson plans. By implementing some sort of 3D Design, they are able to showcase more to see instead of when they are showing just a 2D visual.

I think that Third-dimensional designing is an effective way to showcase a certain topic. As stated by the Temporal Contiguity principle, people learn best when corresponding words and visuals are presented together. This means that preparing a 3D Design and having the design present while you teach gives the audience something to relate to while the educator teaches their lesson.

Another principle that can be used is the modality principle. This states that people learn best from visuals and spoken words rather than visuals and printed words. This simply means that if there are visuals accompanied by too much text, the learner will become overwhelmed. By relying more on visuals, and keeping it to key terms, steps, or directions, learners can learn more from the visuals present.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bHsZ2kMbuzSeHwt9ccMaFHJ6lr_upChAyDe4tfqlIU0/edit?usp=sharing

When doing research about certain topics, people usually rely on data to support questions, theories, and answers etc. When a person is provided with a visual, sometimes they are able to learn more about what is being taught because they are either improving the previous knowledge they already have, or they are able to quickly examine what is in front of them and come up with their own conclusions. The data visualization I put together includes graphs that regard the percentage of households that have access to internet/home computers from different countries.

One could use the cognitive learning theory to accompany the data that I presented because the data provides the learner with an external element that helps them understand the topic more. The learner is forced to use their internal thoughts to improve their knowledge.

A multimedia learning principle I would associate with my data visualization would be the spatial contiguity principle. Since the visuals and related text on the screen are physically close together, it makes it easier for the learner to understand how they are related.

All in all, providing a visualization of data can be very helpful for both educators and learners because certain learning theories or learning principles are at play. This can provide a greater experience for all.

In this TEDTalk, cognitive researcher Dr. Bavelier speaks about the impact that certain video games -especially the high action genre- have on our brains. Believe it or not, she believes that these types of video games can help us learn, focus and, multitask.

Dr. Bavelier uses multiple forms of learning principles to help her audience pay attention to her presentation and interact with her. The first thing you notice is her use of underlines and arrows. This demonstrates the signaling principle while making sure that you are paying attention by highlighting the keywords and images she wants you to see. Next, Dr. Bavelier utilizes the redundancy principle by combining the use of images and narration. By doing this she provides the audience with a more comfortable way to grasp the information. Another thing that you notice is that she puts most of her text and visuals physically close together. This is her once again utilizing another learning principle called the spatial contiguity principle.

Dr. Bavelier’s TEDtalk encourages you to make mental images that connect to the lesson she is teaching. This is called Dual coding theory. By making these mental images, this technique plants seeds into the learner’s brain which makes sure that they are able to recall the lesson being taught. By keeping her TEDTalk simple, our cognitive load wasn’t too heavy. This makes it so that the learner doesn’t have trouble recalling the events of the presentation.

Overall this was an insightful and powerful TEDTalk. One that everyone should give a watch if they are interested in how our brain is working when we do tasks, like playing video games for example.

https://earth.google.com/earth/rpc/cc/drive?state=%7B%22ids%22%3A%5B%221OafUPykMe1xdlqV5L8TsJM5sFnsB3jqo%22%5D%2C%22action%22%3A%22open%22%2C%22userId%22%3A%22103851301614658858980%22%2C%22resourceKeys%22%3A%7B%7D%7D&usp=sharing

Above is a link to a Narrative tour of places to visit from Butchart Gardens all the way to Uvic.

The SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model for technology integration describes how technology can be used to maximize student success. Using this SAMR model, I applied the transformation section of “modification” to my short video tutorial by including multiple-choice questions to test the viewer’s understanding as the video went along. This added a form of interactivity to make sure that the learners are able to understand the instructions explained in the game. This evaluation framework is appealing to me because it allows students to apply what they’ve learned right away while allowing the learner to stay engaged and stay on track with the topic that is being taught. It also is a way for the learners to show the educator that they have increased their understanding of the topic at hand. This evaluation technique is a great way to transform the learner’s engagement.

Two multimedia learning principles used in the interactive video created would be the Segmenting principle and the Voice principle. The segmenting principle uses user-paced segments from a multimedia lesson, rather than a continuous unit, in order for students to grasp a better understanding of the material. With my tutorial video having multiple segments that are each accompanied by multiple-choice questions, the learner is able to have a deeper understanding of the topic. Since my interactive video is a narration using my own voice instead of a machine voice, it can be associated with the voice principle. This allows a greater chance for people to connect and associate with my video through the fact that they are listening to a human voice.

Throughout human history, it has been shown that humans are more likely to complete tasks when they have a plan. A well thought out plan gives a person a guideline to follow so that they don’t venture away from their goal.

Photo by N. on Unsplash

With this in mind, the creation of a multimedia lesson plan before any incorporation of multimedia content is an excellent way for the educator to put themselves in the learner’s shoes. This gives the educator an outlook on how they want their learners to succeed. It also provides a more personalized experience for the learner, giving them an experience that they will appreciate and remember.

Preparing a straightforward and well-planned lesson allows the educator to come up with the necessary learning activities needed for what they want students their to achieve. This also shows the instructor how much the students truly understand. The instructor essentially plans out what they are about to learn, and it gives them a reason to assess each student’s understanding of the topics.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

To provide a successful lesson plan the educator must find a way to keep the learners engaged while showing confidence in what they are teaching. In confidence, this ultimately shows the motivation the teacher has, and thus students will show more hunger to learn and succeed.

Multimedia lesson plans provide the learners with a more personalized experience, gives the instructor a way to assess their student’s understanding, and by showing confidence in their lesson it motivates the students to show more hunger towards learning.

Here is an example of incorporating multimedia content onto an instructional video:

Photo by Teemu Paananen on Unsplash

In order to captivate and garner an audience’s attention, sometimes you have to go over the top just to do so, but what if the design of your presentation and delivery was actually the reason audiences find it more captivating. This is where the “power” of PowerPoint comes along. PowerPoint is a simple yet complex presentation graphics package brought to us by Microsoft. It provides presenters with everything you need to produce a professional-looking presentation. PowerPoint offers many of the other Microsoft office tools such as; word processing, outlining, drawing, graphing, and presentation management tools, and best of all it is designed to be easy to use and learn.

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

The Principle of Multimedia learning that I would associate with a tool such as PowerPoint has to be the Modality principle. This principle as described by Richard E. Meyer states that “people learn better from graphics when it is accompanied by narration rather than from graphics and printed text alone.” To me, this shows that keeping presentations simple and implementing visual instruments can help the audience learn more about what you are trying to present and thus can make your presentations more effective. Most of the time it can be difficult to maintain the attention of an audience but using the modality principle and taking advantage of what it has to offer, can help with the appeal of one’s presentation.

Here is a web-based game that everyone should try out called Slither.io:

Photo by Arthur Lambillotte on Unsplash

Hi and welcome to my first blog, this upcoming semester I am taking part in a class here at the University of Victoria titled, EDCI 337 – Multimedia and Interactive Learning. My goal with taking this course is to further learn more ways about other forms of teaching and essentially learning, I would like to “deepen my understanding” would be the right set of words to describe that.

I am excited to work on some projects and also challenge myself to think and be more creative. All and all this course will be different from what I have been used to in terms of learning and I hope to have a wonderful term and just have fun.