Multimedia Enhances Messaging

In Thomas Metcalf’s 1997 article, Listening to Your Clients, he referenced a University of Texas study about what helped people to remember.  In this often-quoted article, Metcalf reports the study determined people remember:

     10 percent of what they read;

     20 percent of what they hear;

     30 percent of what they see;

     50 percent of what they see and hear;

     70 percent of what they say; and

     90 percent of what they do and say.

       

The study essentially expanded on what Confucius wrote in the fifth century B.C..  "What I hear I forget, what I see I remember, what I do I understand."

    

Richard E. Mayer, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the author of more than 400 publications including 25 books.  His research interests are in educational and cognitive psychology with a special focus on multimedia learning and computer-supported learning.  According to Dr. Mayer, multimedia instructional environments are widely recognized to hold great potential for improving the way that people learn (Mayer, 1999, in press; Sweller, 1999; van Merrienboer, 1997). In multimedia instructional environments, learners are exposed to material in verbal (such as on-screen text or narration) as well as pictorial form (including static materials such as photos or illustrations, and dynamic materials such as video or animation).  Although verbal forms of presentation have long dominated education, there is encouraging evidence that student understanding can be enhanced by the addition of visual forms of presentation (Mayer, 1999, in press; Sweller, 1999).

     

These are great reasons from experts.  They validate that, for centuries, multimedia has been recognized as a good thing.  But this is my blog, so I'm going to give you my opinion.

     

Plain white backgrounds and text in black is BORING to me, and I learn better with visual aids.  I love to read and can lose myself in the pages of a book for hours, but when I am trying to learn something it is much easier for me to learn when watching and listening.

     

For example, before starting graduate school I had never written a paper with a specific formatting requirement.  I've been reading the Purdue Owl guidelines, but sometimes they aren't very clear to me.  I Googled "How to write a paper in APA format" and found a number of guides including several on YouTube. Terry Jorgensen's is wonderful!  Click on the link for Purdue Owl guidelines and then click on the video below and compare the two for yourself. 

I also think multimedia is better because the emotion behind the message can be conveyed more effectively.  Read the next paragraph on multimedia, and then click on the audio link of the same material.  Does one of these have more impact for you?  
     

Multimedia also helps hold my interest. I can use different senses to lengthen the amount of time I stay with something because the variety is almost like starting something new.   Just as I learn better with visual aids, other people may prefer the written word or audio.  A multimedia presentation is interesting for the broadest range of people.
   

   
Finally, for me, because I love technology, I am impressed with the creativity and work involved in creating multimedia material.  What tool do I think represents this the best?  Today, it's Prezi. I am all but addicted to it and would write the grocery list with it if I didn't think someone would commit me. I've attached a quick Prezi that incorporates text, movement, audio and video.  Start the Prezi and then press the arrow key at the bottom of the presentation to move from image to image.  Notice the use of multimedia within the presentation on multimedia!
      

 
I used Shape Collage and Wordle to create the image that begins and ends my Prezi.
    

 References
   

Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2002). Animation as an aid to multimedia learning. Educational Psychology Review, 14(1), 87-99. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013184611077  
    

Mayer, R. E., Moreno, R., Boire, M., and Vagge, S. (1999). Maximizing constructivist learning from multimedia communications by minimizing cognitive load. J. Educ. Psychol. 91: 638–

643.  
    

Metcalf, T. (1997). Listening to your clients. Life Association News, 92(7), 16-18. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/216355894?accountid=3783
        

Sweller, J. (1999). Instructional Design in Technical Areas, ACER, Camberwell, Australia.
     

Thum, M. (2008). Confucius says: The top 10 wise confucius quotes. Retrieved from http://www.myrkothum.com/confucius-says-the-top-10-quotes-by-confucius/
    

van Merrienboer, J. J. G. (1997). Training Complex Cognitive Skills, Educational Technology

Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.