Multimedia & Contiguity Principles

Multimedia & Contiguity Principles

Using words and graphics rather than words alone and aligning words to corresponding graphics.

After reading chapter four and five of ELearning and the Science of Instruction, I found several concepts of the chapter to be enlightening as I reflect on how I use graphics in my own classroom.  As I look back, I realize that, more often than not, I've used graphics for decorative and representational purposes only.  While I understand that each has its place, it's clear to see that other types of graphics support learning at much greater depths.  I've often struggled to get my learners to think at higher levels, and this may very well be one of the reasons why I was unable to get them to that point.  Instead of using graphics that only decorate or represent, its so important to locate/use graphics that allow students to think outside of their norm, to go above what they are traditionally used to, and to really begin to understand the key conceptual ideas presented in the text.
 I teach two concepts where visuals are highly crucial to understanding content.  I teach health and cover all of the body systems, including structure and function along with how the systems functions interdependently with other body systems.  Students definitely understand concepts more easily, and are able to process the information to working memory when they can visualize what is happening.  I also teach Earth science, and while it is impossible for students to actually go to geological sites to witness geologic happenings in person, virtual field trips or looking at a location using Google Earth or a Google map  is one way to help students construct knowledge and then keep it in long-term memory.

I also found it enlightening that the learners "developed a deeper understanding" of a difficult concept by looking at graphics and text.  Unfortunately though, not only did I not include graphics with text, I also placed text below the graphic, for esthetic purposes.  I never realized that learners understood the concepts being presented with much more clarity when the text and pictures were close together on the page. 

As I read through chapter five, as a learner I found myself identifying with the frustrations of violating the contiguity principles.  In particular, I find it extremely frustrating when directions are not on the same page or not aligned with a task that needs to be done.  As I related to the frustrations that I felt, I imagined what it would be like for my lower or learning support students if/when this occurs for them.  While reading about cognitive load, it was easy to see how learning becomes much more difficult when students have to page back and forth to find answers or to understand meaningful feedback.  I can also understand how learners have difficulty with working memory when they have increased work connecting the words and visuals on the page.  If those visuals and words aren't on the same page, it becomes even more difficult for them.  Just imagine how difficult it would be for the lowest learners in a mixed ability classroom to make those connections.
I feel like I've use both the idea of graphics w/text and graphics aligned w/text well when I do interactive activities on my smart board.  In particular, I project a graphic of the human body onto the board, along with the structures and functions [these are hidden behind a shape at the bottom of the screen].  Students do the matching and figuring out the functions of the body parts on their own.  Once we do that on the board, I print the graphic along with the labeled structure with its corresponding function for students.  According to the principles discussed in chapters four and five, this activity and the resulting graphic aligns with the multimedia and contiguity principles.  I'm excited to continue creating meaningful graphics for my students, and hope that they are able to more clearly understand the content I'm presenting at deeper levels than ever before.



Clark, R., & Mayer, R. (2008). E-Learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning: Third Edition: pp. 81: Pfeiffer

 



Creating My Learning Log

For this course, and most of the other courses in the Educational Technology program, it requires documentation of artifacts and a way to show growth over time. Creating this blog is something I did over the summer when I began EDTECH 501, and have been adding posts ever since.  Even if the course does not require posts, such as EDTECH 502, I feel it is very important to document what was completed in the courses so that  I can stay organized for the eventual portfolio course. I completely enjoy using Blogger.  So much so that I have asked my own students to play around with it.  When I become more proficient in using Blogger, I hope to have my own students use it to communicate with other and collaborate about what we are learning in class.  I found it to be very rewarding to see how much progress I made over the course of the semester.  For me, I tend to look at the course syllabus at the beginning of the semester and wonder how I will ever accomplish the tasks, but somehow I seem to pull if off with the help of patient family members and collaboration with peers in my courses. I have to admit, creating pages and adding posts to those pages was a struggle for me during the summer, but hopefully now I will not have too many issues with it. 

EDTECH504 Weekly Reflections

Educational Technology 504: Foundations of Educational Technology Course Syllabus


Weekly Reflections of Growth During EDTECH504: Foundations of Educational Technology

Educational Technology 504: Foundations of Educational Technology is a course that looks at the learning theories behind the application of educational technology.  Below is a list of weekly reflections completed to inspire change and critically analyze my teaching as well as helping to put theory into practice.

Week One 

Instructional Design Class Project: Does Muscle Fatigue affect Reaction Time?

Reflecting on the Instructional Design Project

Now that EDTECH 503 is over, and I've had some time back in the classroom to actually deliver the project to students, I felt is was important to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the instructional design project I completed.

Overall design:  I felt my project was designed well.  In class we learned about the Addie model and I tried to follow it well; at least I followed it as well as I knew how.   Being a novice in instructional design I really didn't feel confident enough in my own product to say that it was "the most exceptionally designed product, but I did put my heart and soul into trying to learn how this process works.  I'm really glad we were given the opportunity to work on the project in chunks because  I was able to spend time trying to understand how each piece was completed, and how each piece fit together from a learning perspective. Overall, and according to feedback from my peers, my projects design is easy to follow, is laid out well, and has all of the elements of sound instructional design. 

Teacher usability: I believe that because I took the time to focus on each individual part of the project, and fix mistakes when I make them was crucial to developing a product that any teacher can use.  Even if you don't have experience with my particular content, it can be delivered by anyone.  You Don't necessarily need to understand how the muscles and the bones work together to facilitate this project.  Students, on the other hand, do need a bit of background information to successfully understand the process they will participate in.  With that said, I think many instructional design project, if designed well, can be delivered by educators who aren't necessarily experts at the content.  In addition to the project being easy to use, having all the materials necessary for students is valuable. 

Student learning:  Now that I've had the chance to actually deliver this instruction to students, I found it amazing how much more prepared I was to teach it.  Not only that, but my students were much more prepared to learn it!  The goal in any learning environment is student success.  It is vital for educators to consciously think about all of the factors that affect learning.  It does seem overwhelming at first to consider everything that would positively or negatively affect how a student learns, but if done often enough and thoroughly enough, it gets easier and easier the more you do it.  I imagine a classroom where each student's strengths and weaknesses are considered, but in today's fast passed, everybody cram everything you can into the short school day environment, the teacher becomes overwhelmed with the amount of work involved to successfully pull that off.  Even after just one well designed instructional design project, I have learned more about my students that I ever thought possible.  I believe that I have the tools necessary to create instruction suited to each learner.

I hope you enjoy reading my Instruction Design Project.!!