Multimedia has been defined in various ways. Essentially, multimedia is the use of more than one form of representation. For example, when creating an online lesson an instructor might use text, images, audio, video, animations, and interactive elements. A combination of multimedia representations can be used to create dynamic instructional content that communicates concepts and procedures in ways that text alone cannot support. Some examples may help illustrate this idea. Click each of the buttons in the table to the right to see examples of how different types of multimedia representations can be used to enhance the text used for online instruction.

Words and images are two broad categories of multimedia representation. The word category includes text and speech. The image category includes pictures, charts, diagrams, video, and animations. The combination of words and images can be very powerful for learning. One reason for this is that they are qualitatively different. Words are processed sequentially while images are processed in a holistic and nonlinear manner. Information can be encoded in different formats depending on the information being communicated. One of the most effective ways to use words and images for instruction seems to be through the combination of audio narration and images. This approach takes advantage of dual sensory channels and may ease limitations of working memory (Clark, & Mayer 2003; Mayer, 2001). Multimedia can be effectively used to support learning.

References

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R.E. (2003). E-learning and the science of instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.