Past Experiences with Research

One of the most pivotal experiences in my life occurred in the eleventh grade in an average government class. The assignment was preparation and participation in a mock jury trial. My task was to “prove” my case. Despite the fact that the evidence and facts were on my side, I lost the case. This experience … Continue reading →

Web 2.0 Technologies and the Future of Learning

Web 2.0 technologies are intrinsically interlinked with connectivism, the learning theory brainchild of George Siemens positing learning through connected networks. Specifically, in a learning environment whose very composition suffers from what Gonzalez refers to as the “half-life of knowledge,” the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete, it is imperative … Continue reading →

Interactivity: Learning by Doing

This week’s discussion topic reminds me of the old proverb, “You can lead a horse to water, but can’t make him drink.” Despite the historical definitions of interactivity leaning towards superficial characteristics whether an instructional or functional approach, Kennedy sums the reality of “interactive” multimedia succinctly stating, “But an educational multimedia program cannot be interactive; … Continue reading →

Using Video to Deliver Content

What effect does the use of video in these online courses have on your learning? In what ways has the use of video enhanced or supported your learning? Throughout the program there have been many videos made available for viewing; however, the most useful videos have been in this course. Many of the videos in … Continue reading →

Using Animation for Motivation and Learning

This week’s video was intended as an example of how to incorporate animation in a simplified video (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Although I probably liked the animations more, I would not say they were all necessary or conducive to the instruction. The pacman image was a little unnecessary and distracting, but the majority of the … Continue reading →

The Effective Use of Audio for Learning

In order to properly analyze this week’s discussion scenarios, it is necessary to have a shared representation regarding key terminology such as cognitive load, including variations such as extraneous cognitive load, germane cognitive load and intrinsic cognitive load. Cognitive load is primarily believed to be “the amount of mental effort that a learner expends …based … Continue reading →

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?

This particular discussion prompt is a little difficult to adequately address simplistically. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. First, the guidelines I selected to evaluate the material came from the following resources: Laureate video in which Pointer advises the designers to ask themselves, “Why is the graphic here?” If the … Continue reading →

A Story: Typography Creationism

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away a village quietly hummed along, replete with typefaces. Many were happy-go-lucky like Comic Sans, while others were stout and stodgy like Aharoni or Gourdy Stout. Others were deceptive chameleons like Wingdings 1, 2 and 3, purporting to be simple typefaces, when in actuality they were … Continue reading →

The WOW Factor

There are multitudes of candidates for this particular prompt. As an avid Internet surfer and former secondary Earth Science instructor I have seen a number of wonderfully crafted multimedia projects that address all three aspects of Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: dual channel (visual/auditory), limited capacity and active processing (Laureate Education, Inc. [Laureate], n.d.). … Continue reading →