Screencast of 4 google applications to help you stay in touch with others.

Of all the principles of Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning we looked at in this module, which seem most intuitive to you? Which ones surprised you?

The Redundancy Principle was the one that surprised me the most. The suggestion that multimedia is most effective when only using speech or only using graphics was not what I had expected. This changed my whole idea for my screencast and is the reason I chose to narrate without text or added graphics. The only graphics that were used were from my own screen that was already included in Google Applications. The Coherence Principle was the most intuitive to me because of the type of learner I am personally. I know that the simpler is better in my mind and it makes the most sense to me when trying to teach using multimedia. I would not expect the learner to process what I was teaching if there were extreme graphics or loud background music going on behind my voice. 

Which principles did you have in mind when you were creating your screencast? Which were you able to employ and which were more challenging to follow? 

  • The Signaling Principle – Learners need to know what to pay attention to. This one was the most challenging as I had a hard time finding a way to signal where I was instructing or what I would click on next because I wanted to record my own screen. Using only the mouse became slightly difficult so you will notice I circle with my mouse what I want the learner to pay direct attention to. 
  • The Segmenting Principle – I had this one in mind because I think it was important to be able to pause, speed the video up or slow it down. Learning how to use applications from someone else’s screen can become difficult when looking at your own screen so it was important for the learner to have access to these features. 
  • The Personalization Principle – Finally this principle stuck out the most, I wanted to make it seem as personal as possible in order for the learner to feel as though someone truly is there to care for them. Using first and second person adds a personal touch that will feel familiar and comfortable to the learner. 

Who did you imagine as the audience for this screencast? How did that impact your design choices?

  • I imagined my audience to be an individual who did not grow up with the use of technology. An example would be my grandmother. She recently received a laptop to connect with family members but can not yet use the google applications to her advantage. This impacted my design choice by making it clear and simple and recording my own screen. It also impacted my choice to focus on only 4 google applications as lots of the apps will not be useful to someone her age.