Multimedia instruction should be learner-centered

Richard E. Mayer, professor of psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, launched the Summer Faculty Institute, with an overview of how learner-centered instruction and multimedia technology can produce high-quality instruction.

Historically, two approaches have been used to combine multimedia technology with instruction. The first, a technology-centered approach, uses the capabilities of cutting-edge technology to create multimedia instruction. Unfortunately this approach doesn't take into account research that has established the way people learn and hasn't influenced the learning process, Mayer noted.

The second approach is a learner-centered approach. “A learner-centered approach is designed to influence the learning process; you must adapt the technology to the way the human mind works,” Mayer said.

“People learn better when multimedia messages are designed in ways that are consistent with research-based principles that have revealed how the human mind works,” Mayer said.

Nearly every decade has produced a new technology that promised to be of educational value: movies in the 1920s; instructional radio in the 1930s; and educational television in the 1950s. Initially these technologies provided great promise as educational tools. However, much of the instruction created with these technologies was technology-centered and did not fulfill their educational promise. “Meaningful learning is our goal; the behavioral activity alone does not foster meaningful learning,” Mayer said.

“Research has shown that the best way to help students learn is through integrating three cognitive processes: selecting, organizing and integrating,” Mayer said.

Research also has revealed the challenges that must be overcome to create meaningful multimedia learning. “The goal of the technology is to act as a productive communicator and provide cognitive guidance,” Mayer said, “not to get in the way of it.”

Source: UDaily