Multimedia Lesson for EDTECH 513, Week 03

A screen-shot from the lesson

Multimedia instruction: a lesson on 'demand' for an AP Economics class

This week's assignment in EDTECH 513 involved the application of a couple of design and learning theories about which we have been reading. The first theory is called the "multimedia principle," and the idea behind the theory is that people have been shown to learn more efficiently when text is presented along with appropriate and relevant images. The second theory is called the "contiguity principle," and the idea here is that the images and text used in conjunction with one another in a multimedia piece must be perceived by the learning as being combined rather than being viewed as separate elements. When learners see images and text as being contiguous, they process the information presented more efficiently, and they are better to connect their learning to previously retained information.

I created a 15-slide Google Docs introducing students in an AP Economics class to the concept of 'market demand." I have embedded the presentation I created below.



The project corresponds well to two AECT Standards: 1.2 Message Design and 2.3 Computer-Based Technologies. Message design describes the use of images in order to convey meaning. In my presentation, I have used a variety of images to reduce students' cognitive loads and help them to retain information in a more efficient fashion. Because the presentation was created in Google Docs, it is assumed that the user will access and interface with the lesson via computer or hand-held device, thus fulfilling AECT Standard 2.3.