Week 2

**Research- Based Principles for Designing Multimedia Instruction**

In this paper we will discuss the importance of understanding how
learners of a language learn and how by applying multimedia instructional
design principles as teachers we can improve each teaching session when
providing students with a well-designed class material that fits and suits the
students ‘learning needs.

First we will examine the Core Assumptions  of Multimedia instructional designBased on the
science of learning, we will examine principles that are based on how people
learn from words and graphics and how can they use it when communicating.

Paivio´s Category: Dual Channel Assumption: Processing of visual and
verbal materials into information and data. It is processed by 2 separate
channels.

Baddeley´s Category: Limited Capacity Assumption; People can process
only a limited amount of material in a channel at any one time

Wittrock´s and Mayer´s category: Active Processing Assumption:
Meaningful learning takes place when learners are exposed to relevant material
and content and have practice opportunities to organize the material and
information into a coherent structure, and relate and integrate with other
relevant prior knowledge.

Often we discuss the reasons why the information and data received
through the different channels is not stored effectively.  Once the information it is received through
our senses, the information needs to be stored so that it can be accessed and
used and adapted according to the use or context. There are different ways in which
the brain and the cognitive process stores information.

**Types of Memory Storage:**

Sensory Memory: Holds incoming visual and verbal material and data.

Working Memory: allows for mentally manipulating a small amount of incoming
visual and verbal material, while accessing already stored information, making
connections and relations that are relevant for the activity or purpose
simultaneously.

Long-Term Memory: Is the learner´s permanent storehouse of knowledge.

**Cognitive Processing:**

Selecting: Transfers some of the incoming images and sounds to working
memory for additional processing.

Organizing: Which organizes the images into a pictorial model and the
words into a verbal model in working memory.

Integrating; which connects the models with each other and with relevant
knowledge activated from long-term memory.

Multimedia messages enter the cognitive system through the senses or
receptors.  The verbal channel processes
spoken words and sounds while the visual channel processes graphics and printed
words.

Equally important there are types of processing the information that has
already been stored. During Multimedia instruction there are 3 processes that
occur.

**Extraneous Processing:** Drains limited cognitive processing capacity without contributing
to learning. Usually it is information that it is not contextualized within a
given a context that is relevant for the target population. It is not related
to instructional caused by poor instructional design. Students still need a lot
of supervision and assessment during this process, the learner does not have a
clear knowledge of concepts and structures and therefore it is unsure of what
he knows.

Extraneous Processing difficulties processes in which it is required to
use not only one piece of information but to join or put together ideas in
a  **c*oherent***an organized way so that
it is understandable. When having few information understood or just fractions
of pieces of vocabulary that are isolated in our thinking and processing of
data, we tend to repeat or reuse or recycle the same information without any
variations which leads to***redundancy.***

When learning vocabulary we learn it in different codes, been these ones
spoken words, written text and visual text.
Sometimes the codes are not related one to the other and so ***spatial***
***and '*temporal contiguity** has
to be developed by increasing exposure and practice opportunities. To work on
this principle integrated skills exercises help develop mechanisms that allow
users of a language to relate information received through different channels.

Usually users of alanguage need an extra multimedia help and resource
which is the ***signaling principle***, in which the presented information
can be carefully introduced or practiced with the purpose of calling the
learner´s attention by using different fonts, outlines, headings, highlighting
such as underlining, pointers or key words to help categorize data like the use
of ordinal numbers.

Furthermore the data included should be carefully selected so that
unknown or unclear information can be excluded to avoid distractions.

**Essential Processing:** Selects relevant information and organizes it.After
exposure the learner is able to recognize data and relate it to a specific
context, then it is able to make selection of information that recognizes as
relevant or appropriate and organizes it with similar information categorized
into numerous sub-files.

Generative Processing: make sense of the material by reorganizing data
into a new coherent structure and integrating it with relevant prior knowledge.
Finally it is able to use the knowledge in different contexts, making
variations and adaptations as needed or required by the situations or users of
the language.