I have a lot to write today.

We'll start with a little review. For my other class, Instructional Message Design, we have been reading Multi-Media Learning by Richard E. Mayer. I have completed the first three chapters and this will be the first review I will do on this book. Each time i finish a section for my class I will post a new review.

This is a very insightful book. Click on the book title to see a digital copy. The first three chapters lay down some ground rules and background for the book. "The Promise of Multimedia Learning," Mayer's first chapter, covers his definition of multimedia. This boils down to any instructional material presented in different forms, such as a written document with pictures incorporated or an animated video with a narration. He then breaks down views of multimedia design, learning metaphors, learning out comes and types of active learning. To sum it up, the best route according to Mayer would be to have a learner centered design which could lead to the knowledge construction metaphors, which intern fosters understanding, or transfer. That all leads to meaningful learning which Mayer states should be the objective of most learning.

Chapter 2, "Multimedia Instructional Messages" gives examples that reflect Mayer's definition of multimedia. Using three different models Mayer explains what a basic multimedia message should entail. This helped me with the definitions he had mentioned.

Chapter 3, "A Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning" was the most informative chapter yet. It started with three known assumptions on how we learn. Dual channel processing, limited capacity and active processing are the assumptions that motivate learners and if designers do not keep these in mind the true cognitive learning cannot take place. Mayer then goes into the five steps a learn goes through when they gain a cognitive understanding of any subject. This helped me place behaviors that I have seen in my students. I feel I'll understand why they act like they do, at least some of the time.

This is the review to date. The next chapters are all dedicated to certain techniques on how to enhance this learning medium. I'm all the more confident in this book and what it can teach me because of the sound base of theory laid down in these first three chapters. Stay tuned for more posts. Below is an APA citation for the book.

I plan on updating my links and setting up a couple more links leading to some cool things my classmates are doing. I'm also reading an article on e-learning from a readings list that I will be making comments on soon.



Mayer, R E (2007). Multimedia Learning. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.