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This is an invaluable resource for finding all kinds of royalty-free images

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This is an image editing program which allows you to work with layers and photoshop images quite easily.

S Mane

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"Paint.NET is just about perfect ..."- Lifehacker

"It raises the quality bar," - Jeff Atwood, Stack Overflow co-founder, on Coding Horror

About
Paint.NET is image and photo editing software for PCs that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growingonline community provides friendly help, tutorials, andplugins.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is now maintained and developed by Rick Brewster. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such asAdobe® Photoshop® , Corel® Paint Shop Pro® , Microsoft Photo Editor, andThe GIMP.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Corel and Paint Shop Pro are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in Canada, the United States, and/or other countries.

Get it now (free download):
paint.net 5.0.11
English, Belarusian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Corsican, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian

Released on October 11th, 2023

Other Info
Blog
Twitter Tutorials
Frequently Asked Questions
System Requirements Plugins
What's new?

Awards

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Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

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Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows.

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This is a free and open source audio recording program that you can make MP4s with to add to your Xerte project.

S Mane

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Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

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Audacity is the world’s most popular audio editing and recording app. Edit, mix, and enhance your audio tracks with the power of Audacity. Download now!

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This might be useful when creating the presentations / media workbook

Ahmed Abdelaal

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Best 100+ Medical Pictures [HQ] | Download Free Images & Stock Photos on Unsplash

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Download the perfect medical pictures. Find over 100+ of the best free medical images. Free for commercial use ✓ No attribution required ✓ Copyright-free ✓

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I've found this website helpful in applying the theories into the design

J Webster

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It's time to learn. Instructional design (or instructional systems design) combines the art of creating engaging learning experiences with the science of how the brain works. This site is designed to support students, teachers, instructional designers, learning engineers, and anyone interested in creating more effective learning experiences.

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A general guide on designing content for presentation slides

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More and more professors are using presentation technologies to bring visual aids into their classroom. More and more students expect a professor to distribute lecture slides to the class, either in hard copy or via the World Wide Web.

Professors deciding to use such slides in their teaching face many questions. What sorts of material should go on the slides? Are there limits to the amount of text one should put on a slide? How does one arrange the material for optimum viewing? Should the slides be distributed before class, after class, or not at all? If one decides to distribute them, should one do that in hard copy or via a course web site?

An instructor's use of visual aids in teaching, like other elements of the teaching practice, should be congruent with the instructor's general approach to teaching. However, there are general rules and guidelines that the instructor can follow; we attempt to develop some of these below. On this page we present briefly stated rules and guidelines and also provide some links to other resources for those who would like more information.

General Guidelines for Slide Design

Font selection

Sans serif fonts are better than serif fonts.
Serif fonts have small embellishments or lines at the base of each letter. These embellishments make it easier to follow a line of text on the printed page, but they are a distraction on a screen. So select a sans serif font (like Helvetica or Arial) instead of a serif font (like Times New Roman) for your PowerPoint slides.

Font size is crucial.
You can find many rules for determining the proper font size for a particular presentation setting. A good general rule is to use at least 28 point for body text and 38 point for heading text.

Working with colors.

Remember that some (perhaps 5 - 10%?) of people are colorblind, so avoid using such color combinations as red text on a green background.

Standard advice is to use light text on a dark background in projected presentations, but pay attention to the strength of the image projected by the projector. One graphics person suggested yellow text on an indigo background. (There are some who recommend dark text on a light background if the room is large.) (Note: if you're using transparencies and an overhead projector, don't use dark backgrounds.)

Pay attention to how different colors go together, and remember that the shades you see on your monitor are not necessarily the ones you'll see when projecting your presentation.

Text and white space.

Blank space on a slide is important - as a general rule, if you find yourself wanting to reduce the font size so that you can get more text on the screen, it's probably a good idea to consider redesigning the slide so that you have less text on it.

The standard limit is either 7 x 7 (seven lines, no more than seven words each) or 5 x 5 (five lines, no more than five words each) on each slide.

Suggestions for Uses of Slides

If you're using slides to illustrate and/or support a lecture .....

Remember that lecture notes on a slide play a different role in a lecture than do lecture notes that only the lecturer can see. If you try to make them play the same role, you're likely to find students reading your slides instead of listening to you.

You can use slides in lecture to

List major points of your lecture. Several of the major points might stay on the screen as you develop each of them in turn, providing a way for those listening to the lecture to place each point in the larger context.

List important terms. Again, one slide with several terms might remain on the screen for some time, allowing you to refer to each of them as you introduce them in your lecture.

Illustrate with images. Sometimes a picture can make words worth much more than they are without the picture.

While instructors tend to think of lectures when they think of using visual aids in teaching, images can also be used to support classroom discussions .

Move participants through stages of understanding. Suppose you have a discussion in which students are asked to work together to analyze a dataset and reach a particular conclusion about the dataset. You could begin with a slide that presents the dataset in a disorganized way and ask the students to work together to identify patterns. As the discussion progressed to identify patterns that you would expect students to identify, you might then present a slide that showed these patterns. The discussion would proceed, supported at each stage by a slide that exhibited the patterns identified at that stage.

Take, organize, project real-time notes on discussion. Students often take notes during a discussion. Have students take turns serving as primary notetaker for the discussion, recording these notes in real time in a word processor projected onto the screen. Students develop the skill of recording and organizing information as a discussion is taking place. Moreover, these notes are in electronic form and therefore easily revised and reproduced. Notes taken in one class session can provide the basis for discussions later in the term.

Organize small-group work. If you have students working in small groups, you can put prompts for group work on slides that are projected as the students do their work. You could move students gently from one stage to the next by changing the prompts.

Resources

PowerPoint tutorial. There are many tutorials for PowerPoint. Here's one developed at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Active Learning with PowerPoint. An in-depth discussion of strategies for teaching with PowerPoint from the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota.

PowerPoint: Possibilities and Problems. Eugene V. Gallagher and Michael Reder of Connecticut College discuss how teachers can use PowerPoint thoughtfully and effectively .

Serif vs sans serif fonts. Here's a discussion that's more fully developed than the one above, but still very brief.

Choices about font size. If you're not satisfied with the general guidelines given above regarding font size in PowerPoint presentations, than you might consider using the rule described on this page.

Noted information designer Edward Tufte offers his thoughts on the uses and misuses of Power Point (and other presentation software) in his The Cognitive Style of Power Point, an excerpt of which is available here. Also see Tufte's article, PowerPoint is Evil from the September 2003 issue of Wired magazine.It should be noted that in his analysis of PowerPoint, Tufte often neglects to address the use of PowerPoint (and other slideware) to complement what a speaker says. He points out that a PowerPoint slideshow is limited in the ways that it can convey information as a stand-alone document, but he doesn't address ways that a slideshow can enhance an in-person presentation.

For a different approach to using PowerPoint and other slideware to complement an in-person presentation, read Garr Reynold's advice on designing slides. Reynolds is the author of Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. See also Reynolds' Presentation Zen blog for additional thoughts on presentations.

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Multimedia Presentations. More and more professors are using presentation technologies to bring visual aids into their classroom. More and more students expect a professor to distribute lecture slides to the class, either in hard copy or via the World Wide Web. Professors deciding to use such slides in their teaching face many questions.

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"Pedagogy is the heart of teaching and learning"

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"Pedagogy is the heart of teaching and learning"

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Paniagua, A. and D. Istance (2018), Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments: The Importance of Innovative Pedagogies, Educational Research and Innovation, OECD Publishing, Paris.

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Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments | READ online

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Pedagogy is at the heart of teaching and learning. Preparing young people to become lifelong learners with a deep knowledge of subject matter and a br

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I'm a great fan of TED talks and there are many out there relating to multimeida education.

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More pedagogic change in 10 years than last 1000 years: Donald Clark at TEDxGlasgow

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A literature review examining the sucessess of effective pedagogy.

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'Instructional development is too often based on what computers can do rather than on a research-based theory of how students learn with technology'

The quote above comes from Richard Mayer discussing Multimedia Learning: someone widely cited in eLearning publications, and whose work I have wanted to read in more depth for a long time. Having done so in recent weeks, I have had various thoughts about his Multimedia Learning and Generative Theory....

Mayer advocates cognitive approaches to learning, and identifies Dual Channels for information processing in humans - a visual channel (to process images, animations, etc) and a verbal channel (to process written and spoken words, etc). The cognitive phases Select information for processing by the dual channels; Organise verbal and visual representations; and finally Integrates, or builds connections between verbal and pictorial models with prior knowledge.

His research supports this notion, suggesting targeting both channels can increase learning (defined as applying creative solutions to problem solving) by 50%. In developing multimedia resources for learners, Mayer suggests three critical principles for reducing cognitive load, assisting human's limited capacity for information processing, and to encourage effective learning and knowledge construction:

Spatial contiguity: learning is more effective when words and images are presented closer together
Temporal contiguity: learning is more effective when words and pictures are presented simultaneously
Modality contiguity: learning is more effective when verbal information is presented auditory with pictures, over text with pictures. However, if there are no images/animations, text with audio narration can still target the dual channels.

This is certainly interesting for anyone developing online/multimedia learning materials, and something I will personally consider more thoughtfully. However.....

Concern 1: Classroom teaching

In 'The Promise of Multimedia Learning', Mayer alludes that multimedia learning is more effective than learning within a classroom, suggesting it is a 'single-medium' presentation; that is, relying solely on words - the verbal channel.

However, I can't help but feel this is a misguided representation on classroom learning - it doesn't account for the variety of innovative approaches that can be utilised within the classroom. Social, experiential, problem based, and technology-enhanced approaches can all make for effective learning experiences within the classroom. For example, in learning the workings of a bicycle pump, Mayer suggests descriptive images/animations supported with audio is most effective, but doesn't consider the potential learning experiences if students could actually use the pump in real life, and dismantle it to see the inner workings.

Whilst I advocate the multimedia approaches, I think it is important educators don't get carried away with suggestions like this, and do actually challenge pre-existing presumptions of student learning. For as great as it is, multimedia (and eLearning in general) is not a panacea or answer to solve every learner's problems!

Concern 2: Learning in isolation

Such Multimedia 'packages' suggest we learn in isolation i.e alone. Does Mayer recognise the importance and potential of social learning? Or does he refute it? Embedding such content within a VLE can offer a range of social possibilities through the use of discussion forums, chat and web conferencing, to share experience and help construct knowledge and meaning.

Concern 3: Subject matter

Mayer suggests;

'Contiguous presentation of visual and verbal material may be most important when the material is a cause-and-effect explanation of a simple system, when the learners are inexperienced, and when the goal is meaningful learning'

So this therefore raises questions of transferability. Will following his principles for other situations, such as learning about 19th century literature, produce the same outputs? What if there are no cause-and-effect explanations to draw upon?

In Clarke and Mayer (2011), the authors suggest;

"Because the metaphor of the Internet is high learner control, allowing learners to search, locate, and peruse thousands of Internet sites, a tempting pitfall is to create highly exploratory learning environments that give learners an unrestricted license to navigate and piece together their own unique learning experiences. One lesson we have learned from over fifty years of research on discovery learning is that it rarely works."

But this flies in the face of much of the current thinking around encouraging learners to search, find, review and select appropriate information. Michael Wesch is a popular figure advocating such skills, and a diverse bank of research into tools such as Second Life and digital literacies would equally encourage such discovery approaches.

Should we spoon-feed our students or provide a structure to enable them to solve problems and find certain things out for themselves? They won't be spoon fed in the world of work, so failing to prepare them here, is preparing them to fail in the real world!

I think the essence of Mayer's work stands true, and does have a place in education today. For example, I see the development of reusable learning objects as a clear area that could benefit from insight into Mayer's research, taking note of contiguity effects to reduce cognitive load. However ultimately, these objects might be repurposed and placed alongside other materials and activities to encourage a more holistic learning experience.

In relation to RLOs (and that will take it's own post completely at some point), Windle et. al (2011) suggests learners value self-assessment; self paced learning; and use for revision of 'difficult' areas - together then, we can obtain a clear picture or framework for developing reusable content.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the above, so please get in touch either in the comments, by email or on twitter.

Peter (@reedyreedles)

References

Mayer, R. E., & Gallini, J. K. (1990) When is an illustration worth ten thousand words? Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 715-726. doi:10.1037//0022-0663.82.4.715

Mayer, R. E. (1997) Multimedia Learning : Are We Asking the Right Questions ? Educational Psychology, 32(1), 1-19.

Mayer, R. E. (2003) The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), 125-139. doi:10.1016/S0959-4752(02)00016-6

Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2003) Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning. Psychology, 38(1), 43-52.

Windle, R. J., McCormick, D., Dandrea, J., & Wharrad, H. (2011). The characteristics of reusable learning objects that enhance learning: A case-study in health-science education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(5), 811-823. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01108.x

This work by Peter Reed is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

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'Instructional development is too often based on what computers can do rather than on a research-based theory of how students learn with technology' The quote above comes from Richard Mayer discussing Multimedia Learning: someone widely cited in eLearning publications, and whose work I have wanted to read in more depth for a long time.

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Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning - Wikiversity

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The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning model depicts all that dual-channel processing going in the learner's mind when using multimedia instruction. This model was created by Richard E. Mayer and Roxana Moreno and presented in their paper "Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning" in 2003.

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In this article I'll discuss how Knowles' 5 adult learning theory assumptions can be translated to modern day eLearning experiences, so that you can integrate the 4 principles of Andragogy into your eLearning course for maximum learner engagement and motivation.

How To Apply Adult Learning Theory to eLearning

According to the renowned American educator, Malcolm Knowles there are 5 assumptions concerning the characteristics of adult learners, and 4 principles concerning adult learning (andragogy). Despite the fact that Knowles' adult learning theory assumptions and principles were introduced in the 1980's, each can be utilized today to help eLearning professionals create more meaningful learning experiences for adult learners.

Applying Knowles' 5 Adult Learning Theory Assumptions to eLearning

Assumption #4 (Orientation to Learning)
Emphasize how the subject matter is going to solve problems that an adult learner regularly encounters.Adult learners, essentially, need to know the why and when before they actively engage in the eLearning process. For example, they will not only want to know why they need to acquire specific information, but whether or not that information can be applied in the immediate future. Younger learners accept the fact that the knowledge they're acquiring today may not be used for quite some time. However, mature learners prefer to engage in eLearning experiences that help them to solve problems they encounter on a regular basis (in the here-and-now, rather than the future). So, you'll want to emphasize how the subject matter is going to help them solve problems immediately by offering real world examples and scenarios.

Design the Best Learning Experience for your Adult Learners with the Most Engaging Branching Scenarios!

Discover, choose and compare the top eLearning Authoring Tools with Branching Scenarios Functionality!

Applying Knowles' 4 Adult Learning Theory Principles to eLearning

1. Principle of Andragogy#1
Adults must have a hand in the design and development of their learning experience.
While, both adult and younger online learners must feel as though they are playing an active role in their own eLearning experience, for adult learners this is particularly important. They must truly be an integral part of the development and implementation of the curriculum, as well as of the evaluation process. Getting feedback from adult learners allows you to achieve this, as it offers you the opportunity to design learning materials, exams, and activities based upon the needs and wants of the adult learners.

2. Principle of Andragogy#2
Experience should be at the root of all eLearning tasks and activities.
What matters most in regards to adult education isn't the end result, but the eLearning experience that is gathered through instruction and activities. Rather than offering memorization tasks, create projects and exercises that encourage adult learners to go out and explore the subject matter, thereby gaining experience. By doing this, adult learners can learn from their errors and master their skills sets through first-hand experience. Adult learners can take on their own approach when solving problems, which will give them the chance to use their knowledge in a practical way. There will be trial-and-error involved, which is what makes the overall eLearning experience more meaningful and effective.

3. Principle of Andragogy #3
Real life applications and benefits must be tied to the eLearning course.
Adult learners need to be able to tie the subject matter to real world benefits and applications. If they cannot see how a module or activity will give them an advantage in real life, or how a particular eLearning course is going to apply to real world situations, then they won't be excited about the eLearning process. eLearning professionals can increase engagement by integrating scenarios into adult eLearning courses. This way, adult learners have the opportunity to directly see how what they are learning can be used in the real world.

4. Principle of Andragogy #4
Give adult learners the opportunity to absorb information, rather than memorizing it.
The content being offered in adult eLearning courses should be problem-centered, as adult learners' will want to immediately see how the instructions will help them to solve an issue they might encounter outside of the eLearning environment. This often means that the subject matter should offer them the chance to fine tune skill sets and acquire (and retain) practical knowledge by doing, rather than just memorizing. Create activities that allow adult learners to delve into specific tasks, such as simulations, that enable them to store the information in their long term memory through repetition and experience.

These adult learning principles and assumptions can be applied to any eLearning deliverable in order to offer your adult learners a wide range of benefits, including improved comprehension of key concepts and a boost in knowledge retention.

If you'd like to learn more about the Knowles' Adult Learning Theory, The Adult Learning Theory - Andragogy - of Malcolm Knowles article features a detailed explanation of the adult learning theory, as well as a list of recommended resources that you may find useful.

In addition, the 17 Tips To Motivate Adult Learners article offers a number of valuable tips on how to motivate adult learners, so that you can create engaging and exciting learning experience.

Last but not least, you may want to review the The Adult Learning Theory - Andragogy - Infographic.

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

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9 Tips To Apply Adult Learning Theory to eLearning - eLearning Industry

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In this article I'll discuss how Knowles' 5 adult learning theory assumptions can be translated to modern day eLearning experiences, so that you can integrate the 4 principles of Andragogy into your eLearning course for maximum learner engagement and motivation.

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Useful tool for creating a video similar to Osmosis.org. There is a free trial for 7 days where you can take and use the videos you produce.

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With our free trial you'll get access to lots of VideoScribe features but there are some tools that can only be unlocked with a subscription. Here are some key differences:

With a free trial you can experiment with video creation, but you need a paid plan to unlock access to HD MP4 downloads and more.

You can publish your completed video to PowerPoint. Publishing to our online platform is not available until you have a subscription.

With a free trial you can use VideoScribe for desktop on one device or use VideoScribe for browser to access your trial online. With a paid subscription you'll be able to use VideoScribe for desktop on multiple PCs or laptops.

With a paid subscription, there's no limit on the number of videos you can make, templates you can use or videos you can download!

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Whiteboard Animation Free Trial. Sign up for a free 7 day trial now and start creating engaging video content.

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Interesting article summarising important evidence based findings about multimedia learning. 

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Interesting article summarising important evidence based findings about multimedia learning. 

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This is the article that I thought was quite good in the extra reading given.

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The beneficial effect of images on the understanding of a message - "A picture is worth a thousand words" - is widely accepted and established. Sociologists, educationalists and cognitivists dedicated a vast range of research to this subject since the beginning of the 1980s.

1 - Associating texts and images in teaching materials facilitates memorization and understanding

A number of empirical studies in cognitive sciences support this observation.

Cognitivists first came up with typologies of texts (Brewer, 1980; Adam, 1987) of which they studied how they were memorized and understood (Denhière & Baudet, 1992; Van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983). They carried out similar studies on images: proposal of typologies (Evans, Watson & Willows, 1987), study of the memorization (Paivio, 1986) and of understanding (Denis, 1989).

Together these sets of research paved the way for the study of the comprehension of illustrated texts (Glenberg & Langston, 1992), which showed that adding iconographic information encourages readers to build richer mental representations, thus enhancing comprehension (Johnson-Laird, 1983).

2 - Beneficial effect of images varies with the way images are associated with texts

More recently, the research field has been extended to the understanding of multimedia information (Mayer, 1997).

Positive multimedia effects include modality and contiguity effects.

The modality effect consists in observing higher levels of memorization and understanding when texts are presented aurally (via speakerphones or headphones) and associated with illustrations or animated images (Mayer & Moreno, 2002; Moreno & Mayer, 2002).

The contiguity effect consists in better performances in memorization and comprehension when texts and illustrations are presented in close areas on the screen (spatial contiguity) and/or when they are presented simultaneously (temporal contiguity; Moreno & Mayer, 1999).

The effect of redundancy consists in observing similar gains in memorization and comprehension when texts and illustrations deal with identical notions (Moreno & Mayer, 2002).

However, a negative multimedia effect has been reported: when texts and illustrations are presented in the same (visual) mode, memorization and comprehension are impaired. This impairment is interpreted in terms of a split attention effect as well as a wider cognitive load. Processing the various information displayed on the screen partitions the cognitive resources off, and increases the cognitive effort (Tindall-Ford, Chandler & Sweller, 1997).

3 - The positive effect of images also depends on individual characteristics

The impact of individual differences on multimedia effects has been studied and described extensively. These works highlight the influence of two factors: prior knowledge and specific mental abilities (spatial vs verbal).

It has been broadly reported that images are beneficial for novice learners, while they have little or no impact for learners with high prior knowledge (Mayer & Gallini, 1990).

In addition, it was observed that learners having high levels of intellectual mental abilities are also the ones who benefit the most from text-image associations. For instance, in England, Hegarty & Steinhoff (1997) demonstrated that only learners having a high level of spatial skills take advantage of text-image associations. Presenting illustration did not increase the performances of learners with a lower level of the same skills. More recently, in France, Dubois, Gyselinck & Choplin (2003) indicate that students with good visual and spatial memory abilities take advantage of animated images included in multimedia sequences, while students with low visual and spatial memory abilities do not benefit from animated images (see also Gyselinck, Jamet & Dubois, 2008).

4 - How to leverage this knowledge as a teacher when preparing lectures ?

Ergonomists and communication specialists used the results of empiric research mentioned above. They formulated recommendations aimed at better adapting teaching supports to the characteristics of learners.

From the study of multimedia effects, Dubois (2004) drew ergonomic recommendations to limit the cognitive load imposed to students. Three axes are suggested: to present texts and illustrations simultaneously but in distinct sensorial modes; to gather the illustrations in the same area of the screen to facilitate their analysis; to personalize messages in order to maintain and strengthen the students' attention and motivation.

Clark & Lyons (2011) and Dirksen (2016) came up with an additional number of recommendations for more efficient teaching supports. Their purpose is to help students focussing and harnessing prior knowledge, to alleviate the cognitive load and to encourage the elaboration of richer mental representations, as well as to facilitate knowledge acquisition and/or transfer combined with new skills acquisition.

Najjar (1996, 1997, 1998) contributed significantly to cognitive ergonomics of multimedia design, via the formulation of principles aiming at aligning the characteristics of learners, the knowledge to acquire and textual and iconographic information.

Unfortunately, these works remain poorly known within teaching communities. A better promotion among high education institutions should however contribute to improve the quality of teaching supports as well as students achievement levels.

Véronique DUBOIS-BOUCHET (Phd), Pedagogical engineer, Active Pedagogy Lab, Studies and Pedagogical Innovation Division, Sciences Po.

Bibliography

Adam J.M. (1987). Textualité et séquentialité. L'exemple de la description. Langue Française, 74, 51-72.

Brewer, W. F. (1980). Literary theory, rhetoric, stylistics: Implications for psychology. In R.J. Spiro, B.C. Bruce, W.F. Brewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension (pp. 221-239). Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.

Denhière G., Baudet S. - (1992) Les représentations mentales et le traitement du texte, in G. Denhière, S. Baudet (Eds.), Lecture, compréhension de textes et science cognitive, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 101-158.

Clark R.C., Lyons C. (2011). Graphics for learning: proven guidelines for planning, designing, and evaluating visuals in training materials. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Denis M. - (1989) Image et cognition, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Dirksen J. (2016). Design for how people learn. San Francisco: New Riders.

Dubois V. (2004). Intégration cognitive d'informations multimédia et mémoire de travail. Thèse de doctorat de Psychologie Cognitive, sous la direction de M.-F. Erhlich. Paris: Université René Descartes Paris V, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. 270 pp.

Dubois V., Gyselinck V., Choplin H. (2003). Multimodalité et mémoire de travail. In C. Desmoulins, P. Marquet, D. Bouhineau (Eds.), Environnements Informatiques pour l'Apprentissage Humain (pp. 187-197). Paris: ATIEF/INRP.

Evans M.A., Watson C., Willows D.M. (1987). A naturalistic inquiry into illustrations in intructional textbooks. In H.A. Houghton, D.M. Willows (Eds.), The psychology of illustration, instructional issues (Vol. 2, pp. 86-155). Springer-Verlag.

Glenberg A.M., Langston W.E. (1992). Comprehension of illustrated text: Pictures help to build mental models. Journal of Memory and Language, 31, 129-151.

Gyselinck V., Jamet E., Dubois V. (2008). The role of working memory components in multimedia learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22(3), 353-374.

Hegarty M., Steinhoff K. (1997). Individual differences in use of diagram as external memory in mechanical reasoning. Learning and Individual Differences, 9(1), 19-42.

Johnson-Laird P.N. (1983). Mental models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mayer R.E. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions? Educational Psychologist, 32(1), 1-19.

Mayer R.E., Gallini J.K. (1990). When is an illustration worth ten thousand words? Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 715-726.

Mayer R.E., Moreno R. (2002). Aids to computer-based learning. Learning and Instruction, 12, 107-119.

Moreno R., Mayer R.E. (1999). Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: The role of modality and contiguity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(2), 358-368.

Moreno R., Mayer R.E. (2002). Verbal redundancy in multimedia learning: When reading helps listening. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 156-163.

Najjar L. (1996). Multimedia information and learning. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 5, 129-150.

Najjar L. (1997). A framework for learning from the media: The effects of materials, tasks, and tests on performance. GIT-GVU-97-21 technical report. Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology, Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center.

Najjar L. (1998). Principles of educational multimedia user interface design. Human Factors, 40(2), 311-323.

Paivio A. (1986). Mental representation: A dual coding approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tindall-Ford S., Chandler P., Sweller J. (1997). When two sensory modes are better than one. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 3(4), 257-287.

Van Dijk T.A., Kintsch W. (1983). Strategies of discourse comprehension. New York: Academic Press.

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Some Contributions of Cognitive Psychology to Pedagogical Uses of Images

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The beneficial effect of images on the understanding of a message - "A picture is worth a thousand words" - is widely accepted and established. Sociologists, educationalists and cognitivists dedicated a vast range of research to this subject since the beginning of the 1980s. A number of empirical studies in cognitive sciences support this observation.

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How To Create Engaging And Inspiring Adult Learning Courses: 8 Points To Consider

Creating adult learning courses gives more mature learners the opportunity to expand their skills and build vital knowledge even if they are short on time and hesitant to hop on board the IT bandwagon. eLearning allows them to unlock new opportunities at their own pace and access online training resources whenever it's most convenient. Here are 8 tips to help you develop successful eLearning courses for adult learners that are motivational and memorable.

1. Research Your Audience

Not knowing your audience could have disastrous consequences. Thus, it's wise to do some research before you start the development process. Valuable information can be gained from numerous sources, including interviews, online surveys and focus group testing. In fact, you may want to utilize numerous analysis methods to delve into the background and experience of your adult learners. When researching your target audience, make sure you have a good understanding of their expectations. You must address the needs, goals, and preferences of your adult learning audience in order to offer them real value.

2. Jot Down Your Objectives

Once you have clarified who your target audience is, you need to define the purpose of the eLearning course. A good starting point is to write down your goals and objectives. Is it your goal to provide your online learners with practical skills? Do you want to provide task-based training? Or do you wish to provide advanced learning to professionals with prior experience? Once you have your goals and objectives narrowed down, and the target audience you are addressing to, you can make decisions about the eLearning content to be included, as well as the format.

3. Research The Requirements

You have to ensure that youreLearning course meets your organizational requirements and prerequisites. For example, you want to deliver an adult learning course that leads to an online training certificate. Thus, you must research the online training certification requirements beforehand. That includes the subject matter, skill requirements, related tasks, and even compliance standards. You can also ask for input from prospective adult learners and possibly other online instructors in the same field.

4. Select The Right eLearning Authoring Tool

The right eLearning authoring tool can help make or break your adult learning course. Before you select an eLearning authoring tool, evaluate your eLearning team and compare their skills to the available options. If you have a team with minimal programming experience for example, it is best to choose an eLearning authoring tool with more basic functions and pre-made eLearning templates. If your eLearning team is a little more skilled, you can opt for a more advanced, feature-rich eLearning authoring tool.

5. Make The Most Of Cloud-Based Online Training Resources

Having the ability to exchange information is a crucial part of the eLearning experience. Thus, a cloud-based Learning Management System could be ideal for your adult learning course. You don't even need in-depth knowledge about cloud systems. As there are numerous user-friendly options that allow you to design, develop, and deploy your eLearning course with ease. Of course, the cloud program you choose should match your needs and those of your audience. A simple and straightforward User Interface, for example, is best for adult learners who are new to the world of tech tools.

6. Tap Into The Power Of Multimedia

Multimedia can be used to keep your audience engaged and entertained simultaneously. Naturally, the multimedia sources you use must tie into the subject matter. During the creation of your eLearning course, take time to browse the internet for relevant links, articles, and images. You could even search for a video sharing online platform, such as YouTube. The use of multimedia also makes your eLearning course look more polished and professional. Not to mention, enhances knowledge retention and recall for your adult learners. Rapid eLearning authoring tools are yet another source of rich multimedia due to the fact that they usually have built-in eLearning templates, images, audio, and layouts.

7. Keep It Simple

When there is so much multimedia available on the internet, it is too easy to consume too much of it. An overabundance of images and graphics in your eLearning course may cause confusion or cognitive overload, which diminishes the value of your eLearning course design. Be wary of chaotic design elements when you do the final edits and opt for a simplified layout. You can also submit the eLearning course to a focus group for evaluation. Afterwards, you're able to do some fine tuning and avoid common errors, such as lengthy blocks of texts and cluttered presentations.

8. Encourage Active Learning

One of the most powerful ways to engage and inspire your adult learners is to incorporate real world activities. Encourage your adult learners to conduct online interviews with experienced professionals in the field, or include branching scenarios and simulations to facilitate real world application. You can also keep your adult learners engaged by giving them continuous updates on social media and other online platforms. The key is to keep them actively involved in the learning process. Another option is to create group collaborative assignments that center on realistic problems or situations. For example, creating an online tip sheet to help their peers improve task performance.

Adult learning courses give adult learnersthe information and online training resources they need to achieve their learning objectives. Best of all, they have the power to train whenever it fits into their busy schedule. This helps to enhance their motivation and keep them focused on the desired outcome, instead of letting other obligations get in the way of their personal and professional development. Design memorable eLearning courses that cater to the individual needs of adult learners and make the most of eLearning authoring tools.

Are you interested in learning more about how to create eLearning courses for adult learners? Download our free eBook Designing eLearning Courses For Adult Learners: The Complete Guide to learn about the characteristics of adult learners, what motivates them, the most appropriate Instructional Design models and theories for adult learners, as well as additional facts and stats you need to know about this particular audience.

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The Basics Of Creating Engaging And Inspiring Adult Learning Courses - eLearning Industry

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Creating adult learning courses gives more mature learners the opportunity to expand their skills and build vital knowledge even if they are short on time and hesitant to hop on board the IT bandwagon. eLearning allows them to unlock new opportunities at their own pace and access online training resources whenever it's most convenient.

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A useful beginners mind map guide to designing multimedia educational resource that I found useful.

Arham Qureshi

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A useful webpage talking about key design principles.

Arham Qureshi

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8.5.1 The importance of design in multimedia teaching

Chapter 7 discussed the various pedagogical differences between media. Identifying appropriate uses of media is both an increasingly important requirement of teachers and instructors in a digital age, and a very complex challenge. This is one reason for working closely with instructional designers and media professionals whenever possible. Teachers working with instructional designers will need to decide which media they intend to use on pedagogical as well as operational grounds, which was the purpose of Chapter 7.

However, once the choice of media has been made, by focusing on design issues we can provide further guidelines for making appropriate use of media. In particular, having gone through the process suggested in Chapter 7 of identifying possible teaching roles or functions for different media, we can then draw on the work of Mayer (2009) and Koumi (2006, 2015) to ensure that whatever choice or mix of media we have decided on, the design leads to effective teaching.

Mayer's research focused heavily on cognitive overload in rich, multimedia teaching. From all his research over many years, Mayer identified 12 principles of multimedia design, based on how learners cognitively process multimedia:

8.5.2.1 Coherence

People learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds are excluded rather than included. Basically, keep it simple in media terms.

8.5.2.2 Signalling

People learn better when cues that highlight the organization of the essential material are added. This replicates earlier findings by Bates and Gallagher (1977). Students need to know what to look for in multimedia materials.

8.5.2.3 [Avoid] Redundancy
People learn better from graphics + narration, than from graphics, narration and on-screen text.
8.5.2.4 Spatial contiguity
People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen
8.5.2.5 Temporal contiguity
People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.
8.5.2.6 Segmenting

People learn better when a multimedia lesson is presented in user-paced segments rather than as a continuous lesson. Thus several 'YouTube' length videos are more likely to work better than a 50 minute video.

8.5.2.7 Pre-training

People learn better from a multimedia lesson when they know the names and the characteristics of the main concepts. This suggests a design feature for flipped classrooms, for instance. It may be better to use a lecture or readings that provide a summary of key concepts and principles before showing more detailed examples or applications of such principles in a video.

8.5.2.8 Modality

People learn better from graphics and narration than from animation and on-screen text. This reflects the importance of learners being able to combine both hearing and viewing at the same time to reinforce each other in specific ways.

8.5.2.9 Multimedia

People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. This also reinforces what I wrote in 1995: Make all four media available to teachers and learners (Bates, 1995, p.13).

8.5.2.10 Personalization

People learn better from multimedia lessons when words are in conversational style rather than formal style. I would go even further than Mayer here. Multimedia can enable learners (particularly distance learners) to relate to the instructor, as suggested by Durbridge's research (1983, 1984) on audio combined with text. Providing a 'human voice and face' to the teaching helps motivate learners, and makes multimedia teaching feel that it is directed solely at the individual learner, if a conversational style is adopted.

8.5.2.11 Voice
People learn better when the narration in multimedia lessons is spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice.
8.5.2.12 [No] image
People do not necessarily learn better from a multimedia lesson when the speaker's image is added to the screen.
In re-reading Mayer's work, I am struck by the similarities in findings, using different research methods, different multimedia technologies, and different contexts, to the research from the Audio-Visual Media Research Group at the British Open University in the 1970s and 1980s (Bates, 1985).

More recently, the University of British Columbia has done an excellent job of suggesting how Mayer's design principles could be operationalised. Staff at the University of British Columbia have combined Mayer's findings with Robert Talbert's experience from developing a series of successful screencasts on mathematics, into a set of practical design guidelines for multimedia production.

Talbert's key design principles are:

Keep it Simple: focus on one idea at a time.

Keep it Short: keep videos to a length 5-6 minutes max. to maximize attention.

Keep it Real: model the decision making and problem solving processes of expert learners.

Keep it Good: be intentional about planning the video. Strive to produce the best video and audio quality possible.

8.5.3 Teaching as a weak discriminator in media selection

Most teachers and instructors would put the effectiveness of a medium for teaching and learning as the first criterion. If the technology is not educationally effective, why would you use it? However, if a student cannot access or use a technology, there will be no learning from that technology, no matter how it is designed. Furthermore, motivated teachers will overcome weaknesses in a particular technology, or conversely teachers inexperienced in using media will often under-exploit the potential of a technology.

Thus design decisions are critical in influencing the effectiveness of a particular technology. Well-designed lectures will teach better than a poorly designed online course, and vice versa. Similarly, students will respond differently to different technologies due to preferred learning styles or differences in motivation. Students who work hard can overcome poor use of learning technologies. It is not surprising then that with so many variables involved, teaching and learning is a difficult discriminator for selecting and using technologies. Access (and ease of use) are stronger discriminators than teaching effectiveness in selecting media.

8.5.4 Questions for consideration

Therefore, it is not enough to focus just on the design of multimedia materials, as important as design is, even considering just the pedagogical context. The choice and use of media need to be related to other factors (what Mayer calls 'boundary conditions'), such as individual differences between learners, the complexity of the content, and the desired learning outcomes. Thus when considering media from a strictly teaching perspective, the following questions need to be considered:

1. Who are my students?

2. What content needs to be covered?

3. What are the desired learning outcomes from the teaching in terms of skills development?

4. What instructional strategies or approaches to learning do I plan using?

5. What are the unique pedagogical characteristics of different media? How might different media help with the presentation of content and development of student skills in this course?

6. What is the best way to present the content to be covered in this course? How can media help with the presentation of content? Which media for what content?

7. What skills am I trying to develop on this course? How can media help students with the development of the requisite skills for this course? Which media for which skills?

8. What principles do I need to use when designing multimedia materials for their most effective use?

Working through these questions is likely to be an iterative rather than a sequential process. Depending on the way you prefer to think about and make decisions, it may help to write down the answers to each of the questions, but going through the process of thinking about these questions is probably more important, leaving you with the freedom to make choices on a more intuitive basis, having first taken all these - and other - factors into consideration.

Activity 8.5 Multimedia design principles

How well do you think Mayer's design principles would apply to classroom teaching?

Which principles would also work in a classroom context and which wouldn't?

Under what conditions would Mayer's principles work in a classroom context?

References

Koumi, J. (2006). Designing video and multimedia for open and flexible learning. London:Routledge

Koumi, J. (2015) Learning outcomes afforded by self-assessed, segmented video-print combinations Academia.edu (unpublished)

UBC Wikis (2014) Documentation: Design Principles for Multimedia Vancouver BC: University of British Columbia

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Chapter 7 discussed the various pedagogical differences between media. Identifying appropriate uses of media is both an increasingly important requirement of teachers and instructors in a digital age, and a very complex challenge. This is one reason for working closely with instructional designers and media professionals whenever possible.

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Useful presentation I have found on how to improve multimedia resource deisign

Arham Qureshi