Category: Assignment 3 – Multimedia Skills

To further convey my Core Multimedia Skills, I chose to reproduce my video on “How to Format a Business letter”. In doing so, I added additional information and made it interactive by adding elements such as multiple-choice questions and additional text. 

The first principle added was the segmenting principle as I included multiple choice questions after different topics of the business letter. This allows for the learner to enhance their understanding and memory of the concepts as they are rehearsing them. This was so crucial as an important aspect of Business Letters are details and therefore having the multiple-choice questions to test on these details, prove very beneficial to the learner. 

Adding the multiple-choice questions also added immediate feedback to the learner (feedback principle) which checked their current understanding. The multiple choice allowed for active learning as it actively engaged the students in my presentation through hands-on skill-building.

To ensure that the information I was explaining to the listener moved from sensory input to long term memory, I utilized the Dual Coding theory by not overloading one mean of information and having both visual and verbal information. I spoke to different points and insight that was written on the PowerPoint which allowed for the redundancy principle to be utilized. 

I included the worked examples principle and tried to reinforce throughout the updated video that the example was included for reference, so that at any point the learner could pause the video to look at it. In addition, the signalling principle was demonstrated once the multiple-choice questions and the text box were added because they highlighted key aspects of the Business Letter that I wanted the learner to take away. 

To avoid “Death by PowerPoint”, I utilized the Cognitive Load Theory by only having one main idea per slide and a maximum of 6 objects per slide but also using the verbal channel to help the learners remember more. Lastly, I varied the tone of my voice while presenting, and paused during transition points for the personalization principle to have an effect. 

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

To convey my core Multimedia Skills, I chose to do a voiceover using the screencastify browser extension to enhance my 360 virtual Google Earth Tour of my trip to Prince Edward Island. I thought that adding the audio explanation to this tour made it much more engaging. I also included further information to convey my knowledge and love for this province as well as some popups and interactive elements.

Photo by Scott Walsh on Unsplash

The first principle that I included was the Multimedia principle and I did so by including pictures (visuals) that directly related to the content I was explaining.

In addition, the modality principle was utilized as I added the narration which was not previously included as I thought it would be less effective if someone had just performed the tour themselves as there would only be text. Furthermore, the modality principle was used as I elaborated extensively on the printed text that was provided.

Adding the voiceover allowed me to use the personalization principle as I was able to have a conversation with the listener/learner about my experience which allowed for a more in-depth explanation and informal style of learning. As explained in the summary of principles, people learn more effectively when this is done and this aspect was critical to me when filming my video as this is how I learn best.

Lastly, I made it an interactive video with the multiple-choice feature to utilize the self-explanation principle as well as to increase the interaction throughout the video. These questions were not necessarily right or wrong answer questions, but more so to get the learner thinking about the information I had expressed. Along with these questions, I did provide feedback that was tailored to each answer but in a more personalized way because they weren’t right or wrong answer questions. I think this further added to the personalization of the video and allowed the listener to learn in a way that did not necessarily even feel like learning.

The Dual Coding Theory was utilized as I used narration to expand on my text and visuals.