How can interactive multimedia facilitate learning?

Abstract

Educational and edutainment multimedia CD-ROMs, covering a diversity of topics, are on the increase. New titles are appearing every week: each offering ever more 'rich content' and 'genuine excitement' through 'exhilarating journeys' that are 'highly interactive' and which are 'lavishly illustrated, bursting with information'. In reality, however, many CD-ROMs have been poorly constructed, paying lip service to supporting the learning process. We argue that, if educational multimedia is to live up to its expectations and have a genuine pedagogical value, then much more focus is needed on how to support learning activities through designing effective interactivity. Our approach analyses how learners integrate information arising from different representations, through considering how external and internal representations are used in concert. From our theoretical analysis, we have constructed a set of design concepts that are instantiated as questions, issues and trade-offs for the design of interactive multimedia. To illustrate our approach, we present a series of demonstration spaces, varying in interactivity for teaching eco-concepts.