Adam T.

Wasilko

 Information can be presented as text

Water

Information can be presented as an image

 Ideally, words and images will be presented together.

Water

What is this a picture of? Trees? Mountains? Water? Nature?

What should I expect to learn about? Nature? Rainfall? Natural
disasters? Waterfalls? The chemical structure of water? Irrigation?
The coupling of words and images reduces the need to determine
which elements of a picture are important and which pieces of it
pertain to other information.

 This makes no sense.

Rain forests belong to the tropical wet

climate group.
The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets
higher than 93 F (34 C) or drops below 68
F (20 C); average humidity is between 77
and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100
inches a year.
There is usually a brief season of less rain. In
monsoonal areas, there is a real dry season.
Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.

Water

 The alignment of words and texts instantly gives you a sense of

what you are about to learn about.

Water

Rain forests belong to the tropical wet

climate group.
The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets
higher than 93 F (34 C) or drops below 68
F (20 C); average humidity is between 77
and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100
inches a year.
There is usually a brief season of less rain. In
monsoonal areas, there is a real dry season.
Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.

 Consider the placement of text in relation to the graphics it

describes

Do you have any interest in discerning what this is about?

Probably not.

Consider the use of roll over graphics and pop up messages

to reduce the possibility of information overload.

 The scrolling of the windows separates graphics and text.

 Obstruction of material by additional material.

Biggest offender? Pop up materials.

 Does this make sense?

1. Give a list of detailed instructions
2. Start exercise
3. Have no way of referencing directions

Separating directions from applications adds to memory

overload.
Why is this bad?

 Not only do we match up text and images, but words and

animated material as well.
Present spoken words at the same time as its corresponding
graphic.
Consider how many e-learning applications integrate speech, or
narration, with on screen graphics

 An audio link has one icon while an animation link has another
A narration is given and then an animation is shown.
Less memory is devoted to deeper understanding and the
working memory has more work to do to figure out what it
needs to know
This segmented presentation of material makes the memory
piece things together that could be easily presented together

 These principles are based on how people learn not out of

necessity for bandwidth, space, traffic, etc.

If the environment is not conducive to your material perhaps it

was not meant to be taught in that medium

Extraneous processing

Integrated

Vs.

Separate

 How much detail is appropriate?

When is it better to use printed words and when is it better to
use spoken words?
How does the conversational style of the words affect the
learning?
How do the characteristics of the voice affect learning with
spoken words?

 Printed text near appropriate graphics

Feedback on the same screen as questions

Directions in the same screen and applications

Linked information that does not obscure primary information
Text placed within graphics, rather than below
Narrated graphics with these principles used