Enhancing Presentation with Multimedia

Why Should I Use Multimedia?

Multimedia refers to the use of verbal and non-verbal modes to present information and share communications, using a variety of text, images, audio, and video to create learning objects and learning events (Moreno & Mayer, 2007). Effective teaching uses a variety of learning modalities to enhance interest in the subject, content, and delivery of the learning materials. 

Some of the reasons why instructors create multimodal learning objects and events for their teaching: 

  • Same time access​
  • Telling stories​
  • Orientation to something​
  • Useful for thinking; meta-cognitive​
  • Sense of presence; sharing your persona​
  • Saving time i.e. doing video feedback vs. typed feedback​
  • Engaging students' interest

 

How Can I Use Multimedia?

Try to use media:

  • that has high-quality sound and allows for volume adjustment, playback speed variation, and pausing
  • that is a shorter duration to maintain student engagement
  • for longer podcasts and/or video focusing on the most valuable parts with timestamps indicated for students
  • that align to the course/module goals and assessments
  • that is entertaining and easy to listen to in supporting interest and engagement

The next few pages explore how specific multimedia tools can be used in your course.

 

Tips

 


References

 

Additional Resources on Multimodality