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Multimedia offers exciting possibilities for meeting the needs of 21st century learners. Read the full research paper - Understanding Multimedia Learning: Integrating Multimedia in the K-12 Classroom or see excerpts below. The use of multimedia instruction can significantly enhance student learning if properly designed and implemented.
BrainPOP uses animation, voice, characters, diagrams and more to motivate and engage learners in curricular topics.
Read the Research:
Research Paper: Multimedia Learning
SEG Research, September 2008
Multimedia learning is more effective when learner attention is focused, not split. BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. have text and pictures presented in close proximity. Presenting information in close proximity is more effective than those applications that present text and pictures far apart on the screen.
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Multimedia presentations are more effective when the learner has the ability to interact with the presentation, by slowing it down or by starting and stopping it. Featuring the presentation in shorter segments also enables the user to control the viewing experience.
Examples:
Cesar Chavez
Make Inferences (k-3)
Learning from multimedia presentations is enhanced when brain structures for organizing information are activated. Previewing activities should be directed at activating prior knowledge, signaling what is important, and showing how content is organized. Reviewing terminology that will be encountered, presentation of graphic organizers, class discussion, and assessments can also be helpful in activating prior knowledge. BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. have a variety of previewing resources.
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Animation appears to be most effective when presenting concepts or information that students may have difficulty envisioning. Animation can also help the student visualize a process or other dynamic phenomenon that cannot be envisioned easily.
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BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. apply research to increase student engagement through the use of personalized content, a conversational tone, onscreen characters, and a story format. Multimedia that is personalized engages learners more than multimedia that is not. Presentations that have a more conversational tone tend to be more engaging than those that have a more formal tone. And, presentations that use the more familiar “you and I” are more engaging than those that present in the third person. The use of onscreen characters that interact with the learner can also increase student engagement. Presenting educational concepts in a “story” format can be effective in engaging students, and may help organize the information and make it easier to process. Engagement plays an important role in activating knowledge structures.
Examples:
Asthma
Internet Safety (k-3)
All BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. topics offer quizzes in multiple formats, to provide students and their teachers with immediate feedback. Multimedia is most likely to be effective when students are provided with opportunities to apply what they have learned following exposure.
Examples:
Mars
Internet Safety Easy Quiz (k-3)
Internet Safety Hard Quiz (k-3)
BrainPOP Jr. encourages students to extend learning by writing, drawing, and talking about their ideas in addition to reinforcing concepts through educational games. Research suggests that information should be presented in different ways to engage learners with different learning styles and strengths. Multimedia learning may be particularly effective for visual and auditory learners.
Examples:
US Symbols Write About It (k-3)
US Symbols Draw About It (k-3)
US Symbols Talk About It (k-3)
US Symbols Matching Game (k-3)
Good multimedia instruction is driven by an understanding of how the brain processes information. It recognizes that the working memory has a limited capacity to process information. It takes advantage of both the auditory and visual channels in working memory to deliver content. Effective multimedia instruction presents information in ways that make use of existing organizing structures to aid students in incorporating information into long term memory.
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