Learning Through Multimedia

Hello! I'm here to talk about some kind of interesting content. So, here we go!!

Have you ever wondered whether it is possible to learn from multimedia or not?

Richard E. Mayer answers this question with The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning which is a theory based on 3 assumptions- Dual Channel(processing visual and verbal information differently and in two separate channels), Limited Capacity(processing only a limited amount of information in each channel at one time due to capacity of working memory, Active Processing(actively processing information by paying attention and organizing and integrating the information to make it meaningful). 

According to this theory, learners should engage in five cognitive proccesses to learn through multimedia. First of all, the learner selects relevant words and relevant visuals from a multimedia message. Secondly, he/she builds connections among certain words to create a verbal model and builds connections among certain visuals to create a pictorial model. Lastly, the learner integrates the verbal and pictorial models with each other and with their prior knowledge.

So, when we see words and pictures together, we select the important ones and organize them into verbal and pictoral mental models. Then link them to our schemata. If this happens, then the answer is YES. It's possible to learn from multimedia!