For some teachers, the increasing attention to digital and multimodal composing in English and Language Arts classrooms has brought into sharp relief the profession's investment in print as the primary means of expression. Although new forms of communication that combine words, still and moving images, and animation have begun to dominate digital…

This study examined the effect of different modes of presentation on the amount of information elementary students (N=38) in mixed-age classrooms can recall about historical figures. Assessment of information recall followed a pretest/posttest format. Analysis showed no significant difference in recall due to the varied modes of presentation. (DR)

Two experiments explored the integration of animated agents into multimedia environments in the context of R. E. Mayer's (2001) cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The spoken-narration-only condition outperformed other conditions, with no differences between printed text and printed text with spoken narration. (Author)

The IRT (Item Response Theory) has been studied and applied in computer-based test for decades. However, almost of all these existing studies evaluated focus merely on test questions with text-based (or static text/graphic) type of presentation form illustrated exclusively. In this paper, we present our study on test questions using both…

This study examines the effects of four different types of visuals used with television, slide-tape, and programed instruction (printed booklet) presentation. The same script was used with simple line drawings, detailed shaded drawings, photographs of a heart, and photographs of a heart model. In general, results favored programed instruction.…

This study investigates the application of voice recognition technology to online lectures focusing on the efficacy of the text component of a multimedia presentation. Specifically, participants were provided with online access to multimedia instructional packages comprising an image of the lecturer with accompanying computer slides, plus…

Using cognitive load theory and cognitive theory of multimedia learning as a framework, we conducted two within-subject experiments with 10 participants each in order to investigate (1) if the audiovisual presentation of verbal and pictorial learning materials would lead to a higher demand on phonological cognitive capacities than the visual-only…

This is the second part of a two-part report of a study about the instruction of children who are learning or using both braille and print simultaneously (dual media). It explores the instructional methods and curricular decisions of teaching dual media to students with low vision and reports the students' current literacy levels and reading rates…

A discussion of an investigation of the effectiveness of viewing three types of visual presentations over different intervals of time. (Author)

Data are presented on the effects of Animated Agents on multimedia learning environments with specific concerns of split attention and modality effects. The study was a 3 (agent properties: agent only, agent with gestures, no agent) x 3 (picture features: static picture, sudden onset, animation) factorial design with outcome measures of mental…

Discusses the values of instructional technology to education. The author recommends that instructional technology be considered as an efficient means of adding learning options for the student, rather than as an institutional end in itself. (DC)

This paper reviews research indicating that children use images to improve comprehension and production of text; argues that images and sounds can effectively bring children's cultures into the classroom; and studies how eight elementary children used a multimedia composing environment, focusing on the nature of their preferred symbol systems and…

The paper brings the results of a project that passed on to students the opportunity for re-presenting their acquired knowledge via the construction of multi-modal "learning resources". These "learning resources" substituted for lectures and books and became the official learning sources in the classroom. The rational for the…

Frequently writing is now no longer the central mode of representation in learning materials--textbooks, Web-based resources, teacher-produced materials. Still (as well as moving) images are increasingly prominent as carriers of meaning. Uses and forms of writing have undergone profound changes over the last decades, which calls for a social,…