Reflecting on the past year or so I can certainly see how H5P tools would be useful for a class, especially regarding virtual learning. Providing students with an interactive video they can watch at their own pace reduces the chances of students falling behind or missing instruction. Having the option to pause, rewind, etc allows students ensure they understand the content. Plus most children have the technological abilities to play videos on computers so H5P tools have the potential to be used with students of any age group. Something as simple as providing a video to enrich a lesson has many benefits for students and teachers including, but not limited to the following :
- Videos provide more information
- Videos engage learners and can create a more memorable experience
- Videos can integrate ideas from outside the classroom
- Videos offer a flexible medium to work with
- Videos can be easier to understand
I believe videos can certainly enhance and aid students’ learning experience. That being said I think it might be easier to find ways to incorporate videos and tools like H5P with slightly older children, perhaps intermediate elementary students.
Looking at my own abilities as I learn to use these tools, I’m not certain how I could use such tools for an assignment in primary grades. I think it could be difficult given the varying abilities young children have when it comes to computers, some may be quite advanced whereas others may have little experience. As I mentioned earlier, I can certainly see doing such assignments with intermediate students but I wonder if it may be a little advanced for kindergarten to grade three students. I’m looking forward to learning more skills myself and perhaps as I get more comfortable with these tools myself my opinion may change. I’m excited to reflect on that as time goes on. Included below is the video I created after learning how to screencast!
The Multimedia Learning Theory, created by Richard Mayer, examines the best ways to maximize learning for students through multimedia presentations. Key to Mayer’s theory are the three principles on how humans process information: dual coding, the limited capacity of working memory, and how humans actively process information. The first principle, dual coding refers to the separate channels through which we process audio and visual information. Relating this to multimedia learning, we learn better when we have both images and spoken words presented to us rather than just text. Next, we can only hold so many pieces of information in our working memories at one time. The capacity is believed to be about 7 (plus or minus two )pieces of information at once. Thus we cannot expect learners to gain information if their working memory is overloaded. Finally, humans do not process information by passively absorbing it, they need to be actively engaged with the information. This is done through identifying relevant information, organizing it and relating it to prior knowledge. Thus, learners need to synthesize information so that it becomes meaningful and is stored in long term memory. Mayer’s multimedia theory uses these ideas to suggest multimedia should be used to help learners construct their knowledge which relates directly to how educators present content to their students.
Personally, I feel that Multimedia Learning Theory is tremendously useful when considering how we as educators create tutorials and video content. It is much more engaging to watch content that has visuals to accompany explanations, which is important to consider when you want to keep your students attention. Providing them with a video or tutorial that they struggle to pay attention to serves very little purpose. Students need to be engaged to retain anything useful from the content you have given them. Looking at pictures and diagrams to accompany an explanation is more appealing than simply listening to or reading an explanation. There’s also a much higher chance students will remember content because they have both the explanation and accompanying visuals to connect with. If we want our students to be engaged with and learn from the content we provide them with, I think it is exceedingly important to consider Multimedia Learning Theory.
References:
Brown, L. (2022). Benefits for Teacher Using Video In the Classroom. Wondershare.
Davis, G., & Norman, M. (2016). Principles of multimedia learning. Wiley Education Services.
Ramlatchan, M. (2019). Chapter 3: Multimedia Learning Theory and Instructional Message Design. ODU Digital Commons.
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