The principles of eLearning (cognitive theory of multimedia design)

I did a ten part series on the principles of eLearning as defined by researchers including Clark and Mayer and based largely on the cognitive theory of multimedia. Often people ask me about how to access the eSeminar recordings so this blog entry is to provide a shortcut for folks looking to watch the seminars.

10: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 10: Individual Differences

Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will present a one hour online eSeminar for users of Adobe Captivate and / or Adobe eLearning Suite. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as the Individual Differences Principle, which suggests that design effects are stronger for low-knowledge learners than for high knowledge learners, and for high-spatial learners rather than for low-spatial learners. Examples will focus on the use of Advanced Actions, ADA/508 Compliance, Closed Captions, Localization, Video Closed Caption, Branching and User Variables in Adobe Captivate 5.

9: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 9: Pre-Training

This one hour session hosted by Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will focus on creating effective eLearning content. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as pre-training, which suggests that elearning content authors should first build up basic information about essential elements which are pre-requisites to understanding the larger concepts. Examples will focus on the use of Quizzes, the Quiz Results Analyzer and the Table of Contents in Adobe Captivate 5.

8: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 8: Segmenting

Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will present a one hour online eSeminar for users of Adobe Captivate and / or Adobe eLearning Suite. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as the Segmenting Principle, which suggests that authors of eLearning content should break content up into small pieces or chunks in order to help avoid cognitive overload for the learners. Examples will focus on the use of Slide Paradigm, Object Styles & PPT Import in Adobe Captivate 5.

7: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 7 : Coherence

This one hour session hosted by Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will focus on creating effective eLearning content. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as Coherence, which suggests that off topic ancillary material can distract from learning. This theory stands in opposition to arousal theory, providing research based evidence that when stimulating animation or any form of non-relevant information is provided, it can actually decrease the efficacy of the instruction. Examples will focus on the use of Templates, Master Slides & Object Styles in Adobe Captivate 5.

6: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 6: Redundancy

Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will present a one hour online eSeminar for users of Adobe Captivate and / or Adobe eLearning Suite. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as Redundancy, which suggests that presenting symbols via both text and aural channels is less effective than presenting via only one. Examples will focus on the use of Audio Editing & Text in Adobe Captivate 5.

5: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules Part 5: Contiguity

This one hour session hosted by Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will focus on creating effective eLearning content, specifically on the Contiguity Principle, which indicates that the spatial relationship (proximity) of symbols (like text) to analogous images (things that look like the subject of the learning) is significant, and plays a key role in how effectively we learn. This session will explain the overall concept and demonstrate how this concept can be applied with particular focus on the following features in Adobe Captivate; Position, Resize, Transform, Align, Pan, Zoom, Auto-Captions, Rollover.

4: Creating effective eLearning Multimedia with Adobe Captivate 5

This one hour session will focus on creating eLearning content with Adobe Captivate 5. The session will center on the Multimedia Principle (the importance of combining images & text) of eLearning Design. It will be hosted by Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, and is intended for all users of Adobe Captivate, eLearning Professionals, Academicians and Training Professionals. Examples for this session will focus on the use of Adobe Captivate 5 images, shapes, Photoshop Integration, captions and rich animation effects.

3: Applying Personalization to eLearning with Adobe Captivate 5

Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will present a one hour online eSeminar for users of Adobe Captivate and / or Adobe eLearning Suite. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as Personalization, which suggests that people learn more effectively when conversational styles and or learning agents are used to enhance the social aspects of the experience. Examples will focus on slide video, flash animation, Widgets, Advanced Actions and the Adobe Captivate Twitter Widget.

2: Balancing cognitive load in eLearning content with Adobe Captivate 5

Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist, will present a one hour online eSeminar for users of Adobe Captivate and / or Adobe eLearning Suite. The session focuses on the Multimedia eLearning Design Principle known as Personalization, which suggests that people learn more effectively when conversational styles and or learning agents are used to enhance the social aspects of the experience. Examples will focus on slide video, flash animation, Widgets, Advanced Actions and the Adobe Captivate Twitter Widget.

1: Making Effective Adobe Captivate eLearning Modules

This one hour session will focus on a meta-level restructuring of Clark, Mayer et. al, principles of multimedia eLearning – specifically via evidence from educational psychology. It will be hosted by Dr. Allen Partridge, Adobe eLearning Evangelist and is intended for all users of Adobe Captivate, eLearning Professionals, Academics, and Training Professionals. This session will provide a foundation in multimedia design concepts for eLearning, and help you understand the reasons / rationale behind many of the eLearning strategies you see implemented today.