Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

21 – Media Selection
prevent learners from grouping letters into meaningful
forms and consequently decrease reading speed.
Practical Guideline
Use fonts that have variable spacing.
SCROLLING
Scrolling adds new text lines to the bottom of the display
while the top lines disappear. User-controlled scrolling
text boxes are time-consuming and cumbersome for
students to use. Many readers find scrolling frustrating.
Where appropriate and possible, do not force students
to scroll text in order to read all of the material. Rather
than using scrolling, you should use more screens to
show the text or allow learners to click on buttons to
instantly see previous or subsequent information. Another
reason to avoid scrolling is that some viewers only
read to the point where scrolling is required.
HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA
Hypertext is text that is linked to other information.
Hypertext allows learners to quickly get more information
by activating, such as by clicking a mouse over
highlighted parts of the screen. Highlighted active words
are sometimes called “Hot words”. Hypermedia goes
beyond hypertext by providing access to a variety of
media. Since links often lead to other links, the links are
like a three-dimensional web.
Hypertext and hypermedia are useful for Internetbased
research projects in that they allow learners to
access information in which they are interested, pursue
unique ideas, and learn in unplanned ways. Hypertext
and hypermedia can also be used for simple information
retrieval such as searching an encyclopedia, creative
writing projects including a hyper-novel or hyperreport,
and specialized reference materials like automobile
repair procedures that require a variety of media.
In general, hypertext and hypermedia applications
simply provide access to information rather than teaching
specified learning outcomes. There are a number of
reasons why hypertext and hypermedia can be weak
from an instructional perspective. Students may not:
• learn effectively if there is no interaction that requires
them to think about the material
• be able to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate
information (both of which are found on the
Internet)
• know how to find needed information if it is not obviously
presented
• choose important linked information
• understand the logic or links used to organize the
material
• have the spatial visualization ability needed to effectively
navigate through the content
• be capable of choosing their own paths to acquire
specific knowledge
• have the cognitive capacity to deal with the content,
especially if there is poor screen design
– If the learner thinks too much about too many
fonts and font sizes, objects, navigation aids, and
screen layouts, the learner may not be able to
mentally process the content.
• see important information
– Learners are more likely to miss information if
scrolling is needed to find the information or if the
information is “deeper” than they searched.
• prevent themselves from getting lost
• prevent themselves from accessing more information
than they can mentally process
• spend much time on the content, as learners tend to
skim material that they find on the Internet rather
than reflect on the material
Practical Guideline
Do not assume that a hypertext or hypermedia application
will result in effective learning.
In other words, for learning to occur in hypertext and
hypermedia environments, learning should be specifically
planned and guided. Follow the principles of instructional
design.
Audio
You can use audio for obvious things like music, poetry,
and sound effects and, more importantly, when real
sounds, such as heart, animal, and normal and defective
equipment sounds, are an integral part of the learning
outcome. You can use audio to effectively teach many
skills such as attitudes, especially if you personalize the
material. Audio is also effective for teaching intellectual
skills such as learning languages. You can also use audio
to gain attention, give feedback, give directions, personalize
computers, provide realism such as through presenting
actual speeches, make annotations, teach the
pronunciation of new words, provide multilingual support,
accommodate non-readers, and provide meaning
for images.
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