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

21 – Media Selection
With respect to learning, you can use animations to:
• enhance performance and retention
– Note that learning generally requires cues and
guidance to specifically direct a student’s attention
to the pertinent point. This is particularly important
for younger and immature students.
– Ensure that students are not presented with more
information than they can handle.
– In general, animations with text are more effective
than visuals with text. This is especially true when
the concept involves directional characteristics or
changes over time. In these situations, animations
can help simplify an abstract idea into a concrete idea.
• reduce the time needed for learning
• gain attention and improve student attitudes
– This is partly due to animations simply adding variety
to the presented content.
KEEPING THE MESSAGE OF YOUR ANIMATION
CLEAR
To keep the message clear, your animations:
• should be self-explanatory, as a guideline
– Students do not necessarily know how to interpret
animations. The ease of interpretation can depend
on their age and maturity. Evaluate your animations
with target audience students.
– You can help make the animation clear by providing
supporting text and/or labels. Alternatively, focus
the student’s thoughts on the pertinent information.
– If it is not self-explanatory, consider redesigning
the animation.
• must match the learning outcomes
– Some animations have been used to impress rather
than teach.
• should be set up to allow learners to control when
they see the animation
– Students should be able to repeat animations since
it is easy to miss significant points during minor
distractions.
the animation, provide guidance to ensure that the students
will focus on the important point!
Practical Guideline
Animations should only begin when the learner is
ready to view them.
Your animation will appear more realistic if the object’s
speed, size, and relative motion are accurate. Base
the animation’s speed on real time rather than the computer’s
speed. Otherwise, due to a wide variation in
computer speeds, animations may run at different
speeds on different hardware configurations.
You can make animations appear three-dimensional.
• Use 3D for realistic effects.
• 3D animations can be more powerful than 2D animations,
especially if the learner can view the animation
from different perspectives such as front, side,
and top views. For example, this can be useful for
training students to repair equipment.
Real objects
Imagine learning how to create an online course without
ever using a computer or seeing real examples or learning
how to juggle without touching any real objects.
Real objects are excellent when teaching psychomotor
skills and when the skill must be practised and mastered.
There is no guarantee that the skill learned on a simulator
or other format will be transferred to the work
place. So, remember the old saying, “Practice makes
perfect”.
For some training needs, such as those taught
through simulations, you will also need to provide for
real experience. A truism illustrates this: “There is only
so much you can learn about skydiving while standing
on the ground.” At certain points within or after the
online learning activities, simply direct the student to
real objects (or models) or exercises.
Practical Guideline
Self-explanatory animations illustrate the message.
DISPLAYING ANIMATIONS
You should only display animations when the learner is
ready to view them. Students can do this by clicking an
“Animate” button when they are ready. Before showing
Practical Guideline
Consider including real objects as a part of the entire
online instructional package.
334 Education for a Digital World