MULTIMEDIA IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

This virtual training program is meant for junior instructional designers to introduce them to Mayer’s 12 Multimedia Principles. I was project lead for this endeavor during which I was meant to train designers for upcoming virtual courses. While many of the designers, as such, were familiar with major graphic design principles, they were not always familiar with application of these principles in multimedia learning environments. Therefore, the training focuses on instituting multimedia design for virtual learning.

Major Features of the Training

1. A storyline that involves the participant

Screenshot of character in learning environment with dialogue that reads Oh, hey! You must be new here. No, not new to design. Just new to I.D. Am I right? I thought so.
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Learners are incorporated into the narrative of the training by a designer character. Learners’ credentials are acknowledge and praised by the character, establishing rapport with the audience and building common ground with the character—who was once a graphic designer moving into I.D.

2. Low-stakes knowledge checks

Image depicts a matching exercise in the learning environment. The user is meant to place a card that reads Use conversational style, human voice, and polite wording into one of four categories: Redundancy Principle, Coherence Principle, Embodiment Principle, and Personalization Principle.
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At the end of the training, students participate in light but engaged knowledge checks where they match principles with their constituent attributes/definitions.

3. An interactive navigation

Image depicts screenshot from a digital learning environment navigation modeled after Adobe Photoshop with special buttons for each principle. The principle on view in the screenshot features an animated character and reads Embodiment principle use on-screen coaches and characters, can be photo-realistic or illustrated.
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Because Mayer’s 12 Principles are not necessarily in any particular order, I chose to make the navigation into each principle interactive. This gives learners another opportunity to feel directly involved in their experience. Additionally, since the audience for this training was graphic designers, I chose a navigation environment similar to one with which they are likely familiar: the Adobe Photoshop workspace.