Emtinan Alqurashi

Rational Statement

The goal of the learning module is to design a sample multimedia lesson by considering what we

have leaned in Mayer’s (2005) for effective multimedia instruction.

At the beginning, a lesson plan has been designed based on my limited prior knowledge. After

discussing it in class and been introduced to Bloom’s Taxonomy, I have changed most of it.

According to Bloom’s Taxonomy for educational objectives, there are six levels of cognition: (a)

knowledge: recall of facts; (b) comprehension: understanding what the facts mean; (c)

application: correct use of the facts; (d) analysis: breaking down information into component

parts; (e) synthesis: combination of information to make a new whole; (f) evaluation: forming an

opinion about the information. Based on that, new educational objectives in my lesson plan have

been developed.

The goal of the lesson is to evaluate how CMC can be used effectively in classrooms to enhance

interaction and collaboration. My rational behind choosing CMC for my lesson plan is my

believe to potential benefits of CMC. Instructors in multimedia learning environments uses

different forms of CMC in order to encourage engagements, collaboration, and effective

interaction between (student-student), (student-instructor) or (student-content) which can result

to meaningful learning at high level (Gibbs, & Bernas, 2007).

After determining the goal and the objectives of my lesson plan, I redesigned the learning

activities in which they help develop the learning process and to achieve better learning

outcomes. This experience is giving me the chance to have a deeper look on the materials I'm

developing.

1

Emtinan Alqurashi

The module starts with a short prior knowledge test. learners with low prior knowledge will

learning from all the material presented. If students are with some prior knowledge, I directed

them to start from the Interactive Powerpoint presentation as it covers the materials well.

In order for the learning module to be fun, I created an interactive powerpoint presentation that

covers synchronous and asynchronous collaborative tools (i.e. audio conference tools, video

conference tools, Instant messaging tools, Document construction tools, Discussion boards,

blogs, email, and wikis), then its followed by a quiz to test their understanding of the materials

covered. Mayer (2005) have mentioned that multimedia instruction can help people build

“mental representation” and it is intended to enhance meaningful learning if designed according

to certain principles. He found that presenting information in interactive manner allows students

to control what and when to explore certain information, and that leads to “cognitively optimal

situation of just-in-time information presentation” (p. 347).

The group activity is to enhance interactivity and collaborative work between students. Jonassen,

Lee, Yang and Laffey (2005) believed that collaborative work can enhance students’

performance and leads to better learning outcomes.

I have also added the end-of-module reflection in the lesson plan and integrated in the platform.

It important for learners to reflect on what they have learned, this activity will promote critical

thinking, creativity and productivity (Thornburg, 1999).

One of the important comments from my classmates is the length of the video that I

implemented. That made me think of not to overwhelm the learners’ cognitive load. As a result

of that a shorter video has been chosen to present the information to the students. The Youtube

video that I borrowed explain the same information as the older but in shorter length, and that is

required when it comes to online learning.

2

Emtinan Alqurashi

Another important factor was discussed in class is the interactive powerpoint. As multimedia can

engage learners in interactive learning environments, certain guidelines must be followed. The

interactive power point must be on play mode in order to be fully engaged in the materials.

3

Emtinan Alqurashi

References

Gibbs, W. J., & Bernas, R. S. (2007). Computer-mediated-communications, learning style, and

visualizing online educational conversations. Journal of Computing in Higher Education,

18(2), 25-50. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03033412

Mayer, R. E. (Ed.)(2005). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning. New York:

Cambridge University Press.

Thornburg, D. (1999). Campfires in Cyberspace. San Carlos: Starsong Publications

Writing Objectives Using Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved from http://teaching.uncc.edu/learning-

resources/articles-books/best-practice/goals-objectives/writing-objectives

4