Abstract:

The majority of modern day children are constantly engaged in social media, which, as many researchers have observed, makes children comfortable using a variety of technology tools. This “know-how” can be utilized in teaching and learning core curriculum concepts that are traditionally difficult to comprehend and consequently difficult to apply (Jarvinen et al., 2012).

One of the emergent areas of research is the effect of student-generated multimedia on learning. For the last 15 years many researchers have studied multimedia design and its role in education. However, Dr. Richard Mayer has made the most significant contributions to the areas of cognition and multimedia effects on learning. According to Mayer (2001), multimedia presentation consists of coordinated verbal and visual images. In “Principles of Multimedia Design” (2001) Mayer provides empirical evidence that well-designed multimedia presentations “result in higher transfer and retention performance for certain kinds of learners” (p.188). A few studies have suggested that allowing students to use multimedia tools in the project based learning environment will allow students to expand on their creativity and improve their critical thinking skills (Bradbury et al., 2010; Neo, et al., 2001). Researches argue integrating multimedia into the learning process affords for deeper learning than text-based or lecture based teaching methodology (Jarvinen et al., 2012).

This paper will explore several major studies and theoretical works that deal with multimedia effects on learning. It will also present a synopsis of research findings on student-generated multimedia and how it affects comprehension, motivation and student engagement. This new and emerging area of study requires more experimental research. However, by highlighting several key areas this paper will not only suggest areas for further review but also propose a study to further investigate the effects of student generated multimedia on learning and comprehension.

Keywords:

Multimedia Learning, student-generated multimedia, multimedia in the classroom.