In today’s digital age, multimedia plays a pivotal role in education and communication. Be it in classrooms, corporate training sessions, or online content, the use of multimedia is ubiquitous. But how can we ensure that these multimedia elements effectively convey information and enhance learning? This is where Richard E. Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning come into play. In this blog post, we will briefly overview these principles. Each principle can very simply revolutionize the way we design and deliver multimedia content for improved comprehension and retention.

1. Multimedia Principle:

Use both text and visuals together to help people learn better. But keep words brief and impactful and use an appropriate image.

2. Spatial Contiguity Principle:

Put related graphics and text close to each other visually for easier understanding.

3. Temporal Contiguity Principle:

Make sure that visuals and narration are in sync, happening at the same time for better learning. This means don’t introduce new visuals before you are finished on a particular point and don’t talk before you show the corresponding image.

4. Coherence Principle:

Remove any extra information that might confuse learners. Keep the content clear and straightforward.

5. Modality Principle:

Use audio narration with visuals rather than on-screen text to help with learning. Try to limit text.

6. Redundancy Principle:

Don’t repeat information in both visual and audio formats unless necessary, especially for advanced learners. People learn best with narration and graphics. If you can, don’t include text (but offer closed captioning).

7. Personalization Principle:

Adding human elements, like videos of people, can make the content more engaging and relatable. Use a more casual, less formal voice. Use “I, you, we” etc.

8. Voice Principle:

Use a friendly and natural voice for narration, instead of a robotic one, to make the content more appealing.

9. Image Principle:

Include relevant pictures and animations that directly relate to the content, avoiding confusing or decorative visuals. People learn best with visuals and words, not words alone.

10. Signaling Principle:

Use cues, like arrows or highlights, to point out important parts of the content.

11. Segmenting Principle:

Break content into smaller parts or chapters to prevent overwhelming learners with too much information at once. Make it easy to pause or to move on to the next segment.

12. Pre-training Principle:

Give a brief overview before starting to teach complex material to prepare learners for what’s coming. Consider an intro guide or a cheat sheet with basic definitions, terms and concepts.