MASToday - 11

MASToday
Master Apply Sustain

3

Avoid the temptation to
supplement everything
with photos, illustrations or
video clips.

5

Although eLearning allows for the use
of animated characters to personalize
instruction and focus a learner's attention
by moving around the screen-using
gaze and gesture, conveying emotions,
etc.-studies have revealed no learning
benefit when the use of a learning agent
was compared with equivalent instruction
using no agent.

Although it may make the eLearning
program look nice, when pictures are used
only to decorate the page or screen, they
are not likely to improve learning.
Why? Similar to extraneous
sounds, interspersing interesting
but not directly relevant pictures
and video can interfere with the
learner's attempts to make sense
of the material by preventing
the learner from processing the
essential material.

4

The mere presence of an avatar
(ie, learning agent) provides no
learning benefits

However, avatars have been shown to add
learning benefits when they are used to
provide guidance, point out key concepts,
present and answer questions, and provide
feedback. The personalization principle
mentioned above, is particularly applicable
when combined with the use of an onscreen learning agent who speaks
directly to the learner and helps
guide the learning process during
an instructional episode.

Using a conversational writing
style can lead to better learning

Empirical evidence supports the use of
an informal writing style (including firstand second-person language) so that
learners feel they are interacting with a
conversational partner. According to the
personalization principle, people learn
better from personalized narration.

Why? In the same way
that a conversational
style can lead to better
learning, a learning
agent can help prime a sense
of social presence in the
learner. The activation of
social presence, in turn,
encourages the learner to
engage in deeper cognitive
processing, leading to a
better learning outcome.

Why? Research shows that when
people feel they are in a conversation
with a partner, rather than simply
receiving information, the feeling of
social presence causes the learner to
engage in deeper cognitive processing
by working to understand what the
"presenter" is saying.

"Interest cannot be added to an otherwise boring lesson like
some kind of seasoning"
John Dewey (1913)

11



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MASToday

Contents
MASToday - 1
MASToday - 2
MASToday - Contents
MASToday - 4
MASToday - 5
MASToday - 6
MASToday - 7
MASToday - 8
MASToday - 9
MASToday - 10
MASToday - 11
MASToday - 12
MASToday - 13
MASToday - 14
MASToday - 15
MASToday - 16
MASToday - 17
MASToday - 18
MASToday - 19
http://mastoday.springerhealthcare.com/issue1
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