Instruction from a Multiple Media Perspective

Designing instruction using multiple media is a little more cumbersome that what I initially thought it was going to be, however, I believe that the end product will be a better instructional tool, than using single mode instruction. The visual/text instruction mode will benefit teaching and learning, because both modalities work and complement each other to the point of facilitating instruction by making it easier to explain and see what the learning goals, objectives and steps are. Potential Issues I see arising from this multi-modal instruction is that it can be very time consuming for the instructor to piece together. It would be ideal if one were to create an instructional document, to use for years to come, but if one’s instruction is ever-changing, then this mode of instruction would take too much time to keep replicating, when instruction by video would be more efficient. Learning on the other hand, would be enhanced by using visual images and text, than either modality, by itself. Using both images and text uses more areas of the brain, than single modal instruction, therefore the probability of reaching more students and eliciting their learning capacities increases. Some students may prefer text, some may prefer visuals and even other students prefer both, using multimedia to teach covers more ground and increases the chances for better learning. I believe that using multiple forms of media instead of a single medium is a superior method of delivering instruction.