Why It Matters

Whether you're producing videos for an online course, sharing a photograph with students, building a slide-based presentation, or creating any type of

Our Recommendation

Based on the work of Richard Mayer¹, we recommend focusing your use of multimedia by concentrating on three goals:

Reduce noise
Clarify complexities
Build meaning

The following sections outline how to accomplish each goal.

1. Reduce Noise

Principle	Description
Coherence	Carefully consider whether each multimedia component is necessary to meet the desired learning outcome. Good and Bad Examples:
Signaling	Highlight essential material.
Redundancy	Limit multimedia to narration and animation when possible, avoid including redundant on-screen text.
Spatial Contiguity	Display corresponding words and pictures near each another.
Temporal Contiguity	Sync corresponding visuals and audio.

2. Clarify Complexities

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3. Build Meaning

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Mayer, R.E. (2008). Applying the science of learning: Evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction. American Psychologist, 63(8), 760-769.