Where is the line for too much?
There are so many different tools available for streaming video, animation, three D presentations, IMovie, etc. Where do you think the imaginary line of too many technology bells and whistles is located?
How do you know?
Sheryl,
This is true. Make sure you show the students what is really important!
Shelly Crider
I believe that a good rule of thumb on this is what I teach in Speech classes. You should only use presentational aides for content that is particularly important or if this would aid in our understanding. If they are overused, presentational aides lose their effectiveness.
I am not certain that there is one!
My observation is that some designers throw unnecessary extras into the design just because they can. The end goal should be kept in mind. What may seem clever in the first few frames of a module becomes annoying as the lesson progresses. The fancy-dancy elements should not get in the way of progress thru the module.
Joseph,
Good point.....we do not have to have the dancing bear to grab their attention. In fact, the dancing bear may just shut some students right down. A personal experience discussion will grab them as well.
Shelly Crider
I have found that the technology is often introduced with a misguided idea that students cannot or will not read unless a "dancing bear" is dancing and lipsinking the words. This is especially true when the organization is trying to improve on student retention and there really isn't any evidence that this is an effective approach to learning or retention. Joe Skeens
I suggest only using media which is widely supported by modern web browsers. Sadly Flash is falling out of favor, so I usually go with HTML5 compliant media, especially when that media will be available on mobile devices.
With the rapidly increasing presence of mobile in online education it seems that Flash is no longer a good choice for media presentations despite its strong support for audio, video, animation and interaction.
Gretchen,
Good question. The answer is not what people want to hear either. In one term you may have the perfect balance of bells and whistle, but the very next term may need to be completely redone!
Shelly Crider
