Chapter 33 Reflections
A Handbook on Educational Communications and Technology
Visual Representations and Learning: The Role of Static and Animated Graphics
After reading through this article I was struck most by how far we have come in such a short amount of time when it comes to the use of visual elements in instructional design. At the beginning of the conclusions section the author emphasizes the need for future research and I couldn’t agree with that more. To be honest, several times throughout this article I found myself rolling my eyes because to me it seems obvious that animations and other visuals are going to contribute to learning. I believe any research that points to visual elements being ineffective is due to poor design and shouldn’t be used to form generalizations regarding the widespread effectiveness of visual elements. Like most things, static and animated graphics are effective when used properly.
I wish that the article included screenshots of the static and animated visuals used to conduct the research so that we could see examples of what did and did not work. Much of the research was conducted in the early and mid 90’s and although that wasn’t long ago we have come a long way in that amount of time when it comes to using visual elements in instructional design. When reading about graphics that were ineffective I’m picturing some horrible graphic that distracts from the content. It would be interesting to compare graphics used in an e-learning course from the early 90′s to graphics used in e-learning now. If you conducted a study on which is more effective I’m sure the results would show that we are making better use of static and animated graphics these day’s.
Overall, the article was interesting and although I agree with one of the authors that further research is needed, there are some good tips that will be helpful to ensure my graphics contribute to learning and don’t distract from the content. Yes, we can create more effective graphics these day’s but they can still be ineffective when not used properly. There’s a time and place for everything and that is especially true when it comes to using graphics in instructional design.
Anglin, G; Vaez, H; Cunningham, K. (2004). Virtual realities. In D. Jonassen, (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp. 461-497). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
