Multimedia Information and Learning

Multimedia is being used increasingly to provide computer based instruction. One reason for this trend may be the assumption that multimedia information helps people learn. To find out whether there is empirical support for this assumption, this paper reviews studies from a wide variety of fields to show that multimedia -may be able to help people learn more information more quickly compared to traditional classroom lecture. Redundant multimedia does not always improve learning compared to "monomedia." Specific situations in which multimedia information may help people to learn include (a) when the media encourage dual coding of information, (b) when the media support one another, and (c) when the media are presented to learners with low prior knowledge or aptitude in the domain being learned. There is empirical support for concluding that specific multimedia can be used to help people learn specific kinds of information.