Linear multimedia example - Explain Anything
College students have likely experienced many linear multimedia presentations. Instructor lectures are often supported by a series of slides identifying key ideas using text and offering complimentary images. The predictability of the approach used by so many has led to a backlash - try an Internet search for hits on the phrase “death by powerpoint” and you will encounter many criticisms. Without disputing the position that not all presentations are interesting, we prefer instead to focus on what is required to author and deliver an effective presentation. We would argue that such presentations should unfold in a sequential and logical manner and that the cognitive activity involved in fashioning presentations that are informative and logical requires a solid grasp of subject matter. Making such presentations appealing to those who listen and/or view adds an additional challenge. Preparing presentations fits with our models of “authoring to learn” and “teaching to learn”.
The chapter “Projects for learning: Authoring and tutoring to learn” focuses directly on classroom strategies for implementing multimedia design projects of several types. We focus here on the technology tools and skills that might be involved in such projects and in this case an example of one way to create linear multimedia. Linear multimedia can take many forms. As we suggested, college students are likely familiar with variations of one approach - the classroom slide show - and may be familiar with the most typical software used to produce this content (Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, Google Presenter). We want to describe a tool and design approach that is less familiar and also offer links to some online services that are worth exploring.
Explain Everything. Explain Everything is an inexpensive iPad and Android app. It allows an multimedia author to create or import a series of slides, add audio to each slide, and then export the final product as a movie. This product is not a video in the format that would be captured with a camcorder, but a series of still images accompanied by audio. The narrator can mark on these individual images while recording much in the way a presenter might draw on the visuals projected on an interactive white board or on a conventional white board. Explain Everything records these marks along with the audio and replays both. The following video demonstrates some of the capabilities of this software.
Tutorial - Explain Everything