My lst post described a portion of the Coherence Principle which says that extraneous sounds, graphis/visuals and extraneous text should be avoided in e-learning. One mught think that providing a richer text to describe something would be better. But in the world of e-learning more is not better. There is considerable evidence that adding extra words/text interferes with learning in an e-learning environment.

However, what can improve learning with less text is another principle called the Modality Principle. The Modality Principle says that presenting words in audio format rather than on-screen text can result in significant learning gains (Clark & Meyer, 2011). Essentially, when the material being presented is complex, fast paced and/or contains graphics then audio text should be applied. If audio is not present then this type of course should be avoided for a good learning experience. Individuals have separate processing for visual and audio. Adding audio to the lesson relieves some of the overload on the visual so the individual can absorb more information than if just one mode of instruction is provided. People learn more deeply from multi-media lessons when words explaining concurrent graphics are presented as speech rather than as on-screen text.(Clark & Meyer (2011). The modality Principle applies only when there are graphics and text on the same screen.

Coherence Principle

There are several key principles found in e-learning. One of the primary principles is called the Coherence Principle. The Coherence Principle states that "all non-essential information in multimedia messages should be elininated ti minimise demands on cognitive resources" (Muller, Lee & Sharma, 2008, p 2111) One thing that many do not realize is, the dropout rate for e-learners is very high. There are estimats that the dropout rate for r-learners is 20 - 50 %, while other schools report that the drop out rae for e-learners is 10 - 20 percentage points higher than students who attend traditional classes. Because of this high dropout rate many instructors have tried to make their presenations more alluring or interesting by placing background music in their power point presntations. But research has proven this is a huge mistake. The advice of Clark & Meyer, 2011, is "don't do it". Learning is much deeper when there is no audio, i.e. sounds and music, are eliminated from e-learning (actually, learning in general). The difference is quite dramatic. In one study students were tested on how much they learned while listening to music and how much they learned without sounds and music. Students who did not have background noise such as music, outperformed students who had background noise by a range 61% - 141%. Another study compared quality of writing. Researchers looked at the quality of essays by students who listened to music versus students who had not listened to music. Although the quality of the essays was simliar, it took students who listened to music considerably longer to write the same quality essay as students in a quiet environment. In conclusion, in an e-learning environment leave the background noise out of your presentations. Soft background music may sound pleasant but only hurts the learning process. The same is true of all background sounds.

Graphics & Text

In the e-learning world the computer screen is our blackboard. It's our canvas on which people will learn from. So it reasons that we must be judicious in what we place on our student's blackboard. For example, Power Point is a frequent medium for on-line instruction. Research has shown that often people will create Power Point material for the e-learning environment and include a graphic to make the slide "look good". Graphics refers to images such as typical pie chart and bar charts but can also include diagrams, precedural maps, multi-media images, animations and so forth. But often the graphic that is included on the slide does nothing to add to the learning. In other words, if you are going to include a graphic in your content then it should contribute to the message you are trying to convey. Artisitic or "decorative" graphics generally do little or nothing to enhance the message that is attempting being delivered the learning. An example of this might be the following; suppose a presentation is trying to explain basic music theory and included in the slide presentation is an image of someone playing an instrument. The picture is just a decoration that serves no purpose in the instruction. The message here is your graphics need to contribute to the learning you are trying to convey.

Another question related to graphics is; do people learn better in an e-learning environment with just text or with text and graphics? Again research has shown that people learn better when graphics support the text. Many tests have been conducted that show people gain a deeper knowledge of material when there are graphics and text versus text alone. So one question you might be wondering, do people learn better from animations than from still images or graphics? Research has shown No, people do not learn better. You do not need fancy animations to get your point across. People were shown an animation and were shown still images. What was found was the brain puts all the images together and creates it's own animation. In fact, the still images caused the brain to work harder in what is called "active processing". Animation on the other hand resulted in Passive Processing. But this does not mean there is no use for animation. Animations are helpful in the right situations. Animations are very useful to convey "hands-on" procedures. The point is, unless animations are called for you do not have to go out of your way to create a flashy animated presentation to enhance learning. You can accomplish the same level of learning with far less expensive graphics/images.

We also have to consider our audience. Novice learners will almost require a mix of text and graphics if e-learning is to be effective with this group. Whereas, learners with more experience do not require as much of a mix. You might be able to design e-learning for more advanced learners with mostly text or mostly graphics.