TEACHING IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. Teaching aids can help, but how can you create a teaching aid that will catch one's interest and help one learn? Students and teachers are increasingly helped by multimedia presentations that are both helpful and fun.

Multimedia presentations refer to computer-aided graphics that use color or sound to involve an audience. This also includes charts, videos and animations. They can be used both as presentation tools for teachers in the act of teaching, and also as aids for students to work with independently.

At a first glance, multimedia presentations might seem to solve all your problems. You might believe that the multimedia presentation itself will do all the work. But watch out! With that belief you are skating on thin ice. A multimedia presentation can help you tremendously, but it will not do much if it is part of a poorly designed or badly written presentation.

Here you can see how multimedia presentations can be used in education. This example concentrates on how children can learn geography, in this particular case, Sweden. It is strictly an interactive learning aid for students, not a presentation tool for teachers.

Graphics attract your attention. They can help to distinguish and to clarify different sections of a message. In the graphic on the right, Sweden is distinguished from its bordering countries by colors.

Animations are very stimulating. You can have animations that are constantly active, as well as interactive animations, meaning that you as an observer have to act to start the animation. In the example bellow an interactive animation is used to teach you the name of the capital of Sweden. Follow the instructions underneath the animation and watch what happens.

Where is the capital of Sweden? Click on your choice.

Jenny Davidson
Student
SDSU Educational Technology