Week 10/11 Guide -- November 11, 2013 -- Interactivity Levels

Welcome to Week Ten! Here's how to get started.

1. No textbook reading this week.
2. Read the additional reading linked below.

Objectives for Week Ten 

1. Describe how multimedia interactivity can be approached in terms of levels of complexity.

 

For Class Discussion Monday, November 11, 2013

Applications for Graphics/Image Design & Management

As class begins, Gail will kick things off with a short presentation on applications for designing and managing graphics.

Interactivity in Multimedia

What makes multimedia so valuable for learning is the level of interactivity present and how that interactivity helps immerse us into the application.

I'm speaking primarily about instructional multimedia, or e-learning, but you can also see interaction in multimedia meant for entertainment or advertising, albeit at more external levels. For example, Modern Family is now playing each night on the USA network, and the network intersperses Twitter polls during the show. That's interactivity, although there is no observable purpose at work other than possibly driving up ratings.

But focusing on how interactive multimedia can be instructionally is important, because research shows that the deeper users become involved, the more learning occurs -- and the longer the knowledge gained stays with the user.

Here's the article I'd like for you to read on levels of interactivity. Keep in mind that it offers multiple, successively more complicated levels of interactivity.

Interactivity: A Forgotten Art (repaired link)

Levels of Interactivity (from the Shift Disruptive eLearning blog)

Interactivity in Gaming

You probably already know that gaming is a central source of multimedia interactivity. This week, take a look at the website for the videogame industry, specifically the page listing recent news articles about gaming.

Choose one news article that interests you and be ready to report on it in class Monday night. No formal presentation is needed -- just be ready to give us a 3 minute overview of the topic, and feel free to describe any game that you play and how the interactivity of that game is compelling to you. For example, you may play Candy Crush, which is a game currently trending on social media. What about the interactivity of a game like that makes you want to keep playing? How does it benefit you?

Assignments for Week Ten

• No weekly reflection this week -- focus on the reading and selection of a news article about gaming that interests you.