Media’s Mantra: Support learning objective achievement

Stan had one day left—twenty-four short hours—to complete a training program he’d worked on for three weeks. The topic of the learning module was “High Stress Situation Management.” Stan laughed a little, though not audibly, at the irony. His small project, which should have been simple to develop, had now come down to the proverbial wire. An extended content review he hadn’t planned on squeezed his production time down to one week. “Who is Katie from Compliance,” Stan wondered, “and what does she have against the em dash—?” Vexed and a little perplexed, Stan used his last production week to work on interface modification, make final content changes, re-record and re-edit some audio, and integrate all those updates into the simulation.

All that work behind him, Stan was now staring at “High Stress Situation Management,” exploiting his last ounce of zen so he could muster one more pass through the program. His slow breath out was interrupted by the flip-flopped footsteps of Charlie, resident newbie and energy drink consumer. “Looks like you need some graphics, Steve.” “It’s Stan,” mumbled Stan, shaking his head and not wanting to admit that Charlie, blazing a path to his third iced mocha, was right.

Stan’s dilemma is not uncommon. When a tight project timeline needs collapsing, graphics are often one of the development steps that gets sidelined or cut completely. Sometimes graphics are only included if time permits. Other times, graphics are used as a mandatory component of a simulation, but not necessarily as a means to do what all good graphics should do—support the student’s achievement of the learning objectives.

In immersive learning simulations, graphics can either be conspicuous by their absence, or conspicuous by their presence. Without graphics, a program can look “boring,” but with overdone graphics, the same program can distract the student from the learning goals. The trick is to continually focus your design efforts on supporting the learning objectives.

Media in an immersive learning simulation should be designed to effectively teach. Every time you develop a piece of media, it’s helpful to ask yourself, “How does this support the student’s achievement of the learning objectives?” If the answer to your question is that you’ve enhanced the cool factor of the project, or that you’re grabbing the learner’s attention, then it’s time to reassess why that piece of media is being incorporated into the learning. Remember, your role as “entertainer” is secondary to your role as “educator.”

Most media within an immersive learning simulation can be categorized as simulation or support media. Simulation media directly relates to the experience that’s being simulated and can include the character the student interacts with as well as the environment. Supporting media is used to transfer knowledge and can include coaches, mentors, and other examples. Both simulation and support media should be placed in the right context for your audience. Creating environments and coaches that appear unfamiliar to the student can distract your audience from the learning at hand.

So, there is such a thing as ineffective media, but can bad media actually impede learning? Experienced designers think it’s possible. Consider that memory has three stages with two channels running through them. Each stage, sensory, working, and long-term memory have one channel for visual input and a second channel for auditory input. Each channel can only support one piece of information at a time. Designs with more than one piece of information can overload the student.

The lesson is to keep graphics simple, supportive of the learning objectives and, when in doubt, to review an idea or mock-up with an audience member. If they can identify with the graphics you’re proposing, you’re on the right track.