Top News - Analysis: How multimedia can improve learning
Research on how effective use of multimedia can improve learning outcomes. Based on research by Mayer, Moreno, Clark, & others. Much of this is in e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, but some of these principles, especially on interactivity, aren't included in that book. (Quotes from page 4)
Direct Manipulation Principle: As the complexity of the materials increases, the impact of direct manipulation (animation, pacing) of the learning materials on the transfer of knowledge also increases.
However, when the average student is engaged in higher-order thinking using multimedia in interactive situations, on average, that student's percentage ranking on higher-order or transfer skills increases by 32 percentile points over what the student would have accomplished with traditional learning.