Project 1: Multimedia Presentation Showcasing Best Practices

Cindy Richard

EDTC 6340

This project was designed to showcase best practices when creating multimedia presentations. For this project, I selected a poorly designed multimedia presentation that I had created a few years ago, and redesigned it using best practices in multimedia design.

The original slides were created for a professional development workshop during which I taught a small group of peers some basic rules for playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D,) since one of the extracurricular activities I sponsored for students at that time was D&D Club.

There is no recording of the original live presentation to my group.  My original slides, shared below, were hastily constructed with a design that left considerable room for improvement.

My focuses for the redesign are to:

• Reduce the overall amount of content to a comfortable 3-5 minute presentation;

• Reduce the amount of text per slide;

• Uses phrases on slides rather than complete sentences, since there will be simultaneous narration;

• Use a dark background and high contrast text;

• Select font type and size for readability and emphasis;

• Choose non-copyrighted graphics from Canva;

• Add no more than six objects per slide;

• Convey only one message per slide;

• Begin with an introduction and end with a summary;

• Follow the principles of the Multimedia Learning Theory, especially:

  • The Coherence Principle -- avoid excessive decorative graphics;

  • The Personalization Principle -- use friendly, conversational language for the narration;

  • The Signaling Principle -- draw attention to important elements; and

  • The Contiguity Principle -- synch the audio with the appearance of relevant visuals.

Reference:

            Mearls, M., & Crawford, J. (2014). Dungeon Master’s Guide (5th ed.). Wizards Of The Coast.