Cognitive Issues in Tailoring Multimedia Learning Technology to the Human Mind

In order to design effective and efficient multimedia applications, major characteristics of human cognition and its processing limitations should be taken into account. A general cognitive system that underlies human performance and learning is referred to as our cognitive architecture. Major features of this architecture will be described first. When technology is not tailored to these features, its users may experience cognitive overload. Major potential sources of cognitive load during multimedia learning and how we can measure levels of this load will be presented next. Some recently developed methods for managing cognitive overload when designing multimedia applications and building adaptive multimedia systems will be described in the last two sections, which will be followed by the conclusion.