Learning Reflection
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This course has significantly reshaped how I understand multimedia design and has given me valuable tools that I find myself already implementing into my design choices today. Entering EDCI 337, my Flight Path highlighted my prior experience with multimedia through social media management and course design in an aesthetics clinic. While I had developed practical skills in creating engaging content through platforms like Canva and Instagram, my goal was to formalize my work and introduce learning theory and inclusive design. Reflecting on this journey, I can confidently say that I not only met these goals but also experienced a shift in how I approach educational content creation in both work and school.
Revisiting the Plan
In my Flight Path, I aimed to move beyond trial and error design and develop the ability to create multimedia experiences that are both engaging and educationally effective. Over the course of the semester, I achieved this by learning to contextualize how people learn within multimedia environments. Concepts such as Cognitive Load Theory, Dual Coding, and Mayer’s multimedia principles became central to my design decisions. For example, in my educational comic on illness prevention, I applied signaling by emphasizing key terms, segmenting by organizing information into panels, and reducing extraneous details to support cognitive processing while balancing engagement and creativity. This demonstrated my ability to apply multimedia design principles to an educational design. Storytelling was an area where I experienced noticeable growth. At the beginning of the course, I was unclear on how storytelling worked as a tool, I struggled with how to implement it into my comic especially being a student in science where most of our work is very factual and direct, I was used to presenting information rather than shaping it into a narrative. This became clear where my early drafts felt more like a sequence of facts rather than a cohesive story. Through peer feedback, I realized that my content needed more flow and personality to truly guide the learner that’s when realized the impact of teaching content in the format of a story. Similarly, in my OER project, I implemented interactive reflection tools which tested my technical abilities and included accessibility considerations such as a screen reader and alt text which aligned with UDL. Additionally, I developed a more critical and appropriate use of generative AI. As outlined in my Flight Path, I wanted to learn how to use AI responsibly. I ended up using generative AI to form my comic photos and learned how to properly reference AI generated images. Overall, I met the course objectives by applying theory to practice, engaging in iterative design thinking, and producing a range of multimedia artifacts including comics and a interactive website.
Identifying the Turbulence
One of the challenges I anticipated in my Flight Path was shifting from a focus on visual appeal to designing with learning theory in mind. This proved to be accurate. Initially, I tended to lean towards engagement with adding more visuals or interactive elements. However, I learned how this increase cognitive load and greatly affects how we learn from the information. Through peer feedback and reflection, I began to better apply principles such as coherence and contiguity, ensuring that each design element served a clear instructional purpose. For example, feedback on my OER project highlighted an over reliance on color and challenges with mobile usability of a vertical tab always being visible. In response, I simplified the layout, introduced collapsible features, and incorporated more visual cues beyond color alone. Another area of turbulence was designing for diverse learners while maintaining clarity and simplicity. Applying UDL required me to think about different types of learners and consider accessibility more intentionally when constructing a engaging design. Lastly, creating a website and forming interactive learning features was a huge learning curve for me and showed me so many new techniques along the way. It was also very beneficial to have a team to collaborate with and go through the challenges together.
Evidence of Growth
My learning growth is most evident in the shift from creating engaging content to being able to form engaging content with consideration of learning principals and accessibility. At the beginning of the course, my focus was on what I wanted to communicate. Now, I prioritize how learners will interpret, process, and engage with the content. This shift is reflected in my course contributions. My discussion posts and peer feedback became more analytical and grounded in theory. Being able to identify these features in others work and give advice is evident of growth. My artifacts also demonstrate this growth, especially through the critique assignment, where I was able to step back and analyze my own work more critically. This process helped me identify areas for improvement and think more intentionally about my design choices. To add, my comic design shifted from a simple sequence of information into a more structured learning tool, with built in opportunities for interaction which I have never done before when creating content. I became more aware of how each element supports the learner’s understanding. Similarly, my OER project demonstrates this progression. I moved toward a more organized, module based design and incorporated features that support a wider range of learners, such as screen reader compatibility and alt text. These changes reflect a stronger focus on accessibility and designing with the learner in mind.
Next Destination
This course has reinforced the potential of multimedia as a powerful educational tool, particularly in making concepts and information more accessible. I see strong applications in both my current work and future career, especially in aesthetic and health education. Moving forward, I plan to apply these skills to both social media, curriculum design, and future projects for other courses. I am hoping to begin to incorporate more educational content as I advance into my next journey in school. More broadly, I now feel confident in evaluating and designing multimedia with a critical perspective. This course has provided me with tools that I can continue to build on, ensuring that my work is not only creative but also effective in supporting learning.
Conclusion
Overall, this course allowed me to achieve the goals outlined in my Flight Path while also transforming my perspective on multimedia design. I have developed a stronger understanding of how learning theory informs design decisions and have gained the ability to create multimedia resources with intention and purpose. This experience has been more impactful than I imagined when registering for the class and it will continue to shape my approach to both education design and professional practice.