"Why is animation an influential tool?" January 31st ePortfolio Chunk #3

Why is animation an influential tool?

To begin this posting, I quote Vaughan:  "By definition, animation makes static presentations come alive" (2008, p. 17) - and by making something 'come alive', a great deal of influence can we wielded.  The question that remains is whether that influence is beneficial or not.  As Schwartz (2003) notes, "because humans have an innate tendency to respond to things that move, animated messages are more likely to capture attention than static messages" (paragraph 5), therefore the messages that we decide to deliver through animation should be messages that we really want people to pay attention to.  Ayres and Paas (2007) use cognitive load theory to explain why animated instructions do not produce the learning benefits that might be expected, with the argument that "animations place greater cognitive load demands on the learner than corresponding static presentations" (p. 696).  They explain, "if animations are designed in such a way that they distract the learner's attention away from essential information, learners are forced to conduct searches to find the relevant information.  The process of locating the important information creates extraneous cognitive load because precious WM [working memory] sources may be diverted away from the main learning focus" (pp. 696-697).  Margaret Turner (2007) takes up the argument and suggests that if animations distract learners, then it is not the fault of the animations, but rather the way in which they have been employed.  The lesson here is to make informed and considerate decisions regarding the use of animation with the understanding that the media itself will not improve learning.  As Turner notes, "where movement is not designed as a substantive part of the unfolding of content it distracts the learner from the  content and therefore interferes wtih the comuunication of meaning" (p. 190).

Below is a short animation on gender stereotypes that I feel is quite effective - in such a short presentation the animator has managed to convey a number of key issues regarding gender stereotypes. What do you think?

I wonder how some educational software is designed and the decisions that have been made regarding the animations that are employed.  Some software programs and some websites that I have seen have animations that most definitely fall into 'distracting' category.  Perhaps some of these programs are meant more for entertainment purposes than educational purposes, that is, they are more for fun.  But what about the fun in learning?  What is the balance between using animation that promotes learning and ensuring that the learning experince is fun?  Food for thought!

Some examples to consider - do the animations on these pages distract or add to the learning/content?  Or are they simply meant to be 'fun'?

http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/activities-main.asp

http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/ (loud and obnoxious!)

http://www.aiseikai.or.jp/ (Yikes!!)

http://www.dokimos.org/ajff/ (this one is a little frightening!)

http://web.stcloudstate.edu/aoolagunju/ (poor use of animated text)

Finally, let's assume the woman in the image is watching an animated show on television ... very distracting!

(image from trulygraphics.com)