It was very complimentary that we talked about the multimedia learning theory as we were discussing our visuospatial sketchpad in our educational psychology class that morning. We were learning how we learn better when we have a visual to go with a lecture, especially if it reinstates lesson material. However, we discussed the fine line of this as cognitive overload can occur both from overwhelming stimuli and from having too much information presented to us at a time. I took away that it is a fine line and that teachers must be very mindful of when building supporting material. What is crystal clear, though, is how important multimedia is in the classroom and the learning process. With how fleeting our working memory is, it is vital to make what we are teaching memorable and relevant to students.


We discussed how we consolidate information into our long-term memory, and one of the biggest ways was by building connections between what we already know and new information. I see a lot of potential within this by incorporating graphics and blending different elements through working with graphics. I see utilizing graphics as newly introduced concepts in a science class that builds upon what is already known. Beyond using graphics for building student knowledge, I love the flexibility of graphics to make information and lesson material more intriguing and memorable through colour, fun and incorporating different elements that will capture a student’s attention, like basing a lesson introduction on video game characters that students love on a multimedia presentation. Graphics give us so much potential to connect with our students, enhancing our lesson and their learning, and I believe is one of the most powerful tools in our lesson planning process.

I had never played much with graphics besides inserting text over an image. Therefore, graphics were intimidating, and my first introduction was through trying to learn how to use very sophisticated software, which was very overwhelming and discouraging. I would never have considered the potential for creating graphics within PowerPoint, which is very inspiring for future use. I have certainly witnessed the gap between classroom engagement in a traditional chalkboard-based classroom and one that utilizes technology and graphics in elementary classrooms. My Link2Practice teacher made bitmojis for each of the students and would use different ones each day on their word problem slideshows, which got their students very excited and engaged to see themselves and their classmates as subjects. It made me realize that rejecting the potential of technology is not sustainable within education, and I am so grateful for this class for introducing us to technology’s potential in the classroom, down to incorporating and building graphics. I feel like mastering graphics, photoshop, and other systems has been a very exclusive skill in the past. I am very excited to have the barrier broken down to show that everyone can learn how to and be confident utilizing technology’s potential.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this “Under the Sea” image on PowerPoint, and really look forward to further exploring creating different images and resources on this app. Otherwise, I never would have known the potential that PowerPoint had.