I have chosen to improve the poster I created in week four and transform it into a Sketchnote to increase knowledge, and better reflect my new understanding of multimedia learning. Sketchnotes are described by Rohde (2013) as “rich visual notes created from a mix of handwriting, drawings, hand-drawn typography, shapes, and visual elements like arrows, boxes, and lines”. Recent studies have shown that summary note-taking accompanied by relevant drawings is more effective in remembering new information. Sketchnote is a valuable tool to utilize in the classroom to teach complex concepts and consist of many different elements or steps. I chose to upgrade my poster to a Sketchnote because it is a more engaging and valuable way to demonstrate the four significant ways to maintain a safe and germ-free classroom.
I began creating my Sketchnote by gathering the materials I needed, such as paper, pens, pencils, colorful highlighters, a camera stand, and a camera. I set up my camera to display a bird’s eye view of the piece of paper. Luckily, I had a glass table with a lower shelf that worked as a perfect stand for the angle I was aiming to achieve. Next, I began filming myself, drawing my Sketchnote in one camera, including relevant pictures and summarized wording of the information displayed on my old poster. Then, I uploaded my video to a video editor and began to import audio recordings on top f the video to explain further the drawings and main concepts of my cleanliness poster.
By physically and visually walking the viewers through the poster step by step, they are more likely to recall the information in the end. The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia by Mayer (2005) explains how supplementing multimedia with text leads to more meaningful learning compared to solely text based learning strategies. With this in mind, I found it useful to turn my poster into a screencast in order to create a more effective way for students to learn sanitation rules in the classroom. Using this approach, students are involved in combined audio and visual learning environments, especially with the use of related pictures and exciting colors. Additionally, upgrading my poster to a Sketchnote improves students’ attention and retention compared to the poster, which is a text-based learning approach. Thus, allowing visual learners to understand the information on my poster better.
Old Poster:
Improved Poster:
References:
Mayer, R. E. (2005). Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 31–48). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816819.004
Rohde, M. (2013). The Sketchnote Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Visual Note Taking. United Kingdom: Peachpit Press.