A Multimodal Framework for Computer Mediated Learning: The Reshaping of Curriculum Knowledge and Learning

The role of movement (often discussed in relation to the genre of animation) as a
resource in interface design is noted in the literature on computer usability and
design. Movement, the literature suggests, can be used to display changes over time,
to simulate experiences, to show environments that it is not possible to experience, to
illustrate interaction between people, and to show depth (Laurel, 1990; Clarke, 1997).
The literature on the function of the mode of movement is limited, especially in
relation to learning. With a few exceptions, when movement is discussed in the
design and usability literature this tends to be at a rather superficial descriptive level.
There is a clear need for software and interface design to move beyond the use of
animation in the gratuitous enhancement of the interface and to make movement
more integral in achieving interface goals. Some research on simulation programs
demonstrates that movement can provide students with access to complex
phenomena, as well as the opportunity to observe the unobservable and to manipulate
models and concepts (Sayeki et al, 199Γ,Ronen and Liahu, 2000). The potential of
animated micro-worlds to demonstrate the differences between everyday
understandings of movement and those acceptable to physics in different ways than
other technologies has also been shown (Saijo, 1999). However, the role of
movement and the other modes made available in these applications is not explored
in any detail and the question of how movement might contribute to learning is not
explored.

The modal resources of sound are touched on within the computer usability and
design literature, although again the focus is on identifying the different functions of
sound in applications rather than exploring how sound interacts with other modes on
screen, or how it contributes to learning. Nonetheless sound is discussed as
contributing to the meaning making resources of new technology applications in
numerous ways. For instance the modal resources of sound can be used to create
atmosphere, give warnings, to gain the attention of the user, and to convey other
meanings. Sound is also used to communicate information about physical events (e.g.
glass dropping), invisible structures (such as a tap on a wall), dynamic changes (e.g.

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