Video: Overview of Multimedia Learning Principles, Importance of Visual Learning, Richard Mayer

Richard Mayer has devoted his career to the study of multimedia learning. He is a professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UC Santa Barbara, and the author of Multimedia Learning, 2nd Edition. Although the book was published in 2009, years ago, it is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic.

With the popularity of interactive whiteboards and tablets/iPads in education, it is important for educators, designers and developers to become familiar with the basic principles of multimedia learning. It is also important subject for researchers.

Stantum Update: Innovative Tablet and Mobile Tech; Tablets Push Leap Towards Interactive Multimedia "Textbooks"

Step into a school and you might notice that older desktop computers have been replaced by an assortment of portable devices.   In many cases, students still carry around book bags that contain an assortment of textbooks, binders, worksheets, along with something digital.  

So what is that "something digital"?   

In some  cases, it might be a school-issued laptop or net-book.  In other cases, it could be an iPad, an e-reader, or another sort of tablet.  In other cases, it could be whatever the student brings to school, as part of a "BYOD" (Bring Your Own Device) experiment.

No one has yet figured all out, but many people, from a number of disciplines, are trying!

Stantum is an example of a company that has an interest in the use of innovative technology for education.  Stantum develops multi-touch technology for mobile devices, including tablets, and follows trends in education closely. 

I've had the opportunity speak with Guillaume Largillier, Stantum's co-founder and CSO on several occasions, most recently in late October.  I'm happy to say that Stantum looks like it will be making some important inroads in education.  

Why? 

Stantum is aware that as educational institutions, K-12 and above, leave textbooks behind, there will be an enormous need for devices that will seamlessly support teaching and learning, all around the world.  Guillaume spoke of  developments in countries such as South Korea, France, Turkey, Thailand, Columbia, Argentina, and China to adopt digital textbooks. Some of these countries have initiated pilot programs using some sort of tablet or mobile devices, or plan to do so in the very near future.


During our conversation, Guilluame pointed out that Stantum is involved in developing durable components and tablets made from materials that can withstand the knocking about that sometimes happens when handled by young hands.  

Unlike the iPad, the tablets will not need a rugged, more expensive case, so it is likely that the cost to schools will be lower.  Since the tablets are open to most operating systems, they are likely to be easier for school IT administrators to deploy, update, and maintain.


A bit about the technology:    

Stantum's Interpolated Voltage Sensing Matrix (IVSM) technology supports 10 simultaneous touches and can handle touch and stylus input at the same time. It "knows" if it has been touched by a finger and can disregard a palm.  This is a good feature to have if a tablet is used young people.  

Earlier this year, Stantum announced its partnership with NISSHA, a company based in Japan, and unveiled its newest development, Fine Touch Z Technology, powered by IVSM.  It can support Windows and Android operating systems.  It has a fast scanning engine, high-resolution handwriting input, and does not produce ghost or masking effects.  (See video below).

One appealing feature of this technology is that it provides has low power consumption. This is a plus when considering the need students to have a device that has an extended battery life. 


Fine Touch Z from Stantum on Vimeo.

RELATED

A leap towards interactive digital "textbooks":

Although students have been accessing educational content in digital form on computers and through educational television programming for a long time, textbooks and paper-based assignments have been major tools used in school to transmit the curriculum.  

The tools are changing as we move to a digital, multimedia world of communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing, teaching, learning, and creating.  There are many questions to consider.

• What sort of digital content will replace traditional textbooks?
• Who will create this content? 
• Will traditional textbook publishers simply transform textbooks into slightly more interactive versions of the ho-hum content students love to hate?
• How will digital interaction change the way everyone learns?  How will this be measured?
• How will teachers and students be provided with opportunities to create new ways of sharing knowledge?
• How will usability and accessibility concerns be addressed, for students, teachers - and family members, given that digital content will be accessed both in and outside of school?
• What sort of software systems will need to be developed?
• What sort of infrastructure will be needed to support this influx of online activity and transfer of large data files -  at schools, in homes, and in communities?
• How will the technological ecology support learning, given multiple devices, interactive whiteboards and other interactive surfaces? 

With change, there is usually confusion as old ways are set aside and people explore new options.  

Apple is making some inroads with the iPad, providing educators (and students) to create interactive books with the free iBooks Author program. Some schools have 1-1 laptop programs in place, and provide access to educational content through more traditional course management systems or web-based activities that accompany existing textbooks.  Schools are signing up for resources such as Google in Education and Microsoft Partners in Learning.  

If you are looking for some resources about the rapid increase in interest and adoption of interactive digital textbooks, not just in the U.S., but around the world, take a look at my recent blog post,  "Got Interactive (Multimedia) Textbooks Inside Your iPad or Tablet?  Lots of Resources!".  In the post, I provide a wealth of links to information from the LEAD commission, the FCC's Digital Textbook Playbook, and more.  

You might also want to take a look at Audrey Watters' article, The Truth About Tablets: Educators are getting iPads and e-readers into students'hands--but it's not easy, which was published online in the School Library Journal earlier this year.

For a global perspective, read Alex Wukman's article, World Bank Begins Global Digital Textbook Initiative 

It wouldn't hurt to learn more about what the textbook publishers have in mind.  For that reason, I've put together a sample of resources about interactive digital content from major educational media and textbook publishing organizations:

DISCOVERY EDUCATION
Techbooks
In the following video, students and teachers from an elementary school in Winston-Salem give their reviews of the new Discovery Education Science Techbook.  Students can access the Discovery Techbook via the web.  In this video, students interact with the content using traditional desktop computers as well as interactive whiteboards.  Techbooks are designed to work on tablets or laptops, too.  At :39, a first grade teacher explains exactly why she likes the science techbook:

"...everything is right here at your hands, it is interesting to the kids, they love to watch the videos, and you can take it further - beyond than that, and everything is done for you, it is just really helpful. It even has the prep, the content review, and it is all aligned to the curriculum." -Laurie Moran

Discovery Education Science Techbook from Judy Uhrig on Vimeo.

Discovery Education Science Techbook Overview (Video)
Techbook for High School Science
Techbook for K-8 Science

PEARSON
Pearson's new interactive textbook for the iPad
"It is really going to revolutionize how we think about the classroom experience and what happens in the classroom in the way of learning, and what happens outside the classroom." -Joseph Levine, Author, Miller & Levine Biology

INKLING
Major Publisher Investment Advances Inkling as the Future of Digital Textbooks
Audrey Watters, ReadWrite, 3/22/11
"What makes Inkling’s apps unique is the fact that “content isn’t bound by pages or sections or chapters in the same linear fashion. Rather, it’s hierarchical, richly illustrated and augmented. It’s interactive. It’s social,” Watters writes. The digital versions include quizzes, interactive infographics, and a scrolling and searchable interface." -Matt MacInnis, Inkling

McGRAW-HILL RYERSON
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Launches New High School iBooks Textbooks
PRNewswire, 10/25/12

HARCOURT
Harcourt Interactive Textbooks (Produced by Vertex)


SOMEWHAT RELATED
The Truth About Tablets:  Educators are getting iPads and ereaders into students'hands--but it's not easy
Audry Watters, School Library Journal, 2/1/12

Got Interactive (Multimedia) Textbooks Inside Your iPad or Tablet? Lots of Resources!

If you live in the US, and haven't yet heard, the U.S. government is encouraging K-12 schools to adopt interactive digital textbooks within the next five years.  Are we ready?  I don't think so.  There is a battle of the tablets going on as I type this post.  

Traditional, "old-school" textbook publishers appear to be key players in this game, but I am not sure if they have the know-how to create interactive content that is fresh, "touchable", engaging, and meaningful to young people.  A boring textbook, tweaked tweaked for a bit of interactivity and multimedia content will not suffice.

Feel free to take your time and visit the links I've shared so far. I'm still reflecting on what I've learned so far and will share more of my thoughts in future related posts.

Leaders Discuss Transition to Digital Textbooks
The LEAD commission 

Nation's Digital Learning Report Card (Interactive map)
Digital Learning Now!

US FCC: Digital Textbook Playbook (website)

Digital Textbook Playbook (pdf)
The Digital Textbook Collaborative, 2/1/12


Slide Presentation: Charting our Transition to "Interactive Digital Textbooks"  (pdf)
FCC LEAD Commission (Leading Education by Advancing Digital)
Video: Remarks by (FCC) Chairman Genachowski and Digital Education Leaders on National Adoption of Digital Textbooks

Key players: 
Dan Caton, McGraw-Hill
Will Ethridge, Pearson
Jose Ferreira, Knewton
Bill Goodwyn, Discovery Education
Joel Klein, News Corp
Matt MacInnis, Inkling
Osman Rashid, Kno
Dan Rosenweig, Chegg 
Linda Zecher, Houghton Mifflin 
Harcourt


Arne Duncan Calls for Textbooks To Become Obsolete in Favor of Digital  
Josh Lederman, Huff Post Education 10/2/12


Kno Interactive Textbooks App Now Available for Google Nexus Tablet and Google Play 
Business Wire, 10/29/12  Kno

Teaching with tablets: Will our children be using electronic textbooks to learn?  
Jamie Carter, 10/19/12

In digital textbook transition, device availability is just the beginning
Ki Mae Heusser, Gigaom, 10/22/12

Amazon challenges Apple in education with Whispercast
Ki Mae Heussner, Gigaom, 10/17/12

To empower students, let's bring interactive learning tools into the classroom  
Troy Williams (President of Macmillan New Ventures) Venture Beat, 10/30/12

Press Release: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Launches New High School iBooks Textbooks Digital Book Wire, 10/25/12

South Korea Classrooms to go fully Digital by 2015
Ben Gruber, Reuters, 10/5/12


South Africa: Launch of OS-Agnostic Digital Textbook Publishing Platform 
All Africa, 10/23/12

Whitepaper: From Paper to Pixel: Digital Textbooks and Florida Schools (pdf) 
Marcia Mardis, Nancy Everhart, Daniella Smith, Janice Newsum, Sheila Baker, Florida State University PALM Center, 2010

Whitepaper:  The Digital World of Young Children: Imact on Emergent Literacy (pdf))  Jay Blanchard, Terry More, Arizona State University, 2010 (Includes demographics about digital media survey data in selected developing and least developed nations.)

Apple Pushes Interactive Textbooks on iPads  
NPR Staff and Wires, 1/19/12
"Forrester Research said e-books accounted for only 2.8 percent of the $8 billion U.S. textbook market in 2010."

Engage: Apples New Tools for Interactive Books on iPad  
Tim Carmody, Wired, 1/19/12

Inkling Reinvents Textbooks as Interactive, Multimedia Learning Tools on the Tablet  David Weir, 7x7 SF, 7/1/11
Inkling

iBooks Author (free app)  -Apple

What's New in iBooks Author 2.0 -Apple

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Press Release: Student Math Scores Jump 20 Percent with HMH Algebra Curriculum for Apple iPAd; App Transforms Classroom Education1/20/12HMH Fuse Pilot Program (Website)

SOMEWHAT RELATED
Digital Book World (Website)
MediaShift: Your Guide to the Digital Media Revolution (PBS website)
The Transition to Digital Journalism  Paul Grabowicz, Knight Digital Media Center, Berkeley, 10/26/12
How to make BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) work for your schools Laura Dvaney, eSchool News, 10/29/12
BLOG: Mind/Shift: How we will learn (KQED)
iBooks Author

Stantum's Multi-Modal, Multi-Touch Technology: Looks Great for 21st Century Learners, Supports Creative, Collaborative Knowledge-Sharing

Not long a go I had the opportunity to participate in a phone conference with Guillaume Largillier, of Stantum,  to learn more about the company's work in developing multi-touch technology, and how this technology can support a wide range of uses.  

What is exciting is that the tablet technology was designed from the beginning with content-creation in mind, unlike the iPad and similar Android-based tablets.  Although Stantum's tablet technology supports  passive "entertainment" and Internet content viewing, it offers so much more.  

I agree with Guillaume that this technology will be ideal for use in education. It is ideal for 21st Century teaching and learning.   In the very near future,  I'm sure we'll see fewer students lugging heavy  backpacks as this technology transforms textbooks to multi-modal, interactive experience platforms!

Stantum' IVSM multi-touch technology (IVSM = Interpolated Voltage Sensing Matrix) enables 10 finger touches with stylus input.  The goal is to enable content creation via tablets, for educational and office settings. This technology provides reliable palm rejection and contact discrimination,  a useful feature for students or anyone else who might have the need for a versatile tablet.  A multi-touch tablet is demoed in the video below:
 



Intel-Quanta Redvale Tablet featuring Stantum's Digital Resistive Technology
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Add Ambidexterity and Multi-modality to your Touch-enabled Devices
Guillaume Largillier, Electronic Design, 7/14/11
 "In South Korea, the government recently confirmed its plan to replace all printed textbooks nationwide by electronic counterparts by 2015, a move that will benefit from now available multi-touch technologies with precision and stylus input that enable handwriting recognition, making them especially suitable for products sold into Asian markets." 
About Guillaume Largillier:
"Guillaume Largillier’s background with the company includes seven years of entrepreneurship – co-founding JazzMutant and serving as CEO as it evolved into Stantum. Largillier has a broad knowledge of human-machine interface technologies, with strong expertise in multi-modal user interfaces. He has participated in major industry conferences (including SIGGRAPH, Microsoft Summit, SID Mobile Display Conference, Microsoft TechDays, and Interactive Displays Conference). Largillier earned an MA degree in audio-visual studies at the University of Bordeaux." -Stantum


Post: Multi-touch Update from Stantum
2010 Demo: MeeGo Tablet on Intel Moorestown 
Stantum's TouchPoints Newsletter (July 2011)
Stantum Whitepapers:
How to Evaluate Multi-Touch While Standing in a Store (pdf) - a great source of information.
Jim Meador, Pascal Auriel, Gauthier Chastan, Stantum
Specifying and Characterizing Tactile Performances for Multi-touch Panels: Toward a User-Centric Metrology (pdf) - outlines some important points!
Guillaume Largillier, Pascal Joguet, Cyril Recoquillon, Pascal Auriel, Axel Balley, Jim Meador, Julien Olivier, Gauthier Chastan
Stantum: info@stantum.com