Multimedia Principles for Effective eLearning (CMU-Africa)

In many early course designs, heavy blocks of text and dense explanations made it hard for learners to stay engaged or retain information. Cognitive overload was common, and multimedia principles were not being applied to support effective learning.

The Challenge

Fellows were designing content-heavy courses with little understanding of cognitive load and multimedia design principles

The Process

  • Developed a 3-course series: Efficient Learning, Essential Learning, Generative Learning.
  • Created video scripts, demos, and interactive exercises
  • Incorporated Mayer’s multimedia principles into all examples.

The Solution

A practical series teaching how to design visuals, audio, and text to maximize learning.

The peak iOS mockup
Jupiter Tasks
Peach App

The Impact

As a result, fellows redesigned their courses with simpler layouts, better visual aids, and improved use of audio. This reduced overload, clarified key messages, and made content more accessible.

  • Fellows redesigned their products to reduce overload and improve clarity.
  • Courses sparked critical discussion on mobile-first and African adaptations of learning principles.

Reflection
Demonstrated the need to localize multimedia principles for new contexts.