An Investigation into the Use of Multimedia in classrooms :Developing Abilities in Learning Vocabulary via PDAs in Focus

In our Society, the increasing growth of mobile technology and collaborative learning environments as tools in education has become a reality. To this end, designing learning materials suitable for different types of mobile devices regarding dual coding (DCT) and cognitive load (CLT) theories seems inevitable. In this study, multimedia were employed for designing two types of learning materials. 161 L2 Learners aged 19 and 23 years old participated in the major phases of an experiment via personal digital assistant (PDA). Based on their scores on the English vocabulary recognition and recall (EVRR) tests and the statistical analysis of the results, it was revealed that delivery of learning materials with pictorial and written annotations combined rather than delivery of learning materials without such annotations to learners with high-visual and high-verbal abilities, learners with high-visual but low-verbal ability, and learners with low-visual but high-verbal ability results in better vocabulary learning outcomes. However, this was not the case for learners with low-visual and low-verbal abilities. This study acknowledges the relation between STM and the relevant modalities of materials presentation.

Keywords:

Mobile learning , PDA , Verbal and visual ability , Vocabulary learning