Design of educational multimedia interfaces

The use of information technology to support teaching, learning, training, and education has been possible for several decades. Many claims about the relative value of Multimedia Computer Based Learning have been made. The computer human interaction (CHI) environment regularly researches factors that affect the success or failure in interaction with computers. Designers need to construct meaningful frameworks for making appropriate decisions regarding visual design and user interaction. Although it has been difficult to prove the advantages of these programs over traditional teaching and learning, its use has increased and many attempts have been made to develop educational software products for different subjects, in a wide variety of educational settings, for different target learners and cultures. Moreover, this use has increased due to the new multimedia features modern computers can support. Many research studies are engaged in finding ways to build a computer-learning environment that can accommodate the different levels of learners' needs and abilities. This paper underlines factors based on findings of previous studies including individual differences of learners, such as: cognitive style; learner's gender; prior knowledge; and learner's culture. Such differences, known as individual differences of learners, have been found to be important factors to consider in the development of multimedia learning systems.