ABSTRACT
Learning is often considered to be the process of transferring knowledge from an expert source to the learner. Emerging research from interactive multimedia and human–computer interaction (HCI) has offered exciting new possibilities for the creation of transformative approaches to learning. Advanced interactive multimedia and HCI technology allows teachers and students to explore, create, and interact with course-content-related media in a more intuitive manner through movement and voice than traditional human–computer interfaces such as mouse click and key stroke. Research spanning education, interactive multimedia, and HCI has yielded three themes that inform our work across learning and play: multimodality, embodiment, and composition. Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab is a learning environment that supports and encourages students in this meaning-making activity by enabling them to make explicit connections between sounds, images, and movement. The Scratch programming environment emphasizes the power of compositional paradigms for learning.
