Relevant graphics are essential to effective elearning courses. Remember the saying, "One picture is worth a thousand words." It turns out that educational psychology studies have provided scientific support of this statement.

According to the "multimedia principle" stated by Richard Mayer and Ruth Clark (eLearning and the Science of Instruction, Pfeiffer, San Francisco: 2005), eLearning courses should include both words and graphics rather than words alone. Mayer and Clark reviewed studies by other researchers who compared learning results for students who received multimedia lessons using words and graphics or using words alone. In all of the studies reviewed, students who received instruction using graphics and words performed better on exit tests than the students whose instruction consisted of words alone.

Mayer and Clark go further in their recommendations, suggesting that adding pictures just to decorate the page is not helpful. The pictures should help the learner understand the material, what they call "explanative illustrations".

There are many sources of relevant graphics, from screen shots of software to hand-drawn digital illustrations and original or stock photos that are digitally manipulated for a desired effect. In the short presentation that accompanies this article, I have created a review of and some ideas for using a variety of digital graphics in elearning. Clicking on the "Launch" button below will open the presentation in a new window. (Note: If the window does not open, you may need to temporarily disable your pop-up blocker.)

These examples were created with Adobe Photoshop and other programs in the Adobe Master Suite CS4. The presentation, which was created using PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter Studio '09, also offers an illustration of a very basic use of Articulate for online instruction.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. This is just a small glimpse at what is possible.