What is Interactivity?
The meaning of interactivity is not clearly defined. Among the various perspectives, however, are two prerequisites for ascertaining the viability of the process (Plass et al., 2012). The first is that interactivity requires a minimum of two participants (e.g., objects, individuals, systems). The second is that correlated meaningful action transpires from both in a reciprocal and dynamic approach that induces potential changes in the party that initialized the action. An example is an online survey where completion and submission by one party result in a display that showcases the percentage of total responses or scale ratings for each answer.
Interactivity in Media and Technology
As discussed in previous articles, media and technology play a symbiotic role in information delivery. Quiring and Schweiger (2008) cite two types of interactivity in media and technology systems, interactivity between users and the technological network and interactivity between users and other users in fields incorporating technologies. Two user roles are cited --technical and content developers. Technical developers operate with technologies, such as hardware and software. Content developers work directly with the media utilized to deliver content or information, such as audio, video, and images. Increases in levels of intricacy and immensity in media and emerging technological systems couple to produce more authentic learning experiences.
For purposes of multimedia and emerging technologies in instructional design, greater focus is placed on interactivity between users as content developers or learners and the technological system utilized in the digital learning experience. The user performs an act, the technological system responds, and the user counteracts the response delivered by the system through a degree of participation (e.g., knowledge, comprehension), which potentially results in changes in the user. Researchers (Quiring & Schweiger, 2008) point to a fundamental principle that relates to the use of media and technology systems, which has been paraphrased through an expression that states that computers can only do what they are told to do. Computers are not “active participants.” A technological system, therefore, delivers output whose content has been transcribed by humans.
Designing for Interactivity in Digital Instruction
The steps in creating an interactive learning environment depend on the inner workings of the technological tools and the media utilized (i.e., the system). Video conferencing, web-based courses, virtual museums, gaming platforms, and other tools contain the infrastructure for integrating various approaches to interactivity into design for learning. Since multimedia and emerging technologies can cover a wide range of tools, instructional designers should concentrate both research inquiry and practical resource searches in a particular area to discover specified approaches.
Interactivity in Website Design
An example of emerging technologies and media integration for interactivity is the use of websites as technological tools for delivering information. Potential strategical tools for website interactivity include:
• Animation
• Audio Triggers
• Pop-Ups
• Reward Point Systems (e.g., gamification tasks)
• Videos
• AI-Integrated Creative Tools
• Dynamic Scrolling Design
• Chart Animation Display (e.g., virtual infographics)
• Chat Approaches
• AR-Generated Displays (e.g., eyewear try-on - Zenni Optical)
• Polls, Quizzes, and Surveys
REFERENCES
Plass, J.L., Schwartz, R.N., Heidig(née Domagk), S. (2012). Interactivity in Multimedia Learning. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_1848
Quiring, O. & Schweiger, W. (2008). Interactivity: A review of the concept and a framework for analysis. Communications, 33(2), 147-167. https://doi.org/10.1515/COMMUN.2008.009
