The most obvious case of multimedia enhancing my learning in the past couple of months that I can think of is a a YouTube video that I wanted recently on how to network two PCs running Windows XP with a crossover cable.

I’m pretty technical, but I’m a Mac guy. When you want to network 2 Macs, there’s about 3 steps on each computer … and you’re done. Windows – particularly XP – is different. One resource I consulted listed as many as 35 steps to complete on each PC.

Needless to say, I needed help … and help is exactly what I got on YouTube. I managed to find a 7-minute video that walked through the process step-by-step … and then I managed to duplicate it with the two PCs I needed to network.

The helpful part for me was that many things were easier when you had a visual … and good commentary. This would have been harder to duplicate in a plaintext document, certainly, and potentially also challenging in an illustrated document.

The video was helpful, the audio was insightful … and it was a great example of just-in-time multimedia learning.