I have noticed lately a number of verses in The Book of Mormon and the Bible that seem to be instructive on teaching techniques. Being a multimedia designer working for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I see these applying directly to church multimedia projects.
2 Nephi 33:6 - "...I glory in plainness..."
Multimedia tends to be more intuitive and it can create an experience that is more memorable. It takes less effort to consume and builds on familiar experiences. Text, on the other hand, takes effort to read and the brain needs to translate it into meaning. We spent the earliest years of our lives reacting to sights and sounds before we started reading. Seeing and hearing is wired deeply into us where reading was "installed" later. I have see a trend lately on the Internet where you have the option of experiencing a video of a news story instead of reading it. If I have a choice I always pick the video version. I heard somewhere that all technology evolves toward recreating reality.
2 Nephi 31:3 - "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding"
Another scripture on plainness, but more importantly that God adapts His message according to a person's understanding. For some people, God sends a vision and for others such a s Lehi a book to read (see 1 Nephi 1:11.
2 Nephi 31:3 - "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding"
Another scripture on plainness, but more importantly that God adapts His message according to a person's understanding. For some people, God sends a vision and for others such a s Lehi a book to read (see 1 Nephi 1:11.
1 Nephi 11:1 - "...I was caught away unto an exceedingly high mountain..."
God chose to teach Nephi using an angelic "virtual tour" The angel stepped aside at times to let Nephi explore. Nephi saw a panoramic view of the history of the whole world. The angel guided Nephi and asked him learning questions. John the Revelator in the the book of Revelation (Revelation 17:1 is one example) and Lehi (1 Nephi 8:5-7) also were also given a similar "multimedia tours". It is interesting that there is a guide in both instances. God could have simply played a movie with out a guide but he chose to include a guide for some reason. Some modern theories of learning show that learning retention is higher with the use of a host or guide in learning activities.
2 Nephi 33:1 - "...not mighty in writing...for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.
..."
To me this says that speaking is more powerful than writing. I like the word "carrieth" here.
Alma 18:24-43 - "...And Ammon began to speak unto him (Lamoni) with boldness, and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God? And he answered, and said unto him: I do not know what that meaneth. And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yea. And Ammon said: This is God. ..."
Alma 22:5-18 - "...And the king said: Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem? And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?..."
In these two areas of The Book of Mormon Ammon and Aaron used many teaching techniques that can be directly applied to multimedia training
Isaiah 52:15 - "...So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider...."
This is a good passage that Highlights hearing and seeing (Audiovisual). Jesus Christ and the apostles also mentioned seeing and hearing numerous times (Matthew 13:17, Acts 22:15). It is interesting that seeing and hearing are are many times associated with the heart (1 Corintians 2: 9). In the context of these scriptures the heart is almost portrayed as an additional sense similar to hearing and seeing. The heart is where attitudes change and emotions dwell. Quite possibly visions are the way God chooses to teach because they are a universal medium that first deeply effects the soul then is afterward interpreted into common language by the person.
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