The Use of Multimodal Metaphors on E-learning Note-Taking

This paper introduces an empirical study to investigate the use of multimodal metaphors to communicate information in the interface of e-learning applications. The aim of the experiment was to measure and compare the level of usability of textual and multimodal interfaces. The usability parameters which are efficiency, effectiveness, and userspsilasatisfaction were considered in the study. In order to carry out comparative investigation, two independent groups were involved to evaluate two different interfaces using an experimental e-learning platform. First group (control) consisted of 22 participants using a text only interface platform. This platform used Microsoft Word 2007 and its dasiaadding commentspsilafeature as the modal. The second platform was based on a multimodal interface used by the experimental group and consisted of three multimodal tools to improve efficiency of e-learning. The modalities used by this experimental group were text, speech and graphics. The results obtained from this investigation have shown that the multimodal e-learning interface group took less time to complete the experimental tasks and successfully performed a higher number of tasks, and was more satisfied than the textual interface group. Therefore the Multimodal interface provided a more usable interface for the users in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and user satisfaction.