Editing Segmenting Principle (section)

=== Design Implications ===
Segmenting is useful in design to ensure that essential material is presented at a rate that does not exceed a learner's cognitive capacity. It is most useful when designing narrated animations, videos, and slideshows which require the use of both the auditory and visual channels. When these channels are presented with too much essential information too quickly it leads to cognitive overload. One example of using segmentation in multimedia is students being taught about the food chain through a narrated animation. The animation should be split into sections of producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, apex predator, and decomposer. Each section would include a short explanation and examples. "Continue" and "Back" buttons should be added to allow the learner to move on to the next segment when they are ready. In this example the different parts of the food chain are organized into digestible segments controlled by the learner. This way their essential processing is not rushed and they are provided with a way to organize the information into a mental model.