Criteria for Adding Multimedia in the Online Classroom

Adding multimedia to the online classroom can enhance student learning. It can also distract from content and be a time waster.  In making decisions as to what multimedia to add I use the following criteria:

• 1.       Does it add a missing piece to the content?
• 2.       Is it easy for the students to access?
• 3.       Is it relatively easy for me to create, or to find on the Web?
• 4.       If it is on the web is the source reputable?
• 5.       Is there a text alternative, which is required by ADA?

#1. As a teacher of teachers I see a lot of multimedia being added to class because it is “glitzy.” A certain amount of “glitz” does make the class interesting. It is, however, easy to go overboard. One teacher put an emoticon in every message posted. After a while it was too much and a distraction. 

#2. I realize that sometimes students have slow connections, and multimedia takes a long time to load. Recently I was away from my home computer and, although I could get WiFi, the connection was dial-up. When I tried to access a video I could get to it, but received the message that a 6-minute video would take an hour to download. This is not acceptable for students. There must be an alternative.

#3. While I believe every teacher should have the support of an IT department usually the Instructional Technologists are overloaded. Teachers must be trained to do a lot of the work themselves, and often some will enjoy developing multimedia content. However, there is much already on the web, and teachers just need to know where to find it. I have a Diigo.com account that is a web site exchange where teachers share web sites. I find it very useful.

#4. However, not everything on the Web is worthwhile. Just as we tell our students to only use academic sources we should always check the author of any web-based multimedia creations (videos, games, graphics) that we share with the class. And, as teachers, we should be aware of Copyright law. We cannot just download and use without permission. We can link to web sites, but downloading to our computer is often not compliant with copyright.

#5. Not all students can profit from multimedia. A text alternative is required for ADA.  This also helps students with slow connections, or computers without sound cards (yes, there are some of those still around).