Multimedia Easy to Access and Use

Multimedia, such as audio, video, and graphics, can support learning outcomes when used to prompt engagement with content, provide humanized feedback, or support student-to-student interaction. When considering specific multimedia elements to use in digital learning, verify that they are easy for students to use, understand, and operate. Faculty who are credentialed to design online courses at UCF have access to Video Services and Graphic Services through Center for Distributed Learning. These teams can create multimedia elements to enhance your online course. When planning for the use of video in your course, consult these best practices for videos from Video@CDL.

What are Some Ways your Online Course can be Designed to Meet this Standard?

Videos

• Provide videos that students can start, pause, review, and fast forward so they can interact with them at their own pace.
• Provide videos that students can resize or watch fullscreen.
• Provide videos that are shorter in length (e.g., address one point concisely). Ensure that video and audio are clear so that content can be easily seen and heard

All Multimedia

• Verify they can be used easily across types of devices (e.g., desktop and on mobile).
• If multimedia elements are not supported by all internet browsers, provide guidance about the best browsers to use.

What Does This Look Like in a Real Online Course?

Example 1: Joshua Colwell, PHY1038, Physics of Energy, Climate Change, and the Environment.

Dr. Colwell embeds videos, like the one below, from Journal of Online Virtual Experiments (JoVE) in his blended physics course.

JoVE has more than 15,000 videos of laboratory methods, research methods, clinical skills and similar topics in disciplines such as biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, physics, and psychology. Faculty at UCF have unlimited access to JoVE, which can be integrated into Webcourses@UCF. 

Example 2: Lori Dunlop-Pyle, MAC2147, Mathematics for Calculus

Lori Dunlop-Pyle uses Panopto to provide concise (e.g., about five minutes) instructional videos that each address a single learning objective. Via Panopto, students can see and listen to their instructor, view content shared from the instructor’s screen, and read subtitles of the audio.

Example 3: Kenneth Hanson, JST3144, Dead Sea Scrolls

Dr. Hanson worked with the Video@CDL team to create and produce high-quality dramatized instructional videos, including The Copper Scroll Saga.

Videos produced in collaboration with Video@UCF include accurate captions and may be embedded in Webcourses@UCF via hosting services such as CDL’s pro account with Vimeo or the professor’s personal YouTube channel.