Multimedia Instruction involves the use of diverse types of media such as text graphics, video, and interactivity to convey an instructional message. It is the foundation of many online and blended courses as it is an effective and personalized method of delivering instruction.

Possible Instructional Uses:

• Create a lecture video and instruct students to watch the video before meeting for a face to face class. Utilize class time to dive deeper into the content through active learning strategies.
• Create a lecture video and post for your online courses to provide an introduction and overview of each module’s content.
• Instruct students to respond to a discussion topic via video to increase engagement and social presence.
• Utilize Youtube or Linkedin Learning to find videos to share with students that support learning goals.
• Create an instructional video to introduce students to the course layout or to walk through steps of how to utilize a tool.

Tips for using Multimedia Instruction:

1. Create short videos

No more than 6-8 minutes long. If you have more information that you need to provide to students that goes beyond 15 minutes, then plan out how you can chunk the content and create multiple, short videos as opposed to one long video in order to keep the students’ attention. Also, creating shorter videos will increase the likelihood that you will update the videos to make improvements, add new research findings, or reference current events.

2. Make Watching Active

Instruct the students to do something while they’re watching the video. It’s common to recommend to your students to highlight and take notes when reading course material. Watching videos are no different. There are a number of things you can have students do such as taking notes while watching the video and submitting them as an assignment. You can also create skeleton notes or questions that the students have to fill in while watching the video. Another option is to assign a quiz at the conclusion of the video. The quiz will provide the students with immediate feedback so they can gauge which concepts or problems they need to review. If the students get an answer wrong, you can provide time markers from the video that they need to review.

3. Plan Before Recording

Be sure to develop a script or outline before jumping into the recording phase. Understand what type of video you plan to make. One of the most important characteristics of an engaging video is an authentic speaker who speaks naturally. You want to be able to speak at a normal speaking pace and display enthusiasm and both of those things are difficult to do if you have not properly planned.

4. Record in a quality location

Be in a space that is clear of auditory and visual distractions. Avoid sitting with your back directly in front of a window or other light source. On the other hand, be sure to not use low lighting which could lead to low-quality videos. A tip is place one or two lamps with soft warm bulbs about five feet away from you. Also, when recording be sure to be a quiet space so background noises aren’t distracting and you’re easy to hear. The Teaching & Learning Center has a recording space that is available for use. 

5. Edit Captions

Always include and edit captions and/or a text transcript. Video captions serve more than people who have hearing disabilities, such as people learning English, people in gyms, people who are in quiet space without headphones. Both YouTube and Panopto offer automatic captioning services. All you have to do is review the automatic captions and revise grammar and punctuation as needed.