Media Formats in Education

• Video – digital (CD, DVD), VHS, streaming
• Audio – MP3’s, cassettes, CD’s
• Text – webpages, text books, handouts
• Visuals – pictures, diagrams, simple animations
• Live/F2F – classroom, synchronous online
• Software – simulations, complex interactive animations
• Collaborative – shared digital spaces
• Integrated – Using combinations (possibly in a single interface)

(George Siemens, 2003)

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Only one decade later we are familiar with and actively using much more: social media tools, augmented reality tools, 3D animation tools, virtual worlds tools, geo- location identifiers…  (multimedia online presentation tools).

When integrating a specific multimedia artifact into an educational design, consider three questions:

• What will this add to the learner experience?
• What resources will be required, including funds, time and equipment?
• What would an alternative be, if the original artifact proves problematic?

In terms of project workflow, adding multimedia is often one of the final stages of a digital learning project. It is important to ascertain whether everything works (on a technical level), and the extent to which the learning objectives of the project have been met. This requires a combination of testing, quality assurance and reflection. Design Principles for Multimedia (Wiki Documentation)