Examples of Multimedia Use in WebTycho Classrooms

James Stewart provides a short audio introductory announcement and video introductory announcement to his MBA classes.

How: Dr. Stewart has learned on his own to use a webcam and headset microphone plugged into his computer to create his own media files, in order to help to personalize his online instruction. He uploads these to his web folder on UMUC's Polaris server, and links to the files from his online classroom. In both cases, he provides students with written transcripts.

Cost/time/administrative involvement: Dr. Stewart absorbed the cost of purchasing the webcam and microphone and software commercially. He can produce, process, and provide new files within a day or two, at his own convenience.

Instructor comments: There is a lighting challenge to be considered, I've found.  My office is not properly lighted for a video, so I had to bring in additional lighting to avoid distracting shadows. Students have used these introductions to test their audio/video software's readiness for course use.

Barbara Happ provides a telephone interview in her Management of Information Systems WebTycho classrooms as a streaming (Real) audio file via a webpage that includes a bio and photo of the interviewee.

How: Dr. Happ arranges for a UMUC conference bridge through her department administrative assistant and refers to the DE Oracle page, How to Provide an Audio Interview... for tips on setting up the conference and on conducting the phone interview to make it most compatible for online streaming in WebTycho. Her DE coordinator Pat Johnson provides assistance in converting the default .wav audio file provided by the telephone bridge into a streaming file.

Cost/administrative involvement: The department absorbs the cost of the telephone bridge fees. No departmental permissions are needed. It can take a few days to a few weeks to schedule and prepare for the interview, create the webpage, and process and provide the files to students.

Instructor comments: I place the webpage link in the Course Content of WT with the title, "Audio Interview." It can be used in successive semesters if I ask for permission at the beginning of the taping. I ask my students questions from the content of the audio interview in the next session review/warmup.  When I ask the class for course feedback, I include a question about the effectiveness of the audio file in the course. Sample student comments:

• "What audio?"
• "I had no problems with realplayer. I already had it loaded. It was a nice touch to the conference session."

This is fun and generally pain-free for faculty... This semester I added an audio to my HCAD course as well. The interviewee was flattered and enjoyed herself, and she provided a fresh voice to the students' classroom experience.

Mike Sweeney creates Camtasia step-by-step audio/video screen-capture tutorials to teach use of MS Excel functions in his financial management classes. This one shows how to calculate standard deviation using a formula and then how to accomplish the same thing using the MS Excel standard deviation function.

How: This video was made using the Camtasia software suite. Camtasia captures cursor movements on the creator's computer screen and allows voice recording and addition of some callouts and other supportive text. The files are published to UMUC's Polaris web server.

Cost/time/administrative involvement: Dr. Sweeney found Camtasia simple to learn. A fully funtional 30-day demo is available for download at www.techsmith.com. Although the licensed Camtasia Studio software for educational users costs about $150, the Faculty Media lab at the UMUC Adelphi campus does have this software available free for use by faculty who live in the area.

Instructor comments: I find that my students learn much better when I can "walk" them through the steps to solve a problem. I have received very favorable comments from students on my videos.

Rana Khan provides "virtual lab" instructional videos in her Biotechnology program to help students visualize lab procedures. This one shows the electroporation process used to introduce exogenous DNA into a cell in a process called "transformation" of the cell.

How: The videos were developed by Dr. Khan and the departmental DE coordinator, Heloisa Siffert, using a digital camera and video editing software. Dr. Khan first developed a well thought-out script to guide both the camera shots and later the text of the narration. The resulting video files were made available for either Quicktime or RealPlayer playback, and the script was provided to students as a transcript of the audio.

Cost/time/administrative involvement: The process started with equipment from the Faculty Media Lab: camera, hardware, and software. Later, to speed up the production of a series of videos, the department decided to buy the necessary equipment and software.  There was a period of serveral months involved in planning, filming, narrating, editing, and publishing the video(s).

Sample student comments:

• Oberserving this procedure via a video feed while I'm on an airplane is awesome. It underscores the quality of distance learning, and compliments the online, interactive sessions.
• Once again I am awed by the video presentations given in this class! Keep it up! I would never have thought that I would "see" biolistics being performed. This one was highly informative and I even enjoyed the background music!
• This is a very useful video for individuals who, like myself, are visual people. It is useful to read the step-by-step procedure in the textbook(s) and then see its implementation in the lab. For example, when it states that the cells are spread evenly on the medium, I wouldn't have guessed it was done in such a way (there are other examples). Lacking experience in the lab is an impediment for those of us in this program, but with videos such as this, it narrows the disadvantage. Plus, it makes the learning more interesting. The video is of high quality, too, which demonstrates the standards for this program.

Robert Beauchamp provides an interactive video simulation of the 13 major phases of landfill construction and maintenance for the Environmental Management program, both as as an interactive Macromedia Flash file and as a non-interactive series of images provided on webpages.

How: The Flash component was developed by technical support specialists at UMUC's Center for the Virtual University (CVU), based on a drawing and explanations from Dr. Beauchamp.

Cost/time/administrative involvement: CVU owns the necesary hardware and software for this project and also provides in-house technical specialists. The Graduate School negotiates the interdepartmental charges for CVU's services. Dr. Beauchamp, the ENVM department chair, worked with CVU's technical support specialists to develop the concept and provide the content; the project was planned and executed at least a semester ahead of its first use. Copyright is being pursued.

Sample student comments:

• This simulation is an excellent learning tool and the animation is very good... I was surprised at the complexity of layers in a modern landfill.
• I wish this simulation had been made available when I was taking Principles of Waste Management last semester! There were a lot of pictures in the Solid Waste Management Handbook that we used, but this interactive format makes it much easier to visualize the landfilling process.

Amjad Ali provides externally developed interactive Flash learning objects in the Graduate School's Project Management online classrooms. This one explains a standard project life cycle and shows examples of life cycles for several real-life projects. The learning object is provided in the Course Content area and discussed in the Conference area.

How: The Flash component was developed by PerformTech, an interactive media company, with the content developed by Graduate School faculty, Dr.Mierzwa and Dr. Marwanga.

Cost/time/administrative involvement: With a grant received by the department for the new Project Management program, it was possible to outsource the project. The project was developed over a period of 3 months.

Program Director comments: We spotted areas that are consistently difficult for students to understand and decided to give them some visual tools. The project worked very smoothly and the students now express appreciation for these learning objects that support the Course Content and the reading materials.