Choosing Materials

Choosing Materials

A variety of materials and formats are available to use in online teaching. It is best to use many of these when presenting information online -- variety works well. You may need to include instructions for students on how to use some of formats and you should always consider cost to students as well as differences in student technical expertise. Some instructors have actually mailed materials as "on loan" to students for the semester, to be mailed back at the end.

 

For more on materials and formats, see Content and Multimedia

Textbook 

• Best if visual and organized into workable sections
• Online e-books are available - less expensive, but not as portable - also reading large amounts of text online can be tiring (smart phones, and e-book readers may change this - see sidebar)
• Consider using no textbook at all or use zero cost options.

Supplements

• Publisher content can be included as less expensive bundles with textbooks
• CD/DVDs can contain extra videos, presentations, labs

Video/Audio 

• Streaming allows instant viewing with download lag
• mp4 is the most common format for video
• YouTube and other video can be embedded in Canvas
• See Library Media faculty services for more options

Presentations 

• Add graphics, audio narration, and video (see Content)
• Use free "flowgram" programs for interactive Web presentations (see Programs/Applications  for information)

Graphics and Animation

• Use a digital camera or royalty-free clipart
• Develop you own animations using Flash or other programs
• Add narration to even still photos, diagrams, charts, or graphs for effect

Podcasts and more