Multimedia in the College Classroom

Heidi Skurat Harris is the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA.Michael Greer was an independent scholar based in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

"Skurat Harris and Greer not only say that multimedia can improve learning for students in higher education contexts, but throughout this book they demonstrate 'that multimedia can be the center of the entire learning process,' and in a 'choose-your-own adventure' structure they provide concrete assignments, practical pedagogical strategies, and personally compelling stories to support teachers in their use of multimedia, particularly for better teaching in online courses."Scott Warnock, Drexel University, USA"Multimedia in the College Classroom is an essential contribution to the field of distance education. Crafting effective learning experiences takes care and deliberate planning, two things that Skurat Harris and Greer have emphasized throughout the text with concrete examples, resources, and a voice that guides instructors/designers to utilize multimedia within their online courses effectively. As they note, 'The number of multimedia elements in an online course is not as important as how those elements connect to the course learning outcomes to support student learning.' We couldn’t agree more! This text will be incredibly useful to those looking to develop/expand their online courses and to incorporate more multimedia elements."Jessie Borgman, Arizona State University, USA, and Casey McArdle, Michigan State University, USA, authors of 'Personal, Accessible, Responsive, Strategic: Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors'"This insightful and timely book helps us rethink how we teach and how we learn. Harris and Greer show how multimedia is not just an add on to text-based learning, but can be the center of the learning process in a way that improves both accessibility and connection. Their 'workshop in a book' approach makes it easy to try new teaching techniques to find the ones that work best in your own classroom. This book is a great resource for the modern teacher."Rebecca Glazier, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA, author of 'Connecting in the Online Classroom: Building Rapport Between Teachers and Students'

• 1. Turning Content into Learning 2. Designing Multimedia for Deep Learning 3. Designing for Access 4. Improving Interaction in Synchronous Multimedia 5. Instructor Presence in Virtual Space 6. Integrating Multimedia for Purposeful Course Design 7. Further Reading and Exploration