Multimedia Teaching Objects:

Can I get a thing that...?

Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D. ejp10@psu.edu

MTO Program•Program to create curricular

multimedia items for instructors

•Each project lasts 2-6 months

•Products posted in repository for anyone to use non-commercially

•Three calls for proposals per year

•2-4 proposals accepted per cycle

MTO Examples•http://tlt.its.psu.edu/mto

•Flash, audio, illustrations, photos

•Sciences, Humanities, social science, multiple campuses

•Popular Items• How a Lightbulb Works Animation• Infant Reflex Animated Demos• Illustrations of Dante’s Hell• Algebra Quiz with custom XML file• Virtual Piano Keyboard• Swahili Song Recordings

Jewish Map Example

Why this Structure•Small scale can serve more

instructors.

•Fills in technology skill gap. Few instructors can learn to create these items independently.

•Allows ETS to investigate different technologies more intensely.

Other Benefits

•Archive allows Penn State to share items with other instructors

•Some projects could be developed as “plug and play”

•Projects specifically focused on concepts that were difficult for students to understand

Timeline Concept

Excel was used to plan out timeframe of project cycles. Overlap was built in.

Proposal Form Mockup

• Meant to be short and simple for an initial evaluation

• Candidates interviewed before final selection

• FormMail CGI used because it could be developed quickly (no programmers on project)

The License Challenge•Wanted license like Creative

Commons...but it’s not a true legally binding license

•Penn State legal team was asked to construct a Creative Commons like license

•Comes with plug-and-play clauses

Results

•54 items posted in repository

•16 projects completed in 18 months with 1 FTE multimedia person and .5 FTE instructional designer

•704 objects downloaded in Dec 07

Lessons Learned• Important for developers to meet

regularly as a group even if projects are independent.

• Spell check/editing an important forgotten step. Late edits costly in terms of time.

• Short duration facilitated faculty buy-in for frequent meetings and rapid turnaround of edits.

• Phone conferences really do work...if you hold them often enough.

The Best Thing I Learned

How to weave a strong,

flexible web