Using multimedia

Communicate concepts and content in engaging ways, bringing complex learning concepts to life and demonstrating action and procedures in a richer way than just text.

Use multimedia for creating content

Learn how multimedia can be used to create content in a teaching context including class recordings, topic introduction videos, on-screen annotation, interviews, demonstrations and virtual tours.
Create learning activities using multimedia

Learn how multimedia can be used to create learning activities, such as interactive H5P activities, interactive videos and augmented or virtual reality simulations.
Use multimedia for communication and collaboration

Learn how multimedia can be used for communication and collaboration, such as unit introduction videos, group podcasts, online group work and online consultations.
Use multimedia for assessment and feedback

Learn how multimedia can be to support assessment and feedback in teaching, such as assessment introduction videos, student video assignments, post-class content review and video and audio feedback.
Embed audio and video in Moodle

Learn how to embed audio and video, such as Youtube or Panopto videos, anywhere in your Moodle unit.
Create presentation slides for teaching

Learn how to design and organise your presentations in a way that is clear, intuitive and that emphasises the most important elements you wish to communicate.

Tips for using multimedia View

Here are some recommendations to consider when creating multimedia to ensure you create high-quality teaching resources. You can contact your faculty educational designer to see what existing AV equipment and resources may be available to you.

Consider how you will use multimedia in the context/structure of your teaching.
- Clearly signpost how you would like students to engage with the content, for example writing instructions for what you want students to do and why.
- Add activities around your content, such as questions before and/or after, for students to engage with in conjunction with multimedia content. This can increase learner engagement with the content.
Planning is important to ensure you convey all the important information in your content.
- Prepare a list of key items to be covered, this can be a list of dot points or checklist or a storyboard depending on the content and complexity of your content.
- Consider how you will match the visuals on screen with your audio. Try to show on screen what you are describing in the audio at the same time, for example sharing text or images on slides, sharing your screen and making annotations.
Breaking up your content will make it easier and more digestible to process for your students.
- Focus on one single key concept or theme at a time. Consider breaking your content into multiple chunks, each covering a single key concept or theme.
- If using presentation slides, keep each slide focused on a single key concept or theme and avoid simply reading text from your slides. Instead expand upon your dot points. If you leave sufficient blank space, you can even illustrate points with on-screen annotations
There are existing resources available that you can use to create multimedia.
- You can produce good quality audio using only your smartphone or laptop/tablet device. However investing in better recording equipment makes a big difference in the presentation, professionalism and longevity of your content. Contact your faculty educational designer to see what existing resources may be available to you.
- You can film in dedicated Microstudios at various Monash campuses if you require a quiet and professional studio environment.
- You can use existing multimedia from Youtube or the internet in your teaching within copyright and usage guidelines. It is recommended that you use existing resources created under the Creative Commons licence. For more information, see copyright and teaching.
Creating multimedia requires an investment of time and resources. It is recommended that you create resources that will have longevity and that can be used over a number of teaching periods.
- You can produce good quality audio using only your smartphone or laptop/tablet device. However investing in better recording equipment makes a big difference in the presentation, professionalism and longevity of your content.
- Where relevant, avoid being too specific about content. For example, in a video introduction to the unit avoid referencing specific learning activities in specific weeks, instead give a broad general overview of what learning content that will be covered. This will allow you some flexibility and allow you to reuse your content even if there are some changes.
- Find the quietest part of your home to record from, limit ambient background noise by closing any windows and doors and turn off electrical equipment, such as fans and heaters. Ask those around you to be quiet, or ideally move to a place where you won't be disturbed.
- A clear uncluttered background is recommended. Remove anything in the background that is too distracting or reflective or find a blank wall to record in front of.
- Film yourself facing a source of natural light, such as a window. If this is not possible, try to introduce sources of indirect light to improve your lighting. Lighting that is too bright or dim will reduce the video quality. Avoid strong direct sources of light which will cast heavy shadows and avoid filming with a source of light behind you which will make you appear as a dark silhouette.
- Place the camera at eye level to create the sense of a direct engagement with the viewer. If you’re using a USB webcam, you could put your camera on top of the monitor or invest in an inexpensive tripod. If your camera is a part of your laptop, but is not located at a flattering angle, consider propping up your laptop on a stable surface to improve the camera angle.
- Place yourself in the centre of the frame, you should leave some space above your head and try to try to include your shoulders in the frame.
- If you are using your phone to record video, use the front facing camera and record horizontally. Investing in an inexpensive tripod may also make the filming process easier.
- Small mistakes can be easily fixed with editing. If you make a small stumble, take a breath, and continue from your last sentence. A single perfect take is an unrealistic goal.
Clear audio is vital in order for students to hear and understand your content. It is recommended that you use an external microphone or a headset with a microphone. Your faculty can order a headset through eSolutions.
- Before recording, conduct a sound test to make sure your speaker/headphone volume is at a reasonable level. Be very mindful of room noise, like air conditioning when you listen back to your test recording.
- High quality audio makes a big difference in the quality and accessibility of your content. You can produce good quality audio using only your smartphone or laptop/tablet device. However investing into better recording equipment makes a big difference in the presentation, professionalism and longevity of your content.
- Avoid placing your microphone too close or directly in front of your mouth. Place the microphone to the side and down from your mouth or keep it under your chin. Words containing strong “Tt” and “Pp” and “Ss” sounds said directly into the microphone can make your audio sound sharp and unpleasant.
Video is a powerful student engagement tool that can provide connection to their educators and peers and opportunities to establish a social rapport, especially in blended or online units where students may have less opportunities to meet their teachers and peers.
- Videos filmed in an informal setting are more engaging to students than professional looking studio locations.
- Share your real experiences and incorporate something from your own teaching background to make you seem more real, present, and familiar to your students.
- Where appropriate, use student’s names to personalise online engagement.
While multimedia benefits by presenting content in both visual and auditory ways, following accessibility principles in your work not only benefits users with identified disabilities, but makes for a better user experience for everyone. For more information, see Accessibility in Moodle.
- Ensure videos have closed captions. With Panopto, you can quickly generate automatic captions in English and other languages.
- Provide links to download files, transcripts or slides that appear in the video.
- Consider breaking long videos into shorter segments by topic or theme to make content more digestible.
- Make it easier for users to see and hear content. For example, make sure your audio is clear without any background music. If you are presenting slides they shouldn’t contain too much text per slide and text should be large and high contrast with the background to be easily readable.
Many forms of media online are protected by copyright, for example popular licensed music. As an educational institution, it is permissible to use some copyrighted material in teaching at Monash University under certain circumstances. For more information, refer to the library guides.
Another option is to use media covered under Creative Commons licence, which allows the reuse of content provided that licence terms are followed, such as attribution to the original creator. You can also use Copyright free images, which have no conditions. If you want to use resources that are not covered under creative commons, you would need permissions. For more information, see Short Courses Permissions and Obtaining Permissions.
Note: If you have shown YouTube clips in your Zoom class, ensure your Zoom recordings are shared with your students only (your unit Panopto sharing settings should limit access to only your student by default). Recorded Zoom meetings containing copyrighted material should NOT be made widely available to the public, such as YouTube or other platforms.
To search for images covered by the Creative Commons licence:
1. Search for an image using Google image search.
2. Below the Google image search toolbar, select Tools.
3. From the "Usage Rights" dropdown list, select Creative Commons licences.

Supporting your students View

Using multimedia in your teaching can provide a lot of benefits for your students as it can provide them with flexibility in their learning, supplemental materials, opportunities to check their understanding, and add a more personalised experience. There are a number of ways that you can support your students.

Provide closed captions for your videos

In order to accommodate for language barriers, learning, visual or auditory disabilities, it is essential that you provide closed captioning to videos or share a transcript of the video. Panopto has the ability to easily add closed captioning to your videos. Having this option will provide a more accessible learning experience for your students.

Prepare an video introduction to your unit

Video is a great way for students to get to know you better and provide a more personal association to their educator. Having a video that introduces who you are, your research or educational experience and a little something personal can help foster connection and create trust between you and your students.

Share video or audio feedback

In addition to written feedback, your students would greatly benefit from receiving video or audio feedback on their assessments. This shows students that you value their contributions and provides them with more personalised and targeted feedback. This can be done as a short video with overall feedback on their assessment or as a screen capture where you walk them through the assessment and highlight areas of improvement. The key to feedback is that students can take the feedback and have an opportunity to improve on their assessment.

Create opportunities to check understanding

Using multimedia in your teaching can open up opportunities to create engaging and interactive learning activities. You can add a layer of interactivity within a video by embedding quiz questions to check their understanding or reinforce important concepts. Both H5P and Panopto allow you to embed quizzing directly onto the videos.

Get student to generate multimedia content

Another way to support or engage students is by getting them to create multimedia content. This can provide opportunities for students to take ownership of their own learning and contribute to the learning experience of all students in the unit. This could be done as part of their assessment task in the unit or as an assessment for learning activity. You can get students to create a video, a website, a podcast, a poster or another type of digital artifact. Whatever you decide on, make sure that it aligns to the unit learning outcomes, that there is a rationale for it being created in such a format and that students have access to the appropriate tools to create the multimedia content.

Primary function	Technology	Content creation	Communication & collaboration	Assessment & feedback	Learning activities
Video creation and hosting	Echo360	✔	✔		✔
Video creation and hosting	Panopto	✔	✔	✔	✔
Polling tolls	Flux		✔
Polling tolls	Poll Everywhere		✔
Video production/Recording studio	Microstudio	✔	✔
Video production/Recording studio	Lightboard	✔	✔
Synchronous online communication and collaboration	Zoom	✔	✔	✔	✔
	Microsoft Teams	✔	✔		✔
	Google Suite		✔		✔
Asynchronous interactive activities	H5P	✔		✔	✔
Asynchronous interactive activities	Moodle Lesson	✔		✔	✔

Impact on student learning				Impact on educational knowledge		Impact on educational environment
Effective teaching and learning	Responsive program design	Student- centred orientation	Professional learning engagement	Pedagogical content knowledge	Education research performance	Education innovation	Education leadership
✓		✓

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Using multimedia