digital media assignment pdf

• DOI: 10.25304/RLT.V29.2573
• Corpus ID: 234046623

Digital media assignments in undergraduate science education: an evidence-based approach

• Dr Jorge Reyna
• Published 5 February 2021
• Education, Computer Science
• Research in Learning Technology

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Learner-generated youtube presentations for formative assessment, exploiting multimedia technologies in education, research, and university-community projects, e-animation media to improve the understanding of elementary school science learning.

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A systematic approach to designing, implementing, and evaluating learner-generated digital media (lgdm) assignments and its effect on self-regulation in tertiary science education, using the learner-generated digital media (lgdm) framework in tertiary science education: a pilot study, a practical model for implementing digital media assessments in tertiary science education, learner-generated digital media (lgdm) as an assessment tool in tertiary science education: a review of literature, a taxonomy of digital media types for learner-generated digital media assignments, implementing digital media presentations as assessment tools for pharmacology students, a framework for digital media literacies for teaching and learning in higher education, teaching and evaluating graduate attributes in multimedia science based assessment tasks, pharmacology students' perceptions of creating multimodal digital explanations, does digital video enhance student learning in field-based experiments and develop graduate attributes beyond the classroom, related papers.

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Getting to Know Digital Media Assignments

What are digital media assignments.

Digital media assignments ask learners to create a piece of work, deliverable, or artifact using digital tools. The digital media could be a video, website, infographic, podcast, or social media post.

A digital media assignment can also ask learners to use digital content to support written explanations, narratives, or reflections.

Select a topic below, marked with an arrowhead, to reveal more information.

Video is a versatile medium that can present information in a variety of formats and styles, including live-action, animations, and screen recordings. Documentaries, interviews, infomercials, video journals (vlogs), mash-ups, and recorded presentations or performances are suitable styles for video-based assignments.

Here is an example of an animated video created by a group of University of British Columbia students as part of an assignment for a Linguistics course. Ling 100 International Journey of Phonemes & Allophones with Works Cited Download transcript [PDF]

Websites are effective digital substitutes for some traditionally paper-based assignments. For example, an ePortfolio instead of a print portfolio, a blog in place of a journal, or a website that presents an academic poster.

In this example of an ePortfolio, University of Waterloo student Sarah Vu Nguyen reflects on the skills that she acquired during her summer work experience.

Explore Sarah’s full ePortfolio and other ePortfolios from University of Waterloo students.

Infographics communicate complex information in a concise and organized manner. In addition to summarizing data, infographics can include mind maps and graphical abstracts.

Here is an example of a graphical abstract for a pop-science magazine.

Audio recordings are useful for capturing group discussions, storytelling (factual or fictional), interviewing, and journaling.

Listen to this sample mini-podcast created by Aidan Kaplan of the University of Chicago. Download transcript [PDF]

Social media posts can be text, video, or image-based. Creating posts is an engaging way to organize online class discussions and help learners develop concise, audience-targeted communication skills.

In this example, Robin James of the University of North Carolina asks her students to explain a philosophical concept to a lay audience using the social media platform of their choice. View full samples of her students’ work and the assignment details in her blog post, “ Social Media Explainer Assignment – with student examples “.

What is your experience with digital media assignments? What types of digital media have you included in your assessments? What types would you like to explore?

How Do Digital Media Assignments Benefit Online Learners?

In the interactive element below, use the menu bar (☰) on the left or the arrows on the right to view the content on all 4 pages.

Aligning Digital Media Assignments to Learning Outcomes

When should you consider a digital media assignment?

Just because you can assign a digital project, does not mean you should . Technology has the potential to create barriers to learning if not used appropriately. Therefore, instructors must carefully consider when and how to use digital media assignments and ensure that adequate resources are in place to support learners throughout the process. Failure to do so may result in frustration, poor performance, and inaccurate measures of learner achievements.

As with all assessments, begin by considering the intended learning outcomes. Does the use of a digital media assignment align with, advance, or reinforce the learning goals? Does it make sense for learners to communicate their ideas through a video, website, or infographic rather than in writing? Is the selected media format (e.g. video versus infographic) appropriate for demonstrating course or program learning goals?

A good test is to consider whether this type of media aligns with an authentic career or life task. Linking digital media assignments to authentic scenarios harnesses the benefits of both alternative and authentic assessment strategies. It brings context, relevance, and value to the assessment, and uses technology to support learning, not for technology’s sake. Examine the following examples of digital media assignments aligned with learning outcomes and authentic tasks.

In the interactive element below, use the menu bar (☰) on the left or the arrows on the right to view the content on all 6 pages.

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Rethinking Assessment Strategies for Online Learning Copyright © 2022 by Seneca College; Durham College; Algonquin College; and University of Ottawa is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning

Digital assignment guides.

Adding a digital assignment to an existing curriculum can be challenging for both instructor and for students.  Instructors may be concerned about the time needed for students to learn the tools necessary for the assignment or unsure as to how pedagogically beneficial a digital assignment is going to be. For students, multimedia assignments, or project-based assignments more generally, are often challenging because they may present a departure from the more familiar and comfortable lecture-study-test routine.

Engaging in course-based digital projects, however, can have tangential benefits and perhaps unexpected learning outcomes. Such assignments can encourage collaborative work, exploring multiple literacies, writing for public audiences, and learning to effectively present critical, creative, and community-engaged scholarship. These non-technical outcomes should form the basis of and motivation for the development of digital assignments. Digital work for digital’s sake is never a good idea and adding a tool to a process in which it is unnecessary can make coursework cumbersome and tedious.

When considering implementing a digital assignment, think about the process, the possible time spent learning the tool, and the skills involved. How do these relate to your desired learning outcomes for the course? Digital tools offer a wide spectrum of ways to present scholarly work and can be combined in many ways.  A map, for example, may be annotated with written text that is also illustrated with images and video. Digital assignments can provide opportunities for curatorial decisions in the design process that might not be as necessary in a more traditional course assignment. Students should reflect upon how their scholarly work might most effectively be represented, whether it be a short video, podcast, drawing, writing or performing– whatever best suits the needs of the student to present an effective response to your clearly stated goal.

Tips For Designing a Digital Assignment

• Establish and clarify your teaching and learning goals for the project and use those to formulate a grading rubric. Include objective, gradable moments in the process of planning and producing the project. Even if students are all using the same tools, the finished products may be different enough that being able to grade systematically with a rubric will be a great time-saver. Be sure to clearly communicate those expectations to the students, and share the rubric in advance of the work.. A rubric however should address the process as well as the end product. Be sure to include objective, gradable moments in the process of planning and producing the project.
• Talk to your students to get a sense for their existing knowledge of digital work. This may help you decide on an assignment type and the appropriate tools, but also may inform the composition of student project groups and any anxiety students may be feeling.
• Multimedia projects often involve steps that do not include working directly with a digital tool. Script-writing, story-boarding, research, and data collection are all very common preliminary steps in the creation of a digital project. Establish milestones and set aside time for these activities.
• Don’t feel that you need to be proficient in or able to teach a particular tool before including it in a digital assignment. Having a firm grasp of what can be done with a tool is more important than necessarily knowing how to use it. Reach out to staff in the McGraw Center or the Library to find those who can offer training.
• Start small. If you haven’t done a digital assignment of a certain before, test the waters. You can revise the next time you teach the class.
• When possible, provide examples of finished projects that exemplify what you will be looking for in your students’ work.
• Digital projects are often multi-modal. This means that the development of the project usually involves a range of different types of activities. Allow students to decide their own roles in the development process. Some roles may better highlight the skills they bring to the project. For example, in the case of a video assignment: Who plans the story? Who conducts interviews? Who operates the camera? Who captures the sound? Who does the editing?. This may also encourage students who may feel uncomfortable about a new medium being able to see that they already have skills needed for parts of the work, and so be willing to learn more about other aspects of the assignment.
• Be flexible and understanding in how you allow students to approach the completion of their projects. For example, if a student who is not comfortable being recorded for a video project would like to use a classmate or friend as an on-camera stand-in, let them
• Connections to the ‘real world’ can have a great motivational impact. Projects that work with the community through partnerships or interviews can not only give students memorable and educative experiences, but also to feel more invested in their work. Within the campus, student work that contributes to scholarly research or to “Public Humanities” projects can have a strong motivational impact
• Engagement Theory offers very good, relevant, and concise framework for creating digital assignments. The framework centers on three main aspects: Relate, Create, and Donate. A well designed digital assignment or project should involve communication, planning, management, and social skills (relate). Students should have some creative control over their project (create). By choosing their own topics and perhaps also the way in which they present that topic, students will feel more of a sense of ownership over the content which can lead to a more rewarding experience. Finally, the 'donate' component stresses the importance of real-world, if possible public, projects that give back (donate) to the community in some way.

Contributing to a thematic archive allows students to adopt a curatorial mindset and the addition of descriptions as metadata will develop critical analysis skills.

A blog can serve as a simple website showcasing student work or can take advantage of characteristics unique to the blog medium, such as comments, tags, categories.

Digital formats such as EPUB and the ubiquity of digital reading devices make the creation of an eBook an attractive way to encapsulate a semester’s worth of work resulting in a tangible product.

The development of an online exhibit as coursework offers students the opportunity to engage with object- and media-centered learning. Exhibits provide authentic learning experiences that can potentially engage with a wide range of audiences.

Image annotation assignments give students experience with critical viewing , that is, looking at what images depict, but also considering the cultural, social, historical, or philosophical contexts around which the image was created and made available.

Mapping assignments tend to be either data visualizations or map annotations. These two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but tend to involve different activities.

A photo essay is a series of photographs selected to tell a story

Podcasting assignments can encourage creativity, collaboration, and provide a sense of community in your course while at the same time, giving students opportunities to practice writing and presentation skills, and providing valuable experience expressing themselves through multimedia

In-class presentation assignments give students valuable opportunities to consolidate learning and research into coherent explanations or arguments. 

Social annotation refers to the collective critical interpretation of media and often relates to the close reading of texts.  Digital tools for social annotation make this familiar scholarly practice into a more dynamic, collaborative, and interactive experience.

A storymap is a digital expository work that may combine maps, text, and other media to convey or illustrate a narrative in attractive, dynamic, and interactive ways.

Digital tools for text analysis can provide students with a novel approach to bringing the underlying characteristics of texts to the surface. For example, text analysis tools can be used to create assignments that allow students to experiment with search terms, to juxtapose the style of one text against another, and to formulate questions that can inspire further research

Digital timeline assignments give students the opportunity to consolidate their learning into graphically-rich and interactive visualizations of chronologically sequenced information.

Video assignments comprise a wide range of possible assignment types from personal reflection videos to assignments in which students are responsible for capturing, editing, narrating, and producing a polished product

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• Dr. Kurt Fendt
• Andy Kelleher Stuhl

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A taxonomy of digital media types for Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments

2017, E-Learning and Digital Media

The notion of students as co-creators of content in higher education is gaining popularity, with an ever-increasing emphasis on the development of digital media assignments. In a separate paper, the authors introduced the Digital Media Literacies Framework, which is composed of three interrelated domains: (1) conceptual, (2) functional, and (3) audiovisual, each of which defines a set of prosumer principles used to create digital artefacts. This framework fills a gap in the literature and is the first step towards the provision of a systematic approach to designing digital media assignments. This paper expands on the Digital Media Literacies Framework through the incorporation of Technological Proxies and proposes a taxonomy of digital media types to help educators and students to visualise the skills needed to complete Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments. A taxonomy of digital media types is presented considering the conceptual, functional, and audiovisual domains of the Di...

Related Papers

Elearning & Digital Media

Dr Jorge Reyna , Peter Meier

The notion of students as co-creators of content in higher education is gaining popularity, with an ever-increasing emphasis on the development of digital media assignments. In a separate paper, the authors introduced the Digital Media Literacies Framework, which is composed of three interrelated domains: (1) conceptual, (2) functional, and (3) audiovisual, each of which defines a set of prosumer principles used to create digital artefacts. This framework fills a gap in the literature and is the first step towards the provision of a systematic approach to designing digital media assignments. This paper expands on the Digital Media Literacies Framework through the incorporation of Technological Proxies and proposes a taxonomy of digital media types to help educators and students to visualise the skills needed to complete Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments. A taxonomy of digital media types is presented considering the conceptual, functional, and audiovisual domains of the Digital Media Literacies Framework. The taxonomy spans a range of Learner-Generated Digital Media assignments, from the creation of an audio podcast to the complexity of blended media or game development. Implications of the taxonomy for teaching and learning in higher education are discussed.

Rethinking Learning in a Connected Age. The 12th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference, INTED, Valencia (Spain),

Dr Jorge Reyna , Jose Hanham

Digital media as a pedagogical vehicle of learning is becoming common in tertiary educational settings. Students are becoming co-creator rather than passive consumers of content. Most of the research in the field Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) focus on learning course content and neglect the importance of effective communication in the digital space. Students outside media and design courses are not trained on how to create digital media. This paper discusses four different frameworks to use digital media with a dual purpose: learning the subject content and up skill students in the development of digital media literacies. The initial model is the Digital Media Literacy Framework (DMLF) that considers three domains: (i) conceptual, (ii) functional, and (iii) audiovisual. The conceptual domain is related to the identification of suitable content and storyboard production. In contrast, the functional domain includes the technical skills (software and applications) students require for digital media content creation. The audiovisual domain represents the digital media principles that ensure the adequate production of digital media. The second model is the Taxonomy of Digital Media Types for Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) assignments. The taxonomy map required skills in each of the domains previously discussed and link them with the different types of digital media artefacts. The third model addresses the core digital media principles at a prosumer level to secure the efficient production of digital media. Principles include layout design, colour theory, typography, use of images and basic video principles. Finally, the last model, the LGDM framework considers eight steps that are crucial for the implementation of digital media assignment. These steps include: (i) pedagogy, (ii) student training, (iii) hosting of content, (iv) marking rubric, (v) group contribution, (vi) student feedback, (vii) reflection, and (viii) evaluation. From the educator perspective, these frameworks will support them in the implementation of digital media assignments. From the student perspective, the models can inform the rationale behind for using digital media for learning. Additionally, the models can identify training needs to communicate effectively in the digital space. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed. Keywords: Digital media for learning, learner-generated digital media, students as co-creators of content, new media literacies, digital media literacies.

Dr Jorge Reyna

Across a broad range of subjects in higher education institutions, students are required to complete assessment tasks that involve the production of digital artefacts. Examples include podcasts, digital stories, animations, video, and blended media. To produce effective digital artefacts, one must be digitally literate. This requires a certain set of technical, audio-visual, behavioural, critical and social skills. In this article, the authors propose a framework that can be used to develop digital media literacies and train students in digital media creation. The framework considers three interdependent domains: conceptual, functional, and audio-visual. A series of examples will be provided to illustrate the importance and interdependent nature of these domains. Implications of the framework on student training is discussed.

Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference

Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) assignments empower students to become co-creator of knowledge rather than passive consumers of content. The Internet explosion, the affordability of digital technologies and devices such as a smartphone, tablets, and action cameras, created the opportunity to use digital media in the classroom. Most of the research in the field of LGDM assignments focused on learning course content and neglected the importance of effective communication in the digital space. Outside of the creative disciplines, educators do not provide student training on how to create effective digital media. Part of the issue is due to the digital native's myth and educators’ lack of understanding of digital media creation. This conceptual paper aimed to discuss digital media principles such as layout design, colour theory, typography, use of images, C.R.A.P principles, and basic video techniques. Educators require working knowledge of these principles to be able to support students with their LGDM assignments. Understanding these principles educators will be able to design marking rubrics that accurately measure what students created. Applying these principles to the creation of LGDM assignments will ensure the message is visually appealing, legible, and credible. Therefore, the digital media artefact produced will engage the audience, and the message will come across effectively. Students in the 21st Century require communication skills in the digital space. The paper presents examples and discusses implications for marking rubric design.

Philip Marriott

Apertura Revista

This study consisted of developing Digital Audiovisual Modules (MAD) as a support resource with the mediation of portable devices, with the purpose of improving digital skills in the handling of information, communication and ethical aspects in higher education students. The methodology was based on the research and development approach with an intentional sampling of 69 fresh year students of a public university in Mexico. The instructional design of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation was used to develop the educational audiovisuals, followed by an evaluation of the efficiency of this type of digital support. In general, the participants indicated that the modules accomplish with elements of precision in the handling of examples, simplicity in the development of the topics, clarity in explaining the contents, and relevance for the improvement of digital skills. The students who consulted the modules showed an improvement in their digital skills; however, the user’s interest is required to consult the audiovisuals. This study contributes to the field of educational innovation in ubiquitous environments and it is concluded that these findings show the benefits and limitations of using pedagogical resources via MAD to support university students in their digital skills.

Instructional-Design Theories and Models, Volume IV: The Learner-Centered Paradigm of Education

Breanne K Litts , TJ Kalaitzidis

In 2006, a group of learning theorists predicted an upcoming “decade of synergy” during which scholars would synthesize diverse learning research to transform the design of education (Bransford et al., 2006). This synergy is well underway, especially in the field of literacy learning: the New Literacy Studies (Gee, 2011; Lankshear & Knobel, 2007), recent scholarship concerning informal, digital cultures (Ito et al., 2010; Jenkins, Purushotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison, 2006), and “situative” developments in learning theory (Harel & Papert, 1991; Wenger, 1998) all describe becoming literate as involving production, community, and authenticity. From these perspectives, literacy means doing, becoming, and being, not just knowing. In this chapter, we take up Bransford et al.’s call for synthesis to describe a convergent “New Literacies” perspective (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011) on instructional design. In the following sections, we operationalize this perspective to assemble a New Literacies pedagogical framework intended to engage learners in collaborative, creative, interest-driven, and production-oriented digital media projects that enable them to become active participants within and beyond the classroom.

INTED2017 Proceedings

Jose Hanham

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Peter Tiernan

This paper investigates how students evaluate online video for use in assignment work, in order to understand digital literacy with online video in practice. Students sourced content for a written assignment using a customised video retrieval system (VRS), and reflected on their choice of videos. The study examines the key areas influencing the use and evaluation of online video for assignments such as digital literacy, the learning value of video, strategies for integrating video, and the key features of VRSs. This paper examines students' experiences using online video for assignment work and pays particular attention to their evolution of video content and their reasons for selecting videos. Findings show that students select video based on its relevance to their existing knowledge, ability to develop their arguments, and on the source and quality of content. Students display key elements of digital literacy when provided with an authentic task, and the appropriate tools and ...

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Digital media assignments

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Digital media assignments allow students to demonstrate their learning of course content by creating multimedia learning objects using formats such as video, audio, still images, and text. Assignments include the creation of short video documentaries, digital stories, audio and enhanced podcasts, digital essays, and other types of multimedia presentations. Students present their ideas for peer and/or instructor critique, research and integrate primary and secondary resources, reflect upon and communicate their perspective on what they’ve learned, and use the appropriate tools to structure their assignments.

Examples of digital media assignments

Videos on environmental issues and sustainability – thomas eggert.

Thomas Eggert is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Business and the Environmental Assistance Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He had his students teach middle school classes about environmental issues and sustainability, first without using digital media and then incorporating videos into the class. This assignment was valuable to his students both technically and substantively. Technically, students needed to develop the skills necessary to record and edit the video. Additionally, they needed to learn how to develop an entertaining and educational story. Substantively, students needed to understand their content well and learn how to communicate it effectively to reach their intended audience. His students enjoyed creating digital media assignments and thought it was an effective way to teach middle school students.

ONLINE MAGAZINE – KATHLEEN CULVER

Kathleen Culver is an Assistant Professor in Journalism and Mass Communication. Her class of 20 undergraduates spent a semester working in teams to create an online magazine called Curb (www.curbonline.com). The magazine featured various digital media sources, including audio, video, slideshows, and timelines. While her students mainly pursue careers in professional communication, she felt the skills and satisfaction they received from these types of assignments were invaluable. Working with digital media assignments helped students become adaptable and analytical. Having these skills can help lawyers as much as it can help journalists. Through her experience, Culver found that lessons in new tools helped foster students’ creativity when using traditional tools. These skills were transferable with other assignments, such as writing research papers, and traditional skills were transferable with digital media assignments.

Methods of good practice

The resulting methods of good practice can help plan and integrate digital media assignments into a course.

• Assign students to work on projects in small groups to promote student-to-student interaction and to build collaboration skills.
• Provide training and support resources to help students learn new multimedia tools and software. Ensure these resources are available to students at the time of greatest need during the development process.
• Educate students about the resources and methods for acquiring digital assets and the ethical and legal issues related to using these materials in their projects.
• Address a real problem to increase motivation and allow students to share their projects with an audience outside the course to obtain authentic feedback (rather than a strict classroom audience).

The following points should be considered before starting a digital media assignment.

• Meet with a learning technology consultant early in the design process for the assignment.
• Study different examples of digital media assignments to understand and recognize how others have presented information in a multimodal format.
• Develop a digital media assignment before assigning one to students. This will help identify the knowledge and skills students will demonstrate through their digital media assignment.
• Identify and recommend specific technologies students should use for their assignments.
• When selecting technologies, build on technologies that are familiar to students.
• Remember that students can overestimate their technical abilities. Help them assess their level of expertise with the technologies being used.
• Identify campus digital media equipment checkout, support, and student training resources.
• Develop and share the rubric to be used to evaluate their digital media assignment.
• Help students understand the time required to complete a digital media assignment.
• Implement check-in phases of a project to guide students through a thoughtful process (i.e., storyboarding, script writing, rough draft, critique and feedback, and final due date).
• Provide students with small, low-risk activities before giving them an official digital media assignment to allow them to practice and develop communication and media literacy skills.
• Provide in-class time for students to work on their digital media assignments.

Roadmap to success

The following framework helps consultants and instructors think broadly about the assignment objectives and address important pedagogical issues such as:

• integrating research into the assignment;
• scheduling time with subject librarians or technology trainers and
• teaching critical legal issues such as copyright and sharing one’s work with the public.

Use the following checklist to keep projects and consultations on track.

• Students seek primary and secondary sources.
• Students collect and create appropriate digital assets for the assignment.
• Students integrate information from the course.
• Students and instructors have opportunities to work with library staff.
• Students integrate coursework with challenging problems that extend beyond the classroom.
• Students communicate their ideas, perspectives, and emotions in creative ways.
• Students articulate what they are learning using media. Re:construct
• Students and instructors develop a process for planning, producing, revising, and delivering a media assignment.
• Students integrate various forms of media and apply various skills to demonstrate their learning. • Students build new knowledge and understanding of the course content.
• The instructor creates criteria to assess the media assignment.
• Students go through an iterative process to develop their assignments.
• Students receive feedback from the instructor and/or other students in the course.
• Students learn to critique constructively.
• Students share their work for public viewing and reuse.
• Students get a Creative Commons license for their work.
• Students and instructors improve their understanding of copyright issues.

Grading digital media assignments

Digital media assignments can be challenging to assess, especially if students work in groups. The following is a list of suggestions for developing a grading rubric.

• Identify key course learning objectives, outcomes, and skills developed through the digital media assignment.
• If applicable, determine whether students will receive a group grade, an individual grade, or a combination of the two.
• Solicit feedback from students on how the assignment should be graded.
• Consider ways to assess projects on the following: clarity of ideas and details, overall organization, effective use of language, voice, and audience, and technical competence.
• Identify logical phases for the development of the assignment (i.e., storyboarding, script writing, rough draft, critique and feedback, and final due date).
• Provide and/or facilitate feedback sessions for projects at each assignment phase.
• Evaluate the quality of the resulting media by reviewing items such as length, pacing, appropriate use of visual and/or aural transitions, clean edits, and video quality.
• Consider using journals and team feedback for student reflection on the assignment to assess the collaborative creative process.
• Grade the process used in creating the digital media assignment, as well as the product itself.