This presentation discusses the development and implementation of interactive multi media learning material in a virtual city created for online MPA courses
This presentation will discuss the how an interactive virtual city called New Harbor, Delaware was designed and developed as an interactive multimedia element to enhance active learning by graduate students in online courses in a Master of Public Administration Program. This interactive city fuses technology with educational content, enabling students to experience learning through multi-sensory representations including still photos, videos, text, and graphs.
The presentation will highlight the benefits of integrating interactive multi media elements into online courses. Then we will discuss how these elements were designed and developed by a team of faculty, course designers, developers and educational technology experts for a public policy and applied research and evaluation course. We will show the IMM elements as part of the presentation to help the audience understand the virtual city was created with various "hotspots"; these are organizations, businesses or people that represented stakeholders in the community who articulate clear positions on various problems in the community and their policy solutions. Among the hotspots is a local high school that has experienced a school shooting. Each hotspot, such as the high school, has information about the organization, as well as pictures with audio and videos that focus on the positions of students, teachers and administrators in this case. In these courses, students are given specific social problems that need to be addressed with a wide range of policy solutions. The IMM helps students identify the problems and assess the views and positions of stakeholders so they can conduct policy analysis and write policy position papers. Finally, we will present preliminary data from students and feedback on the use of the media and pedagogical components in the IMM.
The goals of the session are:
1. Explain the benefits of IMM in online graduate courses
2. Explain the process and challenges of creating IMM for an online course
3. Discuss how IMM components can be evaluated
4. Discuss with participants how the virtual city could be expanded or improved for use in other online courses.