Kinds of instructional media

There are many types of instructional materials and media as well as different ways that you can interact with course content.

Planning for online content should involve considering a variety of sources and media formats. An online course typically uses multiple content sources that may be presented in different kinds of formats such as text, print, photos, graphics, animations/simulations, sounds, and videos.

What kinds of content will you use in your online course?

Essential Course Materials

There are several essential course materials to include in an online course. These include guiding elements such as:

As a time saver, there are templates (below) that can be used as a starting point during design and development of many of these essential course materials. Providing these essential materials can help faculty maximize their own time by addressing common student questions. It is important to provide a unit/module/week framework and common guideposts for needed information. The key is to make your expectations clear so that students have the information they need to complete activities with a minimum number of questions.

Instructions and Templates

The following templates were designed as a starting point for creating online activities. They address common student questions and provide a framework as well as recommendations for information to include for each type of content.

photo of templates to review

Designer's notes are included and are intended to be removed prior to using the documents online.

Knowledge base article describes how to access and utilize Canvas templates created by DoIT Academic Technology and TeachOnline@UW, Division of Continuing Studies. Upload to your course for easy editing.

Word versions:

Common Instructional Content Types

The following table provides examples of some common content sources and media formats that are particularly useful in the online environment.