Digital Media Development

The Centre for Extended Learning's (CEL’s) instructional digital media developers leverage a wide range of digital media production tools, techniques, and best practices (e.g., CEL’s User Experience Design for Learning) to build rich, engaging and when necessary, accessible online learning materials. As a Waterloo course instructor, you can access this development expertise through our Teach Online support options. 

The following summarizes our production capabilities:

  • Webpage development - overall page design and layout, banners, icons, header styles, callouts, tables, and images. Adding standard interactive elements such as video embeds, accordions, tabs, and simple learning interactions (multiple choice, multiple select, short answer questions, etc.).
  • Graphic design and illustration - creation of graphs, charts, diagrams, infographics, explanatory images, graphic organizers, icons, banners, and supplementary image sourcing.
  • Audio editing - modifying pre-recorded audio such as altering the length, volume, background noise and removing any mistakes to improve the overall audio quality.
  • Video editing - manipulating audio and visual materials to create a video, including editing both video footage and the accompanying audio to assemble in order and remove any mistakes, while also adding titles, graphics, effects, and overlays. Can be for live video, screen capture videos and green screen replacements. For video production services (to book a shoot) contact Instructional Technologies and Media Services (ITMS).
  • Slide-based presentations - slide design, slide animation, audio editing, embedding of video, animation, and interactions.
  • Simulations, animations, and complex interactions - animated explanatory diagrams, simulations, interactive video, and 360 virtual tours.

Commonly used tools include the following:

Digital media development for STEM disciplines

Our specialist STEM developers combine web and multimedia production knowledge with subject matter expertise in math, computer science and other STEM disciplines, enabling us to develop a wide range of robust STEM learning materials:

  • Images - scientifically accurate diagrams, graphs, and other explanative images and illustrations.
  • Slideshows and animations - professional quality narrated slideshows and animated content incorporating complex STEM notation and concepts.
  • Interactive learning objects - mathematically rigorous web-based models and simulations.
  • Formative and summative assessments - tailored questions, input options, grading systems and feedback, including the use of complex mathematical inputs and expressions, significant figures and rounding, margin of error, as well as questions with algorithmically generated variables, and more.
  • CEL STEM developers are experts in use of the Möbius platform, screen capturing and audio recording, and web accessibility specifically related to STEM content.

Commonly used tools in the STEM toolset include the following:

  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Camtasia
  • Excel*
  • GeoGebra
  • Jupyter*
  • LEARN
  • Manim*
  • Maple
  • Möbius
  • Overleaf (LaTex)

    *Limited support

Quality assurance, accessibility, and copyright

CEL performs functional testing on everything we produce to ensure it works as intended on those platforms and browsers listed in our System and Software Requirements. We strive to meet the needs of all our online learners by aligning our development practices with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), University of Waterloo Accessibility Policy and the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. We provide our course authors full support in navigating copyright law and best practices.