More than 1,800 courses are delivered online through Oregon State University Ecampus. Every quarter, more come online.
Interactive multimedia tools and simulations — from virtual microscopes to interactive maps — help shape the learning experience, allowing students to explore, experiment and master concepts once considered too complex to teach online.
Oregon State Ecampus multimedia developers are always looking for ways to refine and improve their media assets, even holding hackathons to brainstorm new ways to solve common problems.
The result: a full-featured experience rooted in innovation and collaboration.
Enhancing online course design
Oregon State has long been a leader in multimedia development as part of the online course design process.
“We always characterize our media as a way to bring ideas and concepts to life,” said Karen Watté, the senior director of course development and training for Oregon State Ecampus. “Media helps students really understand the topics and ideas that faculty are trying to share. I think they are essential to creating a robust learning experience for students.”
Each project begins as a collaboration between Oregon State faculty and Ecampus instructional designers. As they develop a course for online delivery, the team identifies moments where a visual or interactive element could bring abstract concepts into focus.
Next, Ecampus multimedia developers take over. Nick Harper, an Ecampus senior developer, said some projects take eight to 10 weeks of design, coding and testing. But the results for a single course can benefit an entire cohort of students, and sometimes instructors, across multiple disciplines.
How multimedia supports students and instructors
Research conducted by the Oregon State Ecampus Research Unit suggests that both creativity and technology skills are critical for success in online teaching — and they’re not always easy to develop. Collaboration with Ecampus instructional designers and multimedia developers helps instructors new to online teaching effectively connect with students.
“Media helps students really understand the topics and ideas that faculty are trying to share. I think they are essential to creating a robust learning experience for students.”
Instructors aren’t the only ones who benefit. Oregon State’s online students often fit in coursework between caring for family, working or both. Multimedia developers look for ways to present course information clearly for an audience that may be juggling several demands at once.
Experiential learning examples
Oregon State’s excellence in multimedia development is rooted in years of innovation, including national award-winning online biology and chemistry labs, which helped to redefine what complex subjects could look like in an online environment.
“The courses look so different now than they did, say, 10 to 15 years ago. It’s really a very rich learning environment,” Watté said. “Previously, online learning was very much text-based. But now, every module can have something that’s interactive and highly engaging in it.”
These are some examples of what that innovation looks like in practice at Oregon State, as explained by the Ecampus developers who worked on the projects.
“We showcase our projects because once we build one, we don’t need to start from scratch for the next. And we find that instructors who see a successful asset often want a variation of it for their course,” Harper said.
Virtual microscopes
Wood as a Sustainable Material for the Future I (WHE 523)
Students examine the macro and microfeatures of wood, developing a deep understanding of how a tree’s structure can influence the performance and lifespan of wood products.
“The slides were captured in pieces by the instructor, and we stitched them together to create larger images for each magnification level, allowing students to navigate using a virtual stage and lenses,” Harper explained.
Explore the tool
Multi-sensory instruction
Applied Musicianship: Keyboard (MUS 339)
While practice is critical to mastery of any instrument, some students need a basic orientation before they begin. Assets created for this course combine both audible and visual cues to help even novice musicians understand core concepts, including how to use pedals and where to place their fingers.
“These instructional videos were planned, shot and painstakingly edited to present engaging music theory while showing students exactly what’s being played on the keyboard — not an easy task,” said Daniel Powers, senior instructional designer at Oregon State. “Using multiple camera angles, explainer graphics and light-up keys on the overhead keyboard (via hand-masking synced to the MIDI code of the audio), the media team did incredible work bringing these videos to life.”
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Hands-on simulations
Crop Ecology and Morphology (CROP 200)
This course focuses on the many factors that can influence crop yield, including the health of soil, the interconnectedness of plants and a farmer’s choices. Several interactive tools were made for this course, including this simulation of the impact of different soil tillage methods.
“Rather than hand-crafting each soil cross-section image individually, the simulation uses a spreadsheet to describe what every tillage outcome should look like. Values were encoded for things like hydration level, ridge height, biomass incorporation, etc.,” Harper said. “Blender’s procedural geometry system reads these values and generates a photorealistic cross-section automatically, making it straightforward to add or revise tillage scenarios without rebuilding the 3D scene.”
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Virtual field work
Highway Location and Design (CE 365)
Engineering students learn how curves can lead to safety issues, especially when drivers also encounter objects that block the view or intersections that they don’t expect.
“I stitched hundreds of high-resolution images into a handful of spherical panoramas to recreate the on-campus field site as a browser-based 3D construction zone. Students can use a virtual surveying instrument to measure angles and distances, then stake out highway curves, exactly as they would in the physical lab, but from anywhere in the world,” said Victor Zellweger, an OSU Ecampus analyst programmer. “I also included real-time tools for instructors to monitor students’ progress and pinpoint where they might need help.”
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Interactive maps
Introduction to Pacific Islands Studies (ES 260)
In this introductory course, students explore the history and geography of the Pacific Islands, including migratory patterns and their potential impact on cultures. An interactive map uses layers to display that information and make relationships easier to understand.
“The Pacific Islands reference map combines several kinds of information in one interface,” Zellweger said “It needed to show geography, cultural regions and migration routes in a way that felt exploratory instead of overwhelming, while still letting students move easily between the map and the supporting reference content. A big part of the work was making that highly visual experience remain navigable for screen reader users as well.”
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Learn more about online education at Oregon State
Ecampus courses are designed from the ground up for online learners. In addition to digital media assets, Oregon State’s online classroom may feature interviews, interactive quizzes, learning glass lectures and other engaging tools that support student success. See how these components come together to elevate the online learning experience.
