Supplementary Instructional Aids

Prepared Visuals

If you wish to prepare materials in advance (drawings, lists, statements) please note the following:

1. Visuals should be prepared 3 units high to 4 units wide. This is called the television aspect ratio.
2. Type should be bold and a minimum of 20 points. Any lines that need to be drawn should be at least 2 points.
3. Sentence style reads easier than all capital letters. San serif fonts transmit best.
4. A chart should consist of no more than 8 lines.
5. Landscape layout is preferable to portrait.
6. Normal typing can work well if also kept to a similarly small area and double spaced. For example you can use 4” x 6” index cards horizontally with wide margins. The wide margins are necessary since the television screen employs a 3x4 aspect ratio.

Color: The use of color in your presentation—using pens and graphic materials—is encouraged. However, the color renditions of the technology cannot be counted on to reproduce the colors faithfully. Please check your monitor and verbally compensate for these shortcomings.

Also, please be aware that some students may not be able to perceive colors used to make distinctions in a presentation. This is especially true on television, where colors will often appear less vivid than in the classroom. On tape the students cannot raise their hands and say, “Which color is which? I’m color blind.” Try to give the students clues other than just color. Consider using patterns such as dots and lines to complement the use of color. For example, if you use red and blue lines to highlight something, make the red line solid, and the blue line jagged or dotted.

When using color, emphasize where the color is being used by pointing directly at the color. This gives the viewer an alternate clue as to which color is which. If for example you are going to draw a red line on a graph to indicate fixed costs and a blue line for variable costs, be sure to indicate which line is red and which is blue.

Special tapes: You are encouraged to prepare special videotapes. Subjects might include guest lectures, field trips, exam instructions, review sessions, and supplementary information. Help in preparing these tapes is available from the Distance Education office, but please allow several weeks of lead time.

Slides/videotapes: You are also encouraged to use existing PowerPoint slides or videotapes. Please contact the DE office well in advance of the semester if you need assistance in converting existing slides or scanning other materials for optimum presentation in the DE classroom environment. If you have any films to show, please notify your operator at least one class session in advance so (s)he can make the necessary preparations. Please be certain all materials shown have copyright clearances (see Appendix C) and that the recordings are made in either the SVHS or VHS formats and recorded in the SP (standard play) tape speed. If you need assistance obtaining copyright clearance please contact the DE office.