LDTC 610: Digital Media Design
About the Course:
Instructional Media in Learning Design
An applied study of the design, development, and integration of digital media to enhance learning experiences. The aim is to demonstrate how media, including images, audio, video, animations, and interactive elements, can enhance and aid learning. Topics include visual literacy, graphic design and multimedia principles, digital rights and intellectual property, and accessibility.
Unit 1 - Digital Media Checklist
Digital Media Checklist
This is the reusable template I created to evaluate OER and digital media resources for my minicourse. It includes licensing, accessibility, quality, and technical accuracy criteria so I can apply it consistently to future resources.
This is the completed checklist using Elementor’s How To Set Up Your WordPress Website YouTube playlist. It demonstrates how the template can be applied to evaluate a real resource that aligns with my minicourse learning outcomes.
Reflection
Completing this checklist prompted me to reflect on what I consider to be essential characteristics of an OER, or other digital media resources, that would be useful to my minicourse. The most useful aspect of this process was that I was able to think critically about criteria for assessing OER that are not limited to accessibility and licensing. I was able to consider things such as whether I am getting the current version of WordPress or Elementor. Since these products update frequently, if learners follow out–of–date tutorials, that could easily send them down the wrong path through confusion or misdirection.
When I applied the checklist to Elementor‘s “How To Set Up Your WordPress Website“ tutorial playlist, I was able to see how well a structured, official, tutorial series corresponds to my course outcomes. The tutorials coherently support learners who prefer step-by-step visuals in the setup process—a key requirement for onboarding new interns or employees. However, I also noted gaps where the YouTube videos do not always have adequate accessibility features (e.g., captions are present, often not perfectly accurate).
Overall, the checklist allowed me to reflect on how important it is to balance content quality, licensing, and accessibility with functional correspondence to my course goals. I see the checklist as a tool I can continue to amend and use beyond one–off evaluation of training digital media resources.
Unit 2 - Digital Document
Digital Document
This is the draft of my WordPress & Elementor Setup Checklist, created as an onboarding SOP for RJSmith Creative team members. It is visually formatted with text and graphics to guide new team members step by step.
This audio recording provides an accessible description of my WordPress & Elementor Setup Checklist for team members with visual impairments. I created the script and then used an AI-generated voice to produce the recording, ensuring it was clear, consistent, and professional.
This PDF shows the evaluation of my checklist using the Digital Media Checklist I created earlier.
Unit 3 - Digital Image
Digital Image
This is the RJSmith Creative Academy Badge, an original design I created in Photoshop using my organization’s branding guidelines. The badge will serve as a proprietary logo for official training materials, helping team members recognize and engage with onboarding and course content.
This PDF shows the evaluation of my RJSmith Creative Academy Badge using my updated Digital Media Checklist. The evaluation documents how the badge aligns with branding goals, applies visual design principles, and addresses accessibility considerations. It also clarifies that the badge is a proprietary, copyrighted asset intended only for RJSmith Creative training materials.
Unit 4 - Minicourse Video
Minicourse Video - Getting Started with Elementor
This is short demonstration video for the Getting Started with Elementor module in my minicourse. The video introduces team members to the sections-and-columns layout used at RJSmith Creative, with a reminder to disable Flexbox Containers before building. It combines screen recordings, narration, and on-screen text to reinforce key points. The video supports course learning objectives by preparing team members to begin building layouts in Elementor while following agency workflows.
This PDF shows the evaluation of my Demonstration Video – Getting Started with Elementor using my updated Digital Media Checklist. The evaluation highlights how the screencast aligns with course learning objectives, applies accessibility features such as narration and captions, and reinforces RJSmith Creative’s sections-and-columns workflow.
Unit 5 - Screencast Minicourse Video
Screencast - Step 1: WordPress Basic Setup
The screencast I created for this unit is, “Step 1: WordPress Basic Setup”, fits directly into my minicourse as the first part of the training sequence to setup a WordPress project for a client based on RJSmith Creative SOPs. It is the first part of a 4 step-process, the same process that I documented in Unit 2. It supports the course learning objective to set up and configure a WordPress website on SiteGround hosting, including managing basic settings and essential plugins.
This PDF shows the evaluation of my “Step 1: WordPress Basic Setup” using my updated Digital Media Checklist.
Unit 6 - Interactive Module Storyboard Draft
Storyboard – Introduction to WordPress & Elementor
This storyboard outlines an introductory module for my minicourse, Getting Started: WordPress & Elementor Basics. The module introduces learners to the role of WordPress as a CMS and Elementor as a page builder plugin, showing how the two connect to create functional and visually appealing websites. The storyboard includes text, images, screencasts, short videos, and interactive activities such as drag-and-drop and quizzes. Its purpose is to give team members a strong foundation before moving into hands-on setup and design work.
Unit 8 - Interactive Module Link
Interactive Module – Introduction to WordPress & Elementor
Module 1: Getting Started: WordPress & Elementor Basics introduces learners to the role of WordPress as a CMS and Elementor as a page builder plugin, showing how the two connect to create functional and visually appealing websites. Its purpose is to give team members a strong foundation before moving into hands-on setup and design work.
The module is created is Articulate Rise, with some embedded instructional content created with Storyline.