C. Determine the Length of the Activity

Multimedia activities can range in duration from a few minutes to an entire year -- even longer if you include the compilation of an electronic portfolio.

Short Term Multimedia Activities

A short term multimedia activity is designed to be completed in one to three class periods. Short term activities might involve the following:

• Creating a concept map for a story
• Scanning and sending photos to students in another country
• Writing a story and illustrating it with a picture or a scan of a family item
• Creating fact families from digital images
• Using iMovie to sequence familiar daily events
• Developing reading skills by reading along with the movie
• Using a spreadsheet program to make graphs that compare the length of students' bones to the length of their bodies (click the photo below to watch the example)

Longer Term Multimedia Activities

A longer term multimedia activity will typically take between one week and a month in a classroom setting. Examples of longer term activities include:

• Producing a digital movie about the community
• Creating movies to train other students on using technology
• Creating an animated movie out of pictures created in art class
• Constructing a multimedia book report with sound, video, and images
• Creating a family tree using scanned photographs and a presentation tool
• Creating a digital portfolio of student or class projects
• Scripting and producing a commercial (click the photo below for an example)