APT 502

1. HANDOUTS, STUDY GUIDES, AND
VISUALS
By: Raheen Brooks

2. PRINTED MEDIA
 Printed lesson was used to convey content information as well as
to assess learning in correspondence study.
 Printed materials can enhance teaching, learning, and managing
in distance education.
 Two kinds od instructor created print media can significantly
improve the distance education environment through the course
syllabus and study guide.
 Graphic design principles can be applied to develop study guides
that use visual mnemonics and word pictures for the visualization
of key instructional ideas.

3. DISTANCE EDUCATION SYLLABUS
The typical distance education course syllabus is similar to the syllabus used in any other course.
Course logistics
 Course title
 Course meeting dates, times, and locations
 Instructor information including name, office address, telephone number, email address, biographical information,
and emergency contact information
 Office hours
 Textbook and course materials
Course policies
 Appendance policies
 Homework policies
 Participation information

4. DISTANCE EDUCATION SYLLABUS
Instructional activities
 Class schedule with topic list
 Topic list and topic organizational concept map
 Course goals and objectives
 Reading assignments with links to topics
 Discussion questions for readings
 Assignments
 Test and examination information
 Interactive study guides
 Teaching and learning at a distance design

5. DISTANCE EDUCATION SYLLABUS
Assessment information
 Grading scheme
 Project evaluation criteria
 Grading contracts, if used
 Student precourse assessment
 Student postcourse assessment
Additional information
 Student biographical information
 Project/assignmnet examples

6. THE INTERACTIVE STUDY GUIDE
 The interactive study guide is a structured note taking system that leads the learner through a
series of concepts, and that requires some active and interactive involvement by the students.
 ISG handout, specifically are important to the distance educator. First, the use of handouts
improves student note taking and makes it more efficient. Second, the ISG is a management
tool that directs course activities before, during, and after instruction. Finally, the ISG handout
can be used in any classroom including all categories of distance education systems.
 ISG is different from other handouts because it is more organized and more systematically
sequenced than other types.

7. THE INTERACTIVE STUDY GUIDE
Steps to producing ISG
 Identify the behavior objective for the lesson
 Create a detailed outline of topics that relate to each objective
 For narrative sections, identify the key words
 Use geometric shapes to show relationships or visuals to assist the learner in understanding each
section
 Creating word pictures for the narrative where students will fill in the key words
 Sequence the displays in order that they will be presented or that they will be discussed
 Develop sub-displays for topics that have more than one visual or word picture
 Produce the ISG using proper graphic design principles

8. GRAPHIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Interactive study guides are often used as the basis for interactive television graphics in
distance education courses
 Size: letter size is closely related to legibility, large, bold lettering is easier to see and read than
smaller lettering.
 Font: the thin extensions to letters often used in textbooks and printed documents.
 Color and contrast: color if often misused in television. Colors should be bold and simple and
should not be overdone.
 Alignment: centering text for television display is not as effective as aligning text to the left.
 Capitalization: the literature or readability is quite clear that uppercase and lowercase lettering,
rather than all uppercase or lowercase, reads the best.

9. ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
The elements of design and combined according to the guidelines provided by the principles
of design, there are six principles:
 Balance: is the sense of equilibrium in a visual. The two kinds of balance are formal and
informal.
 The Center of interest: the visual focal point of the graphic and should relate to its purpose.
 Emphasis: closely related to the center of interest.
 Unity: means that a visual hold together to convey its purpose.
 Contrast: refers to the characteristic of an object that cause it to stand out
 Rhythm: comes form repetition through variety and is used to draw a viewer through the
various objects in a visual.

10. SUMMARY
 In this chapter an analogy is a way to describe something is unfamiliar by
making it familiar to something.
 The syllabus is the glue that holds the course and the learning experience
together.
 Visual to be meaningful and instructional to designed effectively. Documents
provide background information, amplify concepts and give a sense of
direction to any and all instructional events.