Using multimedia tools to enhance communication in the online classroom

The authors are university professors who have been teaching business courses in cyberspace formats since the mid 1990s. Over the years they have shared lessons learned in Web-based online distance education through presentations to IPCC members and in other forums. The authors are known to be advocates of using delivery methods that appeal to learners at the lowest common technological denominator (LCTD), otherwise referred to as end users with access to commonly available computing and telecommunications power. This article explores the feasibility of adding streaming video/audio presentations to lecture and discussion pages for courses designed to appeal to this audience, as means of including visual and auditory dimensions in the communication process.