How to Build a Multimedia Website for Language Study
Randall S. Davis

This article discusses the basic steps in developing an effective educational multimedia website for language study.
Introduction
This article will detail how teachers, administrators, and materials developers can prepare materials similar to that found on the author`s Randall`s ESL Cyber Listening Lab, a multimedia website designed to help ESOL students improve their English listening comprehension skills. The specific focus of this article is on the development of basic educational websites where the creators will be working with limited financial and technical resources. The actual implementation of these steps will vary depending on the nature and scope of the site.
Step One: Survey Existing Websites
First, conduct a detailed search of the Internet for websites that are trying to provide similar materials and accomplish the same tasks you have in mind. This will give you an idea of what is available online and help you to further develop your ideas.
Find out what has and has not been done in your area of interest by using search engines, reviewing collections of ESL/EFL links, participating in related mailing lists, joining a computer group, and attending conferences (see reference section). Also, conduct your own survey with students and teachers to identify their interests and needs. If you find a site with a similar concept, identify how it meets a particular objective in that subject and what areas could be addressed a different way.
Step Two: Deciding on the Purpose and Objectives of the Site
Next, try to develop your ideas into a specific niche in one area instead of trying to cover too much. By doing so, you can prepare material that focuses on depth, not breadth, in content. Do not spread your work and energy too thin; find a specific area that has not been explored and build a site around that one theme. Use your background to create, not replicate, something that has already been done. Do something new.
Content is the most important thing for a good site, and no amount of graphic artistry or technology will take the place of poor content. Kelly (2000) provides useful pointers on techniques to balance substance, functionality, and design. Also, just because something can be done with technology does not necessarily mean it should be done or that it will suit the needs of learners. Simple tools and design usually will do the job.
Step Three: Determining Limitations and Users` Reactions to Technology
A good understanding of what can and cannot be accomplished online and clear objectives are needed if you want to contribute to online language learning. Two particular concerns deal with (a) the technology itself for creating web-based multimedia, and (b) the users` understanding and reaction to it.
Limitations
An early challenge was the technical difficulty of producing sound and video files that did not overburden limited computer and telecommunication resources. In the past, Internet users` only choice for audio files on the Internet were formats that could be 10 MB in size for every minute of stereo sound. To download and then play such a file required a great deal of time, and often your computer system would crash or freeze in the process.
Newer technologies emerged in the mid-1990s, including the development of streaming audio and video. The first RealPlayer was introduced by RealNetworks in 1995. Now, audio and video encoded in a variety of formats can be played as these files download, allowing for almost immediate playback. Also, SMIL, or synchronized multimedia integrated language, allows web designers to combine a multisensorial array of media including video, text, and background music into one online multimedia presentation.
Webpage authors often create sites and multimedia content primarily for these high-speed connections, without realizing that many users working on slower computers and Internet connections cannot view them. You must identify your audience:
Are your users in a language lab at your own institution with a high-speed Internet connection, or are you targeting visitors from many different countries who are accessing the Web via slow dial-up modems?
Are they using PCs or Macs? What operating system is installed on their computers?
Does your site function equally as well on different computer platforms and browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, and Opera)?
Your potential visitors will influence how you create your online media.
Users` Reactions to Technology
Imagine that you have considered the technical questions above. How familiar are your users with computers and the Internet? Unfortunately, we often underestimate the complexity and limitations learners and teachers encounter in using computers, particularly in studying a foreign language (LeLoup & Ponterio, 1995; Warschauer & Whittaker, 1997). Thus, our efforts can be negated when navigating the technology overshadows and consumes actual learning time. Remember that users often will be struggling with the target language in addition to computer-related issues, thus producing anxiety to figure out how your site works. Websites need to be intuitive to help students benefit from the technology.
You should also consider these questions:
Do you require visitors to download special software or plug-ins to use your site?
If so, are they easy to