Chapter 8: Support Materials and Visualization for Distance Education

• Size. Letter size is very closely related to legibility. Large, bold lettering is easier to see and read than is smaller lettering. Certainly lettering should not be smaller than 24 point (1/3 inch), and 32 to 36 point is preferable, especially if computer output is to be displayed on regular television monitors. Five words per line and five lines per page are a maximum for an ISG display or a screen of television information.
• Font. Sans serif fonts should be used instead of fonts with serifs, the thin extensions to letters often used in textbooks and printed documents. Serifs tend to be too fine for display on television. Bold fonts with thick stems display the best. Also, the same fonts should be used throughout a presentation, and no more than three different fonts should be used for any single display. Two font types work the best, when one is used for one category of information and the second is used for background or secondary information, for example. Fancy typefaces and italics should be avoided unless there is an overriding reason for using them.
• Color and contrast. Color is often misused in television. Colors should be bold and simple and should not be overdone. Some combinations, such as green and red, do not work well together. Avoid saturated colors like red. Use dark letters with a light background, or vice versa. Many television instructors like to use
  bright colors on a black background for displaying computer screens of information. This approach produces very readable displays.
• Alignment. Centering text for television display is not as effective as aligning text to the left. Left-justified text seems to be most legible.
• Capitalization. The literature on readability is quite clear that uppercase and lowercase lettering, rather than all uppercase or all lowercase, reads the best.
• Line is generally considered to be one-dimensional. Line has length but not width. Line portrays direction, presents objects, and defines the outer shape of something.
• Shape is used to symbolize objects or to show large or small spaces. Shapes have two dimensions, height and width. Space is either positive or negative. The outline of an object in a visual
  signifies its positive space. The most common negative shape of something is its background.
• Texture is the perceived or actual roughness or smoothness of a surface. Texture is used to help define shape or space.
• Value is the degree of lightness or darkness of a surface. Value is accomplished through shading. Value shows changes in space, and is often used to create the illusion of volume or solidity in a graphic object.
• Color is related to value and is used to visualize an object realistically or to differentiate an object from another object. Colors have hue, value, and intensity. Hue describes a specific color, such as red, green, or blue. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. Yellow has the highest value. Intensity is the strength of a color, such as bright yellow or dull red. Intensity is determined by the purity of a color.

http://www.distancelearningnet.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning/

http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/online-hybrid-courses-washington.html?UID=872

http://www.seameo-journal.com/journal/index.php/education/article/viewFile/39/38