Media files must be organized in a way that is both coherent and clear so that any file needed can be accessed by the instructor easily and quickly from the file manager. The file manager opens when you click "Files" in the navigation bar on the left.

"Files" tab

"Files" in left navigation bar

File manager

This will be critical if a file you did not plan to display in a live teleconference is needed. Although repairs to broken links to media is not usual, clear organization will be critical in restoring missing files if you have set up a media page for students to access on their own time.

If you hover over the images above with your mouse and compare their alt/descriptive tags to file names in the file manager image, they match.

Preparing File Names for Use in Pages and Discussion Forums

The first step to effective file management for lectures is to give the media file a name which is at once easy to remember and as close as possible to what you as author would give as the alt/descriptive text or "alt tag" (more on this in uploading instructions).

Here the development of a uniform and logical system of naming the files is critical. For example, for both images and audio files, the author could choose to use the title of the content in the file followed by the name of the artist/photographer/composer or vice versa. Which ever method you choose, stay consistent.

For an image, one could name a file "last supper da vinci" or, alternately, "da vinci last supper." Similarly for audio files "maybelline chuck berry" or "chuck berry maybelline" are equally effective depending on which is more typical of your thought processes in relation to the name of the content or its author/composer. For example, for most of us "Elvis" is more effective than "Presley." If you give author/composer first, there is the benefit that if there are multiple examples by a single artist, they will be grouped together in your file manager.

For images, the actual alt/descriptive tags should be couched in good language and not be abbreviated and, for convenience of location in the file manager, the file name and the tags should be as similar as possible. Hence the file name "da vinci last supper.jpg" could become "Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper (mural painting c1490)" in the alt/descriptive text.

Preparing Files Names for Exams

In cases in which file names and/or alt tags/descriptive texts can give away answers on exam questions, both must be changed in order to conceal the answer.

For example, if an image is used in an exam and the name of the image will give away the answer, the file name and alt tag are visible to the student if he/she hovers with the mouse.

If you use an audio file, the name of the file could display in the link to the file or in the player could also give the answer to the question. An audio file with the name "Beethoven S1 movt2.mp3" will not work if the exam question asks the student to play the audio file and identify the composer.

In both cases, the author will have to change the file name to obscure identification. For images, the file name can remain unchanged but alt tags/descriptive texts will have to be changed from "da vinci last supper" to something line "exam 1 n1 who is the painter.jpg (or .png)."

For audio files, the use of "exam1 n1 who is the composer.mp3" and the link name to "Exam 1 n1 who is the composer" instead of "Beethoven S1 movt2.mp3" can prevent giveaway answers.

In both cases "n1" does not mean question 1 but instead represents the serialization of media files within the first exam. The files do not have to be presented in an exam in numerical order; the numbering serves to differentiate one file from the others. You will be able to tell images and audio files apart by their file extensions ".jpg" or ".png" and ".mp3" or ".mp4."

Youtube videos can also be embedded in exams. The name of the work and the musicians/composers involved will appear in the video player. The exam question will have to be fashioned so that it knowing the title and composer makes no difference to the answer and instead requires the student to use skill developed in the course to comment on the actual music.

Similarly, no changes to file name and alt tags/descriptive texts on images are necessary if the question focuses on analysis of the art work presented.