TLDR: Designed and delivered VDL (Video Driven Learning), a scalable platform for embedding quizzes, polls, and decision points directly inside instructional videos. The system has delivered 100,000+ interactive video sessions to Oregon State University students, replacing a $12k/year vendor solution with a custom platform that costs under $50/month to operate.

1. Context & Stakes

Ecampus faculty increasingly relied on video content to teach online courses but lacked a way to make those videos interactive and measurable.
The university considered licensing commercial tools that were expensive, slow, and inaccessible, yet critical courses were waiting on a solution.

Ecampus also had a tendency to build one-off solutions for our courses instead of building scalable solutions that could handle multiple courses.

2. Problem → Insight

The existing video workflow was entirely passive. Instructors could upload lectures but had no way to assess comprehension or maintain engagement. Off the shelf tools offered limited interactivity, but were closed systems, expensive to scale, inaccessible to our standards, and difficult to integrate.

Key insight: We didn't need another video platform. We needed a lightweight orchestration layer that could add interactivity to any video source.

This shift reframed the challenge from buying a product to building a flexible framework, one that could plug into our LMS, scale across courses, and breathe new life into the university’s existing content library.

3. Approach & Architecture

I proposed and built VDL, a React based web application that overlays interactive components on top of HTML5 video players.

Each interaction - quiz, checkpoint, link, reflection — was defined via a JSON schema, allowing faculty to add interactivity through a graphic user interface without code changes.

Key design principles:

• Simplicity: No proprietary player; built atop native HTML5 + existing media CDN.
• Scalability: Stateless AWS Lambda API with DynamoDB for data.
• Accessibility: Keyboard first design, ARIA tagging, WCAG 2.1 AAA compliance.
• Analytics: Captured event data for completion rates and engagement metrics.
• Integration: Embed codes worked inside LMS, Canvas, and other OSU platforms.

4. Execution

• Delivered the first working prototype within two weeks.
• Collaborated directly with instructional designers to define interactive experiences and default templates.
• Established design guidelines for timing events, color contrast, and layout to meet accessibility standards.
• Implemented an authoring tool for non technical faculty to upload videos and define interactions visually.
• Wrote the core React rendering engine and Node.js API logic.

5. Performance & Impact

VDL quickly became the backbone for interactive media across Ecampus courses.

Faculty adoption grew exponentially, and the platform became the default for interactive video across OSU, saving thousands annually while improving student engagement and completion rates.

6. Leadership & Collaboration

• Partnered cross functionally with faculty, accessibility specialists, and instructional designers to align technical decisions with pedagogical goals.
• Established new development standards for interactive components that became the foundation for future OSU platforms.
• Championed open architecture principles to ensure VDL’s framework could be extended beyond video to other learning contexts.
• Mentored my developers, helping them grow in technical depth and project ownership.
• Presented outcomes at Ecampus all hands, sparking a wave of internal tool initiatives inspired by VDL’s success.

7. Risks & Mitigations

8. Aftermath & Lessons

VDL became the prototype for how Ecampus approaches scalable, low-cost innovation. Its schema driven pattern influenced every subsequent platform, including LabShell and the interactive reading platform Never Ending Story.

The project demonstrated that speed and scalability can coexist with quality and uniquesness.

What I'd Do Next

• Add transcript synchronized cueing for auto-generated quizzes.
• Integrate AI based engagement summaries for instructors.
• Use transcripts to transform the content so it can be consumed both as video or through reading (how the students want to learn).

VDL reminded us that true scalability enhances quality, it doesn’t erase it.