EDUCATION AND MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION

Technological demand in this era has become a way of life, especially in education and business. Educational technology refers to the use of both physical hardware and educational theoretics. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer based training, online learning and, where mobile technologies are used. There are several discrete aspects to describing the intellectual and technical development of educational technology:

·         Educational technology as the theory and practice of educational approaches to learning.

·         Educational technology as technological tools and media that assist in the communication of knowledge, and its development and exchange

·         educational technology for learning management system (LMS), such as tools for student and curriculum management, and education management information systems (EMIS)

·         educational technology itself as an educational subject; such courses may be called "Computer Studies" or “ information and communication technology (ICT)".

Multimedia is content that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, video and interactive content. Multimedia contrasts with media that use only rudimentary computer displays such as text-only or traditional forms of printed or hand produced material.

Multimedia can be recorded and played, displayed, interacted with or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia devices are electronic devices used to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is distinguished from mixed media in fine art ; by including audio, for example, it has a broader scope.

As Oliver (1994) notes, the term multimedia has not always designated computer-based media, as it does now, but originally referred to combinations of audio, visual, and print materials delivered by various media.  Now, however, “the term has been adopted by the computer industry and re-defined to mean 'the integration of video, audio, graphics, and data within a single computer workstation.

While multimedia applications offer advantages and benefits, these do not come without costs, awareness of which may help users to make informed decisions about the true advantages of the medium (Grabe &Grabe, 1996). The key concerns include unnecessary duplication of existing instructional materials; teachers untrained in design becoming bogged down in the production of low-quality multimedia; problems of assessment using multimedia materials, which occur because learners using hyperlinks in multimedia do not always cover the same material in the same sequence; and high technical demands, with technical difficulties arising because of the complexity of some multimedia applications.

Obstacles to the widespread use of multimedia are myriad, and arise in part from the fact that multimedia applications, even if instituted carefully and with the intention of altering the learners' experiences, are an example of change and innovation, and so may provoke resistance, including such obstacles as (Helm & McClements, 1996):

1.      reluctance on the part of teachers to see materials transformed.

2.      the fear felt by users (staff and learners) over the level of technical knowledge required to get involved.

3.      the need of many tutors for special training (which may or may not be conveniently available) to use multimedia effectively.

4.      the significant challenge and expense of “adapting and transforming material intended for traditional delivery methods into new media”.

5.      the desire to tinker endlessly and mindlessly on presentations, with negative results for productivity.

The impact of multimedia in teaching is ultimately dependent upon the incorporation of certain principles that govern its usefulness and effects. Mayer (2001) has suggested seven such principles, based on empirical evidence from his ongoing research on multimedia and actual learning. These principles not only describe the various impacts of multimedia on learning, they also constitute a good basic primer for instructional designers working with media generally.

1. Multimedia principle: Students learn better from words and graphics or pictures than from words alone .
2. Spatial contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.
3. Temporal contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.
4. Coherence principle: Students learn better when extraneous words, pictures,  and sounds.
5. Modality principle: Students learn better from animation and audible narration than from animation and on-screen text .
6. Redundancy principle: People have only limited capacity to process visual and auditory material presented simultaneously; therefore, students learn better from animation and narration than from a combination of animation, generation, and onscreen text.
7.  Individual differences principle: Design effects are stronger for low-knowledge learners than for high-knowledge learners, and for high-spatial-ability learners than for low-spatial-ability learners .

 Education today is inseparable of technology especially multimedia. With the use of multimedia projects, students can utilise the knowledge presented to them by the teacher, and represent them in a more meaningful way, using different media elements. These media elements can be converted into digital form and modified and customised for the final project.

By incorporating digital media elements into the project, the students are able to learn better since they use multiple sensory modalities, which would make them more motivated to pay more attention to the information presented and better retain the information.

References :

Grabe, C., & Grabe, M. (1996). Integrating technology for meaningful learning. Toronto: Houghton Mifflin.

Helm, P., & McClements, R. (1996). Multimedia business training: The big thing or the next best thing? In J. Frankl & B. O'Reilly (Eds.). 1996EDEN Conference: Lifelong learning, open learning, distance learning(pp. 134-137). Poitiers, France: European Distance Education Network.

Oliver, E. L. (1994). Video tools for distance education. In B. Willis (Ed.), Distance education strategies and tools (pp. 165-173). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.