Entry 8: A Visual Orgasm

People only retain 20% of what they see and 30% of what they hear. But they remember 50% of what they see and hear, and as much as 80% of what they see, hear, and do simultaneously. -Computer Technology Research, 1993

What is multimedia? Multimedia is a fusion of any of the combinations of text, graphics, sound, animation, and video with links and tools that let allows the presenter to navigate, interact and communicate with the audiences through the means of a computer. When you allow the user (the viewer) to control what and when these elements are delivered, it is interactive multimedia. When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the learner can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia.

Although the definition of multimedia is simple, making it work can be complicated. Not only do you need to understand how to make each multimedia element stand up and dance, but you also need to know how to tie the elements together using educational multimedia computer tools. If done properly, interactive multimedia excels in leaving lasting impressions in the teaching/learning process. Retention rates increase by 25% to 50%.

To practice what I preach, here’s a video on what multimedia is all about!

Importance of multimedia

Multimedia is fast emerging as a basic skill that will be as important to life in the twenty-first century as reading is now. In fact, multimedia is changing the nature of reading itself. Instead of limiting you to the linear presentation of text as printed in books, multimedia makes reading dynamic by giving words an important new dimension. In addition to conveying meaning, words in multimedia serve as triggers that readers can use to expand the text in order to learn more about a topic. This is accomplished not only by providing more text but also by bringing it to life with sound, pictures, music, and video.

Multimedia will help spread the information age to millions of teachers/learners who have not yet used the computer. Multimedia educational computing is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today.

Fueling this growth are advances in technology and price wars that have dramatically lowered the cost of multimedia computers. The growing number of Internet users has created a larger market for multimedia. The new tools are enabling educators to become developers. Noting how multimedia is used to enable individuals to create course material, that once required teams of specialists, individuals can now produce multimedia desktop video productions.