MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION

The word “multimedia”, one of the buzzwords of the ‘90s, refers to technology that presents information in more than one medium, including text, graphics, animation, video, music and voice. Multimedia is defined as a tool of integrating the traditional media (text, image) and continuous media (video, audio) and to provide the possibility for a spectrum of new applications, with global communication, social and legal implications (Steinmetz and Klara Nhrstedt, 2001). The term ‘multimedia’ was used to mean a “collection of media emanating from desperate presentation devices”, (Banker and Tucker, 1990), such as learning packages, consisting of printed materials, slides, audio tapes, and so on. In the 1990s, the term refers to “a class of computer driven interactive communication systems which create, store, transmit and retrieve textual, graphic and auditory networks of information” (Gazeski, 1992). Multimedia personal computers are powerful microcomputers that include sound and video capability, run CD-ROM disks, and allow users to play games or perform interactive tasks. The emergence of multimedia is similar to what happened when talkies replaced silent movies. Talkies were distinctly more lifelike and natural. Multimedia does the same for computing technology along with integration of sound, animation, graphics, still images, video, text and music (Fred T. Hofstetter, 1998).Multimedia is an integrated system with different relations and to synchronize among the media. It is a technology of connections and binding different components partially and in isolation from each other (Steinmetz, 1999). Multimedia delivers information in a variety of ways but achieves greatest effectiveness through interaction. The technical and aesthetical integration of information, images and music convey the message with the focus on the single specific purpose. The technology provides a more effective presentation for less expense is an added advantage. In brief, the term multimedia describes the use of different media and technologies to present information from the pool of instructional resources; Multimedia threads an efficient way in presenting information for a courseware unit