Educational Multimedia: A Handbook for Teacher-Developers

Abstract

Multimedia has always fascinated educationists because of its strengths to communicate difficult concepts in simple ways. With the availability of more and more sophisticated computers with multimedia capabilities, the potentialities to use multimedia have also grown tremendously. In the case of Open and Distance Education, which depends on self-learning materials, the use of multimedia enriches the teaching learning experiences by providing a multi-sensory perspective. While it has been acknowledged that multimedia can be useful in the teaching-learning scenario of both face-to-face and distance learning settings, educators tend to believe that development of multimedia requires knowledge of high-end programming. This is true only partially. Today, with the availability of software like Flash, Director, 3D Studio Max, etc, we can develop multimedia lessons with a little practice of the software. Therefore, you see many highly skilled multimedia designers in the market. But knowledge of the software alone is not enough to prepare a good educational multimedia. In order to be useful to the learner, a multimedia programme design needs to have a sound pedagogical base. This handbook intends to help teachers in understanding the basic concepts of multimedia and various issues involved in the development of educational multimedia.