What is Multimedia?

What is Multimedia?

The word "Multimedia" simply means being able to communicate in more than one way. This means that, whether you are aware of it or not, you already give multimedia presentations. For example if you rub your temples while telling someone you have a headache or when you point to a diagram on a board whilst speaking to a class of students you are using multimedia to get your point across. In this instance your are using movement in conjunction with sound. Check out the examples at the bottom of the page.

So multimedia is all about communicating in several ways.

For example the computer you are using to view this material is capable of flashing text and beeping when there is a problem. It is already a multimedia computer - anything else is a matter of degree. In other words the more capable your computer is at handling sound, video and graphics the better your multimedia packages will look.

Originally the term multimedia was used by institutions who run distance learning courses in which they deliver content via a combination of text, TV, telephone, audio cassette and the radio. So the idea of using multimedia for education is not new. What is new is the way in which we now use computers to bring these things together. The advent of high resolution screens and sound and video playback facilities for computers has resulted in the increased use of multimedia applications for education.

A typical multimedia application is charactorised by the following features:

* the different media it possesses and makes use of
* the use of digital technology
* the interaction it demands of the user
* and the integration of sound, images, text and data into seamless applications