The emergence of integrated technologies is facilitating the configuration of vision and sound in ways previously impossible with discrete technologies. The attributes of infinite storage, continually increasing speed of access and phenomenal manipulation of images and sound are moving rapidly towards the notion of virtual reality in technology based information and presentation systems. What are the implications for instructional design? This paper discusses effective multimedia design strategies which results in the creation of multimedia programs. Implications for the development of materials with groups located at geographically different places are discussed. This impacts on the possibility of developing multimedia material between different groups in different countries.Navigation is a unique problem for the interactive multimedia environment -the user must browse information often with a number of options and choices. These options are cued by a number of different devices. Navigation can take a series of forms: it can allow increased learner control, by indicating learning options; it can provide a physical model of either the learning sequence or the layout of the information; or it can be adapted to meet the learner's requirements and even allow the user to specify the relationships he or she wishes for the information. Information in a multimedia environment can include any form of representation: text, graphic, picture, sound, animation or motion video. These options increase the difficulty in organising information by the learner. Faced with a multitude of possible choices, inputs and paths through information landscapes, a learner can easily become confused and a powerful vehicle for learning can become a time consuming problem. This paper reports on a study of the navigational demands of hierarchical,
158Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1993, 9(2) relational and sequential navigation systems in interactive multimedia learning materials and discusses the instructional design implications for learner generated and instructor generated interactive multimedia materials.
BackgroundConsiderable interest in the educational efficacy of the application of interactive multimedia resources for learning has developed as the use of this technology has emerged. A number of interactive multimedia simulation packages have been developed to incorporate high quality visual materials in the form of graphics, pictures, sound, animation or motion video. Some of the packages are prototypes and we are now starting to see some commercial products produced and released on the market. This major growth in the application and use of interactive multimedia resources for learning has occurred through changes in information technology software and hardware which allow the integration of multiple sources of information to be linked and presented together (Ambron & Hooper, 1990). This development has occurred coincidentally with the proliferation of sophisticated software authoring tools, which have not only give...