The application of multimedia CD‐ROMs in schools

Abstract

Multimedia represents a radical change in how information can be presented or communicated and, more importantly, in how learners can access and retrieve information. Multimedia CD-ROM technology enables learners actively to engage more of their senses in the learning process as well as to develop their information searching skills and strategies.The information age-with its subsequent philosophical changes in teaching and learning-has caused information professionals to redefine the processes of information access and delivery. Educators face the challenge of preparing learners to make decisions about and make sense of the vast amounts of information that they will face as independent learners.Information skills-such as sifting data, seeking relationships relevant to a task and finding coherent ways to present conclusions-are forming the basis of many schools' curricula and programmes. With the advent of multimedia CD-ROM information resources it is being recognised that different skills are required for searching and effectively utilising material from such mass-storage media. CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-only Memory) is a digital optical medium for storing vast amounts of computer data. Each disc can hold around 600 megabytes or the equivalent of about 250,000 typed A 4 pages (Steadman, Nash and Eraut 1992, 5).Hedberg and Harper (1 9 9 2 , 2 19) outline the major growth in the application of hyperand multimedia resources for teaching and learning. Chen (1990, 267) states that 'multimedia technologies have changed how we demand information, and for the first time, a learner is learning how to learn and an information seeker is learning how to ask for information'. Because of the multimedia nature of such software, students, teacher librarians and teachers are not only confronted with text and graphics but must now deal with sound, animations and video delivered by hypertext.For teachers and teacher librarians then, the challenge is not 'can multimedia improve our understanding of information?' but, instead 'how can we use this technology to

Revisiting five decades of educational technology research: A content and authorship analysis of the British Journal of Educational Technology

“…Interactive multimedia (IM) in the form of CD‐ROMs (see courseware–development–educational–multimedia–software) were lauded to “have the capacity directly to influence the style of education and the types of skills emphasised in schools and the workplace far more than any other technological innovation” (Perzylo, , p. 192). However, it was also recognised that IM must be supported by effective pedagogy (Laurillard, ) and to cognitively engage students (Barron, ), in order for deeper learning to occur.…”

A comparison of two types of computer support for reading development

“…One virtue of a within-school control design is that it helps to assess the nature of any school-based effects (see Wood, Underwood and Avis, 1999 for a more detailed justification of this methodology). All children in both the ILS and the Control Groups completed standardised tests of non-verbal reasoning (Raven, 1956) and reading ability (McLeod, 1970a(McLeod, , 1970b. These pre-intervention measures of achievement and chronological age were used as co-variates in the core analysis of learning outcomes, which were based on comparisons between intervention and control groups.…”

“…The arguments presented in favour of the use of multimedia supported software in education and training are extensive. The summary provided by Perzylo (1993) is one of many enthusiastic endorsements that talk of`effective and efficient means of improving the quality, delivery and presentation' of education. There are more exorbitant claims, such as those to be found in a feature entitled Ten reasons to use multimedia in education, published in the magazine PC World in October 1993.…”

“…There is no doubt that multimedia presentation, which includes combinations of text, graphics, sound, still and animated images, is highly motivating to children and, in our experience, to adults as well. It has been argued that the use of such multi-mode presentations, harnessing motivational aspects, and the ability to use the software in a variety of ways, all contribute to the success of computer assisted learning as a means of providing practice in reading instruction (Reinking and Bridwell-Bowles, 1991). Do the use of computer-presented reading activities result in educational benefits, however?…”

Initial Experiences of Creating Multimedia Computer Simulations to Replace Pharmacology Practicals

“…Sound and video cards are quick to install and come with a range of easily used software. Libraries of both video and sound material are becoming readily available on compact disc and further simplifying software creation (Perzylo, 1993). A bitmap is a picture file stored as a series of pixels.…”