Multimedia In Education

=Multimedia=

Introduction
Today the use of computers, tablets, phones, projectors has become so extensive that it becomes impossible to imagine a world that existed without all these gadgets. In such a scenario you would certainly expect the teaching and learning process to have progressed beyond the chalk and talk method. The combination of the advances in hardware and software has resulted in enhanced learning facilities. Now one can sit in a classroom or in front of a computer and see images, animations, videos and graphics presented on a screen with music or sounds or can even interact with others in a virtual setting. This is multimedia learning which is developed on the premise that students can learn more deeply from well-designed multi-media materials than from traditional modes of communication. In this unit we will look at the meaning, types, tools and advantages of multimedia in education and see how this has made learning interesting and more meaningful.

Multimedia
Information which is stored in different forms could be combined and used in different combinations. Multimedia can be recorded and played, displayed, dynamic, interacted with or accessed by information processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices Multimedia devices are electronic media devices used to store and experience multimedia content. This process has given rise to the term ‘Multi-media’. This combination of different media for communication has influenced and changed all aspects of our life, including the teacher and the learner. Multimedia has become an inevitable part of any presentation. We have seen that it has found a variety of applications right from entertainment to education. The evolution of internet has also increased the demand for multimedia content. Multimedia is a term used to describe how multiple means of media  like text, audio, graphics, animation, video, and interactivity are used to communicate information. It is also often used to describe any computer media. This helps us to understand information at a faster rate.

Meaning of Multimedia
Multimedia is defined in many ways. Most of the definitions agree on the characteristic that multimedia contains texts, graphics, animations, video and sound in an unified way and the content can be structured and presented differently. Let us explore some of the definitions given below. “Multimedia is the exciting combination of computer hardware and software that allows you to integrate video, animation, audio, graphics, and text resources to develop effective presentations on an affordable desktop computer” (Fenrich, 1997). “Multimedia is characterized by the presence of text, pictures, sound, animation and video; some or all of which are organized into some coherent program” (Phillips, 1997). From these definitions we see that Multimedia is a concept which sees the use of text, graphic art, sound, animation, and video in different combinations. This integration of Media into one whole and that which gives the user more benefits than any one of the media used individually is Multimedia. Interactive Multimedia: The Encyclopedia Britannica Online defines "Interactive Multimedia" as, any computer-delivered electronic system that allows the user to control, combine, and manipulate different types of media, such as text, sound, video, computer graphics, and animation. Interactive multimedia integrates computer, memory storage, digital (binary) data, telephone, television, and other information technologies. Their most common applications include training programs, video games, electronic encyclopedias, and travel guides. Interactive multimedia shift the user's role from observer to participant and are considered the next generation of electronic information systems.

Elements of Multimedia
The different building blocks of Multimedia are Text, Images and graphics, Audio, Video, and Animation. Any multimedia application consists any or all of them. Let us learn about each one of them Graphics Formats: Most Web browsers can display GIF and JPEG graphics files. Web browsers that are version 4.0 or later can use the JPEG format for continuous-tone images, such as photographs and images that use color gradients. The PNG format was developed as a patent-free replacement for the GIF format. PNGs can use an alpha channel to define transparency in a graphic. Import PNG files into any of the Macromedia tools as an alternative to GIF files, especially if you need 24-bit graphics or graphics with transparency. Use this format in Web-native content only when delivering to newer browsers; some older browsers do not support the PNG format also display PNG graphics files. The two most popular graphic formats for online training and Web pages in general are GIFs and JPEGs. Both are bitmap files that are relatively small in size. The two formats compress images differently, each excelling at compressing different types of graphics. Using software such as Macromedia Fireworks, you can compare the file size of your graphics with various optimization settings to help you pick the best file format. Use the GIF format for line art and graphics that have large areas of a single color. Graphics saved in the GIF format can have one transparent color where JPEG graphics cannot. There are applications like format factory which helps us in converting graphics from one format to other. 3. Audio: Audio can enhance learning concepts and reinforce ideas presented as text or graphics on the screen. Using audio may be essential to the teaching of topics such as a foreign language or music appreciation. There are three types of audio assets that are commonly used in e-learning: Music Narration (voice-overs) Sound effects Music demands a higher-quality and a wider sound-frequency range than narration and therefore produces larger files. Narrations generally have a smaller sound frequency range so it can be compressed more than music and still retain good sound quality. Sound effects are generally short so they don’t have a large impact on the overall file size of an online course. Audio Formats: The WAV and AIFF audio formats, popular on Microsoft Windows and Macintosh systems respectively, usually create files that are too large to use in an online course. Use one of the compressed formats with the goal of balancing small file size with acceptable quality audio. You have different options depending upon which authoring software you use. Both Shockwave Audio (SWA) used by Authorware and Director, and MP3, which is used by Flash are popular compressed formats useful for all three types of audio used in e-learning. The open source audio editing software like audacity is very popular tool for audio editing. 4. Video: Although video requires lots of bandwidth to download, it is very useful for conveying certain information. Using video in e-learning helps realistically demonstrate equipment and processes among other things. For instance, an e-learning course in botany might show a video of a sprouting seed. A course about the features of an airplane might show a video of a crewmember properly closing and securing a door for takeoff. The intricate level of detail visible in video is also ideal for illustrating subtle, nonverbal information. For example, to teach sales skills you could use a video to demonstrate an interaction between a salesperson and a customer, then have the learners analyze the body language of the people involved in the transaction. Video Formats: There are three standard digital video formats: Quick Time, Video for Windows, and MPEG. Video files tend to be large so they really aren’t appropriate for delivery on modem connections. You may choose to include video in your e-learning course if you are delivering it over an intranet or to users with relatively high bandwidth connections. There are many open source video editing tool and open shot is one such popular tool. 5. Animation: Animation illustrates concepts with movement, shows processes, or draws attention to a region or elements of a screen. Since animations usually involve graphics, they are highly dependent upon the size and file type of the graphics that are being animated. Animation Formats: There are many ways you can create animations. Authorware, Dreamweaver, Director and Flash can all create animations. An animation created within an authoring program is usually smaller and more efficient than an animation created in another tool and then imported in your authoring program. This is particularly true when an animation is based on shapes created with the software’s drawing tools rather than with imported bitmaps. For example, Flash excels at creating vector graphics and animations. Although Flash can animate bitmap graphics, animations made predominately with vector graphics in Flash are considerably smaller than animations created with bitmap graphics. Simple 2D animations can be created using open source tools like pencil or tupi and more advance tools like blender.
 * Text - ASCII/Unicode, HTML, Postscript, PDF • Audio – Sound, music, speech, structured audio (e.g. MIDI)
 * Still Image - Facsimile, photo, scanned image, photographs, drawings, maps and slides
 * Video (Moving Images) – Movie, a sequence of pictures • Graphics – Computer produced image
 * Animation – A sequence of graphics images
 * 1) Text: Text and symbols are very important for communication in any medium. Using text in online training has many advantages: text files are small so they perform well at low bandwidth, the user can search for specific words or phrases, and text can be easily updated. You can create text directly within an authoring application or import it from external text files. Anti-aliasing enables you to create attractive text that blends into the background color without any jagged edges. Authorware, Director, and Flash all support anti-aliased text. Using anti-aliased text helps avoid having to create display text as a graphics file, which would make your overall course size much larger than if you simply entered text directly into the authoring tool.
 * 2) Images and Graphics: Images play a very important role in a multimedia. It is expressed in the form of still picture, painting or a photograph taken through a digital camera. The points at which an image is sampled are known as picture elements, commonly abbreviated as pixels. The pixel values of intensity images are called grayscale levels.  There are different kinds of image formats like the Captured Image Format and the format when images are stored. The captured image Format is known by two main factors that is spatial resolution which is specified as pixels x pixels (eg. 640x480) and color encoding, which is specified by bits per pixel. Both factors depend on hardware and software for input/output of images. The Stored Image Format is when we store an image; we are storing a two-dimensional array of values, in which each value represents the data associated with a pixel in the image. These images can be edited with the help of few of the software like general drawing programs, JASC Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint, Macromedia Fireworks ,Art Rage: free (NZ) paint program simulating, Corel Draw , and Open Office / Libre Office Draw, GIMP, and Mypaint.