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The Evolution of Multimedia Education and its Modern Iteration

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It is important to understand the history of education to understand how radical the digital age truly is in an entirely novel implementation of instruction in general, but also for our brains and the way they process information. At multiple times in the last century, humans have found themselves brandishing a new technology and claiming its undoubted benefits to mankind in general, almost always as a weapon for awareness, knowledge, and their betterment. The Web 2.0, eBooks, and eLibraries are simply the latest iterations of the seemingly endless evolution of information technology toward some mythical, all-encompassing device and methodology for education. The newscaster Edward Murrow said it best in 1958 at the Radio, Television, and Digital News Association Convention: “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.” Murrow was speaking about the television, but his words could easily be transposed to reference film movies in the earlier half of the 20th century, or more relevantly, the Internet and the electronic information revolution. To understand that our lives and the world around us operates in such a cyclical manner is important, because although we again find ourselves at another fork in the road—one where civilization as a whole could be improved—we cannot be too disappointed that porn databases are much more pervasive than any educational sort. In fact, such a thing should be expected. I do not mean to discount the eternally wise words of Edward R. Murrow, quite the opposite really, but human nature has certain predictable, innate qualities. However, most important to realize is that although the course of human events may have chosen a particular route first, that does not mean that it must be the only one. There is always time for positive change, and the time is quite ripe right now.

There have been many attempts at comprehensive multimedia educational databases in many different countries. There are some inherent difficulties that arise any and every time a multimedia database is being considered or constructed, ones that, so far, have completely stifled any attempt at a singular, global search engine. “The main issues which multimedia database researchers need to face include, but [are] not limited to:

  • Development of sophisticated multimedia database conceptual models,
  • Design of multimedia database query and retrieval languages,
  • Design of powerful indexing and organization techniques,
  • Development of efficient storage layout models to manage real-time multimedia data,
  • Development of efficient and reliable retrieval and delivery strategies, and
  • Development of flexible, adaptive, and reliable presentation techniques.”


Just as humans can only manage rudimentary communication when confronted with a language barrier, so can computers. Various projects have attempted to attack this problem, from early digital educators such as DISCourse to later iterations such as Idios and the U.S. Government-sponsored Gateway to Education Materials (now the Gateway to 21st Century Skills). While these programs solved each of the presented programming challenges in one way or another, they were not flexible or groundbreaking enough to establish any sort of standard. In fact, much was still text-based. For example, DISCourse modeled students in two differing digital text environments: a static one in which much of a student’s data was not dependant upon a course or any course material, and a dynamic one that gauged student progress within a set of author-defined educational parameters and goals. The table below describes in brief detail the techniques utilized by DISCourse authors to guide students through lessons. While fairly extensive, at least for the 1990s, it was still far more limiting than any conventional human-to-human educational interaction could ever be. For this reason, among many others, DISCourse and many other database systems like it never quite picked up steam.


Learning Function Tutor Initiated Learner Initiated
Expectations Provide Overview (map, diagram);Statement of purpose. Identify purpose for using program
Motivation Give opportunities for interaction; interesting material Personal interests; look for ways to make it personally relevant. Make it a game.
Prior knowledge activation Remind learner of pre-requisite information. Ask self what is already known about the topic
Attention Highlights, animation, audio supplements. Identify key features. Record notes.
Encoding Provide diagrams and/or multiple examples/contexts; Suggest mnemonics. Generate mnemonics images and/or multiple examples/contexts.
Comparison Encourage comparison with diagrams, charts, questions. Look for similarities; Draw diagrams, charts.
Hypothesis Generation Encourage student to think of and try various alternative courses of action. Generate possible alternatives and corresponding solutions.
Repetition Guided practice and/or reflection. Multiple perspectives/examples. Systematic reviews.
Feedback Provide instructionally relevant feedback and correctives. Seek answers to self-posed questions.
Evaluation Have next action by student based on student's evaluation of feedback received. Ask "What do I currently know?" "What do I need to know?"
Monitoring Check for understanding. Monitor performance. Self testing.
Combination, Integration, & Synthesis Provide ways to combine and integrate information;-e.g. with graphics or multimedia. Establish categories; construct tables; seek higher-order relationships.




Sources:
Multimedia Database Systems: Design and Implementation Strategies
DISCourse synopsis