Multimedia and art education.

The buzz word today is multimedia. So what exactly is multimedia and what's the big deal?

A Definition

Multimedia doesn't have to be confusing; once you combine media, it's called multimedia. Artists have been creating multimedia works for years, except we usually call these works mixed media.

In terms of the audio/visual world, multimedia is the combination of sight and sound, usually controlled by a computer. The combination includes some or all of the following types of media: fullmotion video, still images, animation, graphics, text and audio. However, just combining one or more types of media allows software publishers to say their package is multimedia, when in fact, it merely combines text and graphics; this can be deceiving. True multimedia is something more.

Activity and Interactivity

While the definitions of multimedia vary, one feature remains constant--multimedia engages the passive observer to become an active participant. The real emphasis of multimedia is on activity and interactivity. What's even more exciting is that the user is encouraged to take an active role in production. Yes, you can create and edit your own multimedia works. Moreover, you can now buy CD-ROM titles that contain clips of video and film, hundreds of stock photos, art images, historical images, images from nature and much more.

Multimedia in Education

Multimedia is powerful and exciting. The ability to store vast warehouses of information in a variety of forms is only the beginning. The book, no longer the exclusive source of information, is joined by film, video, animation and sound. Learners can browse and research, arrange and coordinate vast stores of information. Moreover, users can take responsibility for their own learning.

Educators have known for years that multimedia offers more ways to relate content to a student's personal experience, a wider variety of content in terms of audio, video, etc., and greater flexibility in utilizing content parts to suit learning styles and individual needs; multimedia can bring content to life. It can personalize material and make it relevant. It can create linkages where none existed, or conversely, isolate things for clarity. Movies, music and movement become part of the learning process. Teacher and student can move from passive to active learning, becoming actors, not just re-actors.

Chat with Picasso?!

For example, because it offers such variety, a multimedia lesson can involve the whole person, stimulating many senses and offering options to learning styles. Imagine entering Picasso's studio and walking around while he's working on a masterpiece, and perhaps stopping to have a conversation with him. Impossible? Well, a real-time conversation is obviously impossible, but with letters, writings, interviews, plus film footage of the artist at work, a conversation could be constructed with students as the builders.

The Soul of the Machine

Part of the new excitement in multimedia is the potential unleashed by Quick Time and Video for Windows (VfW). These packages (for Apple and IBM respectively) provide frameworks for full-motion video synchronized with sound; they can become part of the "soul of the machine." They allow you to capture video and then use it, not unlike you would use still images or words; the video becomes a file that can be edited, recomposed, cut, pasted and so on. What this means is that teachers or students can imbed a video "window" into a lesson or student report with a sound clip or within a graphics image. Lessons, reports, essays and even homework can come alive. For art educators, it provides us with the ability to do what couldn't be done before. Video production can actually be taught.

Is Multimedia Really Important?

How big a force is multimedia? And who will be buying all this multimedia technology? The worldwide multimedia marketplace is on the brink of an explosion. Sales are expected to peak at $24 billion by 1998. And that figure doesn't even account for Interactive TV or the telephone services you may have seen advertised by AT&T. The average consumer will comprise only a small segment of the market; educators could carry 50 percent of the market.

How Do I Start?

For the novice, become familiar with The Multimedia Source Guide, published yearly as a supplement to Technological Horizons in Education Journal (T. H. E. Journal). It includes an extensive listing of products (hardware and software) and provides enough information for readers to get a sense of the types of features and capabilities that are important to a product without overpowering you with technical information.

The possibilities are exciting and frightening; technology changes so quickly that it's next to impossible to keep up. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and perhaps, let your students be your teacher.

The Multimedia Source Guide includes addresses and can be acquired by writing to:

Circulation Department T. H. E. Journal 150El Camino Real, Suite 112 Tustin, CA 92680-3670

Several articles have appeared in Art Education; the November, 1993, theme was "Art and Technology." Also look for articles in education magazines like Media & Methods and The Computing Teacher.