Distance education allows very effective use of educational materials with visual, auditive, audiovisual and multimedia content . Visual content can be in the form of a text, drawing, image, graphic images and models etc. Auditive content are verbal comments or speech, musical background, different sounds etc. Audiovisual content constitutes a combination of visual and auditive content , most often in the form of television shows, films or video records. Multimedia content is a combination of text, pictures, sound, animation and video records . The reproduction of such content previously required the use of different means, while lately multimedia computer is most commonly used, while CD-ROMs or the Internet are used for storage .
Strictly verbal expression and presenting the educational content only in the textual format usually causes information overload or problems related to drawing and keeping the attention of the instruction participants. Receiving information through only one communication channel makes it harder to create associations and connect new information to the earlier knowledge and experiences. However, if information is presented as a combination of text, sound and images, it significantly increases the to drawing of attention and deepens the experiences of the participants, thus creating greater possibility of creating associations between different representations of certain information. However, principles of effective use of multimedia elements such as images and animations should also be taken into account.
Using multimedia is extremely important in distance education as in most cases the lecturer is not physically present with the participants in order to attract their attention, motivate them to learn and explain the content which they are having difficulty understanding. Positive effects of multimedia are:
- drawing the participants’ attention ;
- greater level of interest, motivation and satisfaction of the participants;
- a better understanding of the content and a more efficient learning of new notions;
- better memorizing of the content as well as the possibility to apply the acquired knowledge in new situations.
Application of multimedia on the web requires familiarity with the methods of development and appropriate usage of audio records, video records and animation, as well as advanced multimedia development tools on the web. Normally, the higher the level of multimedia, the greater the possibility to draw the participants’ attention, the higher the level of vividness, clarity and understanding of the instructions, as well as practical usability of the acquired knowledge. We’ll use an online course on the assembly of computers to illustrate the application of multimedia. Such a course can be designed as text only with detailed instructions for every step and a verbal description of the components. Another way to design this course is by using textual instructions and photographs as well as recorded verbal instructions by the instructor. The third way would be to use text and video recordings of individual steps in the process of assembling a computer and connecting components. The fourth method is to use text and video records with representation of some of the steps and an audio record of verbal instructions by the instructor.
Check the web pages on ancient Egypt for an example of successful use of multimedia.
Tips & tricks: Although it is easiest to prepare and present just textual content in distance education and count on high enough level of independence and motivation of the participants, using images, voice/sound and video records will significantly increase the learning results and the satisfaction of the participants. Four factors are important for the introduction of multimedia into distance education: (1) planning the necessary multimedia content according to appropriate pedagogical principles and available options; (2) development of multimedia content, i.e. finding or developing images, audio records, animations and video records; (3) publishing multimedia content on the Internet/web; (4) sufficient Internet connection speed for the use of multimedia.
