DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIMEDIA COURSES
Using computer technologies in education is becoming the de-facto standard all over the world. Up-to-date computer courses are developed using multimedia technologies. Development of multimedia courses is a quite timely and costly process, so its necessary to understand it fully before attempting to do anything. There are different stages of development.

Preliminary stage
During the preliminary stage, we are choosing the course to be developed using multimedia. This is one of the most important decisions made during the work process. The choice should be made depending on marketing results. We should find out what courses are already available on the subject, how many resources will we spend on it, how much time will it take to develop and also its possible target group. The target group type will allow us to see what kinds of multimedia technologies we can use.

It’s possible to divide the courses into: for pre-school and beginner school children, general education courses of different levels and courses for special education for beginners and professionals.
Courses for pre-school and beginner school children are generally created to develop general knowledge, such as colors, shapes, sounds, music, speech, reading, grammar, natural sciences, foreign languages, computer skills, etc… and have a simple to comprehend for children interface; they’re usually realized in forms of different games, or journeys.

General education courses must include the specifics of teaching, related to different levels of knowledge of learners (they must include some sort of a mechanism to get the learner’s knowledge level first, and offer an adequate level of course material). They must also have a generally simple and understandable computer interface. Its also important to check that one topic doesn’t cover another.
Special education courses must allow the professional not to repeat topics he already knows and be up-to-date with the latest information in the field of study.
After the course is selected and a target group is known, we should specify the teaching goal and the complexity level of the materials presented in the course.

Preparation stage
Current stage assumes the actual creation of the course’s content material, creation of a scenario for the teaching system and also scenarios of animation sequences as well as creation of interface and animation sketches; collection of illustrations for later scanning should also be done during this stage.

Creation of the course’s content
Text of the course is the main component of the course. All course’s texts are related to other components, such as the testing system, a dictionary and a knowledge base.

In the process of content creation we can identify seven stages:

1. Choosing the definition of the goal, and information sources.
   To build an educational course its required for an expert to choose a few tried before and officially adopted up-to-date publications. One as a basis and others as supplementary. After that a precise list of all required topics should be created.
   
   
2. Creation of a structure based on the information sources used.
   After reading information sources, a hierarchical structure of the course should be created, consisting of parts, chapters and paragraphs, not large in quantity.
   
   It’s desirable that the paragraph size doesn’t exceed 3-4 standard typed pages. Each part, each chapter and each paragraph should be named properly, so that it will be possible to display them in a hierarchical scheme: highest level – parts, second level – chapters, third level – paragraphs.
   
   
3. Decomposition and division of information sources.
   The process of decomposition is one of the most important. The leading expert with the help of consultants, who act as his assistants, carries it out. After the decomposition, some fragments are taken out of the original source, related to corresponding structural elements of the course text (parts, chapters and paragraphs), with reference to where it was taken out of. These bits must contain related definitions, ideas, discussions, etc… The process of decomposition assumes joining of these bits into corresponding and related paragraphs. After all paragraphs are filled with bits of information, it’s important to create a certain logically correct sequence out of them.
   
   
4. Re-composition, i.e. creation of a new content, based on information sources.
   After composition of corresponding bits of paragraphs, its necessary to build up new text for each paragraph; to join paragraphs into chapters and combine chapters to form parts.
   
   
5. Edition of structure and style.
   After re-composition experts and consultants to make it conceptually and stylistically the same all over do a full revision of the text. Its possible to add additional paragraphs or bits of text, to make necessary corrections, etc… The final result the given to the programmer to be converted into hypertext.
   
   
6. Quality control.
   The quality control stage is mainly when experts and consultants read carefully through the whole text, to see so that no mistakes are made and all information is relevant. After this job is done, the text is signed by his creators, editors, programmers and consultants and is taken to expertise.
   
   
7. Content expertise.
   Expertise is carried out by a group of experts, like a jury, consisting of highly qualified specialists in the current field. After the course is said to be "Ok", it is considered finished and other components of the course are being made.
   The text of the course is used as a base for a scenario for a tutoring system. This is why it’s important to carefully edit the text before this stage, so that no changes are introduced.
   In parallel to the writing of the course text, a scenario for a multimedia course is being developed.
   

Creation of the course’s scenario
The course scenario assumes a thorough list of components and course themes, as well as a preliminary description of the course structure, which will develop later on. Description of animation and video-sequences, illustrations, links between chapters, hypertext links, etc… are all described here.

The creation is done with relation to available software possibilities, source materials (video sequences, different clipart, sounds, etc…). Scenario development of the tutoring system implies realization of certain tasks that make possible the formation of video pages. Each video page includes a certain combination of multimedia elements. Multimedia systems can operate with different types of multimedia components:

• normal text and hypertext, as well as hypermedia (contains links not only to related topics, but also other related multimedia elements – clipart, sound, video, etc…);
• table information;
• illustrated materials – schemes, charts, etc…
• animation sequences, that allow to present in an easier to understand way different physical,
• technological, natural and other processes;
• real photo materials, including professionally created using Kodak PhotoCD;
• sounds, up to CD-quality, as well as music;
• video sequences;

The relation between text (hypertext) and multimedia elements on the video page is determined by the course’s complexity.
During the creation stage illustration and animation sequences sketches are developed.

Main stage
Creation of different multimedia elements can be done simultaneously. Their joining is done during the next, final, stage. During the main stage interface decisions are made.
Based on the interface, courses are divided into interactive and non-interactive. Non-interactive courses are designed only to deliver the course’s content only by using pre-built scenarios. Interactive courses conjecture a learning process, based on interaction with the learner. Scenarios can be changed dynamically, based on learner’s progress. If he wishes, he can create his own scenario. The learning process can take the form of a role-playing game. It’s possible to organize virtual experiments. The course can foresee a possibility of recording learner’s actions and then comparing them to optimal (for example, when learning foreign languages, a learner can first pronounce some words or phrases, and then compare them to a pre-recorded teacher’s pronunciation).

Realization of a course’s interface is based on a multitude of parameters. Large quantities of information, specific for multimedia courses, will only be available after a well thought-out interface and navigational systems are created. There are some common interfaces issues, that should be present in any multimedia course:

• Per-page access to material. This is the closest to traditional use of learning materials method. It makes the material sequentially organized.
• The possibility to access parts and topics of the material if important for understanding the logic of the course and is useful for repeating material studied before and for use of references and dictionaries.
• The ability to search through the text for a single word or a sentence allows the learner to quickly access needed materials, even without understanding the full logic of the course. It’s also good practice to include index lists.
• Usual for hypertext systems is the possibility to navigate through the text using "hot" words and linked topics. While reading the text, the learner can find out the meaning of definitions, move to a coherent topic or at the end of the current topic move to a related one.
• Access to multimedia elements, contained in the tutoring system eases the search for needed information, because for a person’s memory it’s easier to operate with visual and sound effects, not with abstract definitions.

The quality of the interface influences the chance of successful completion of the course by the learner.

Creation and processing of graphics
During the main stage creation of multimedia components is done. The most common element, supplementing text, is graphics. This is not without a reason. First of all, we’re accustomed to see illustrations with text; all books are built this way. Second, an illustration doesn’t take up as much space, as for example, a video fragment.

Animation creation
Among multimedia elements, animation plays a special role. Animation allows for almost unlimited possibilities to imitate situations and demonstration of object’s movements. There are many software products that allow the creation of 2-D and 3-D animation sequences for different computer platforms: personal computers and graphics workstations.

Video sequences creation
As an illustration for real life situations, as well as demonstration for object behavior, a multimedia course can contain video sequences. This can be digital video (live video), a sequence of computer animation shots or a combination of the both.
To create video sequences a software-hardware combination is used, called nonlinear computer editing.

Creation of sound
One of the multimedia elements, actively relating to comprehension of text, is sound. Sound can present in the form of phrases, spoken out be the narrator, dialogue of characters, etc…
Music is usually used as a background. The user should hear soft, nice music to arise his comprehension of the subject. If the music is chosen wrongly, the whole course can leave a bad impression.

Final stage
Creation of multimedia elements is usually done using various computer graphics software packages. After that the multimedia elements have to be assembled into a sequence of video pages of the course.
The course is then split into topics, and a network of links is formed. The materials are compiled and a special file is formed that is the multimedia course itself.
Before the course is put into circulation, a "gold" disk is recorded and rigorously tested to check the way it works how fast is the multimedia in the course and for any other mistakes.
A course that has passed testing should be registered as intellectual property by the team of authors.

Information technology and changes in teaching and learning
The rise of information technology introduces new possibility of new, flexible learning approaches that were not practically possible before. This has implications for the teacher’s role and authority, particularly when many students are currently more computer literate than their teachers and where the Internet, e-mail, networking, interactive programs and virtual reality. Being able to access and to interact with information and information systems suggests major implications for university teaching. It is unavoidable that the use of information technology will bring a revolution in teaching and learning.
One of the benefits associated with the increasing use of technology is the opportunity to extend technical computing skills alongside learning management skills. The quantity and quality of information can be increased and students can have access to much broader sources of information than are available through more traditional teaching methods. The changing environment has brought about the need to develop technical skills, retrain people regularly to meet these challenges and develop specialist skills in areas where there may be no-one qualified.

It has also been claimed that there are major benefits for students of open-learning, stemming from the use of technology in promoting a proactive approach in determining what and how they learn. On the other hand, students also like a mix of teaching methods and may find increasing use of technology and greater distance from the tutor worrying if they lack confidence. These fears suggest a need to be equipped with study skills and the appropriate learning style.

The quality of the learning through using computer technology can be very high provided sufficient attention has been paid to developing good material. Once developed to a standard these materials are consistent and can, therefore, deliver the same message many times; multiple uses for large audiences. Other benefits of using well designed computer packages are that they are seen as motivating because they offer intensity and excitement which generates and holds students attention.
There are some counter arguments however which need to be elaborated upon. First students less attuned to technology may have to spend more time learning to compute than computing to learn. Technology-based learning needs considerable capital investment in work stations, replacement hardware and network infrastructure and maintenance costs. In addition, learning materials need updating. Also, initial development of materials can be resource intensive. The time savings for lecturers can thus be offset by development and programming time.

The Internet is one of the most important technology revolutions of the 20th century. The Internet is a global network of interconnected computer networks and consists of thousands of networks with millions of computers and terminals. The Internet has become an important medium through which teachers can access key secondary information to assist the lesson planning process.
The Internet has caused many changes and adaptations in almost every walk of life from school children to corporate executives. And its size and impact will only get larger. It is possible to suggest that students who grasp and understand the Internet and who can successfully navigate their way on the Internet will have an edge on the competition. In future, educators will be obliged to refer to the Internet in designing their curricula and I the development of lesson plans.

Do the Assignment 4.3: Write an essay.