Importance of Multimedia Technology

Paul Starr, "Computing Our Way to Educational Reform, " The American Prospect no. 27 (July-August 1996): 50-60 (

"And with the advent of multimedia, the computer has evolved into a distinctive medium that is uniquely capable of juxtaposing text, images, audio, and video. Multimedia permits an extraordinary flexibility in conveying concepts—through words, pictures, and sounds, as something that can be built or played as well as read or watched. . . . New genres, such as simulation games, are emerging that challenge the user or player to build some complex creation—a city, species, business, or world—out of some given set of resources, or that put the student into a simulated environment or through a scenario to meet a challenge or learn a skill. The computer thereby turns the passive reader into a participant; it cues the student of a need to do something, but not necessarily what to do. With multimedia the computer draws on more of the senses, and more dimensions of intelligence, enlarging the opportunity to learn for those who have been less able to learn from conventional teaching materials. . . . [S]ome uses of the new media are genuinely inspired, provocative, and engaging, and these examples suggest that that we have opened an important new chapter in the history of the imagination—and of education."