Session 2

MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, students can:
+Identify different multimedia resources.
+Identify the language of campaign.
√Observe correct grammar in making definitions.
√Observe the language of campaigns.
√Use appropriate multimedia resources that accompany language.
+Imbibe truthfulness in words and in action.

Multimedia Resources

 Multimedia is a broad term for combining multiple media formats. Whenever text,
audio, still images, animation, video and interactivity are combined together, the result
is multimedia. Slides, for example, are multimedia as they combine text and images,
and sometimes video and other types.

 Multimedia refers to the sequential or simultaneous use of a variety of media formats

(people, text, visual, motion, audio, and manipulative) in a given presentation or self-
study. –Heinich, Molenda, Russel, Smaldino, 2005

 Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio, video,
and animation in addition to traditional media (i.e., text, graphics drawings, images).

 Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text,

graphics, drawings, still and moving images (Video), animation, audio, and any other
media where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and
processed digitally.

 A Multimedia Application is an Application which uses a collection of multiple media

sources e.g. text, graphics, images, sound/audio, animation and/or video.

 Multimedia is the term used to represent combination of visual and audio materials
gathered from various resources and then added into one single combination. A
multimedia product can be sets of texts, graphic arts, sounds, animations and videos.
Precisely, term multimedia is used to refer visual and audio materials into a single
common presentation which can be played in a computer including CD ROM or digital
video, internet or web technology, streaming audio or video and data projection
system etc.
Uses

 Often multimedia is used to decorate text, with the goal of making the text more interesting for the
reader.

 A second use for multimedia, illustration or description, can be used to help a reader visualize a
place or time or object.

 A third use of multimedia involves the explanation or explication of concepts. Especially in complex
domains, understanding often requires that learners develop a dynamic mental model of
phenomena or processes. Multimedia animations, narrations, and diagrams have all been used to
support the understanding of complex subject matter by illustrating or highlighting important
relations, thereby attempting to convey a correct mental model directly to the student.

Session 3
TYPES OF MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, students can:
+Identify different multimedia resources.
+Identify the language of campaign.
√Observe correct grammar in making definitions.
√Observe the language of campaigns.
√Use appropriate multimedia resources that accompany language.
+Imbibe truthfulness in words and in action.

Text
In linguistics, the term text refers to:

1. The original words of something written, printed, or spoken, in contrast to a summary or

paraphrase.
2. A coherent stretch of language that may be regarded as an object of critical analysis.
Traditionally, a text is understood to be a piece of written or spoken material in its primary form (as opposed
to a paraphrase or summary). A text is any stretch of language that can be understood in context. It may be
as simple as 1-2 words (such as a stop sign) or as complex as a novel. Any sequence of sentences that
belong together can be considered a text.

Text refers to content rather than form; for example, if you were talking about the text of "Don Quixote," you
would be referring to the words in the book, not the physical book itself. Information related to a text, and
often printed alongside it—such as an author's name, the publisher, the date of publication, etc.—is known
as paratext.

The idea of what constitutes a text has evolved over time. In recent years, the dynamics of technology—
especially social media—have expanded the notion of the text to include symbols such as emoticons and
emojis. A sociologist studying teenage communication, for example, might refer to texts that combine
traditional language and graphic symbols.

Texts and New Technologies

The concept of the text is not a stable one. It is always changing as the technologies for publishing and
disseminating texts evolve. In the past, texts were usually presented as printed matter in bound volumes
such as pamphlets or books. Today, however, people are more likely to encounter texts in digital space,
where the materials are becoming "more fluid," according to linguists David Barton and Carmen Lee:

" Texts can no longer be thought of as relatively fixed and stable. They are more fluid with the changing
affordances of new media. In addition, they are becoming increasingly multimodal and interactive. Links
between texts are complex online, and intertextuality is common in online texts as people draw upon and
play with other texts available on the web."

An example of such intertextuality can be found in any popular news story. An article in The New York
Times, for example, may contain embedded tweets from Twitter, links to outside articles, or links to primary
sources such as press releases or other documents. With a text such as this, it is sometimes difficult to
describe what exactly is part of the text and what is not. An embedded tweet, for instance, may be essential
to understanding the text around it—and therefore part of the text itself—but it is also its own independent
text. On social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as blogs and Wikipedia, it is common to
find such relationships between texts.

Images & Multimedia

The Web continues to become more media rich, remember that there are pros and cons to use images and
multimedia.

Pros

 Images often convey information more quickly than text can

  They can simplify complex information
 They often enhance online teaching, learning and understanding
 Visual images can enhance communication with some disabled groups, particularly those with
hearing disabilities, learning difficulties or cognitive impairments.
 Likewise, audio files can enhance communication with users who have visual disabilities.
 Multimedia is often the best way, sometimes the only way, to show movement through time or to
demonstrate three-dimensionality.

Disadvantages

 Images and videos take longer to download

 Some multimedia require the use of software plug-ins that a user may not have
 Some media create accessibility barriers for some users. For instance, video files that might help a
hearing-impaired user may create difficulty for someone who is visually impaired.

Session 4
TYPES OF MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, students can:
+Identify different multimedia resources.
+Identify the language of campaign.
√Observe correct grammar in making definitions.
√Observe the language of campaigns.
√Use appropriate multimedia resources that accompany language.
+Imbibe truthfulness in words and in action.

Audio

Using Audio in Multimedia

When considering multimedia applications audio is often neglected. Traditionally computers have relied on
visual interfaces, and audio facilities were very limited. Now, however, most personal computers will have
sound cards and speakers, and the hardware to upgrade those that do not is relatively cheap.

Audio can be used to enhance multimedia applications in a number of ways, for example in delivering
lectures over the web, music used to add interest and emotion to a presentation, and other non-speech
audio used as part of a general interface.

This introductory paper will look at some of the reasons for using audio, provide an overview of digital audio
file formats and look at some novel audio interfaces.
Why Use Audio

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of using audio is that it can provide an interface for visually disabled
users, however using audio offers a number of other advantages for all users:

 It can convey meaning, providing an extra channel of information. It allows redundancy to be

incorporated into the presentation of information, so that if the meaning is unclear to a user using
visual information alone, the audio may clarify it.
 Different learners use different learning strategies, and audio can provide additional information to
support different learning styles, for example some users may learn more by hearing than reading
a piece of text.
 Audio can add a sense of realism. Cultural associations with music allow you to convey emotion,
time period, geographic location, etc. However, when using audio in this way you must be aware
that meanings may differ in different cultures. Methods of sound spatialisation are now available,
giving the effect of 3D sound, and allowing environmental acoustic effects, such as reverberation,
to be added. For example, for the Windows platform, Microsoft has defined the device-independent
DirectSound interface for spatial sound as part of DirectX.
 It is useful for directing attention to important events. Non-speech audio may be readily identified
by users, for example the sound of breaking glass to signify an error. Since audio can grab the
users attention so successfully, it must be used carefully so as not to unduly distract from other
media.
 It can add interest to a presentation or program.
 Ease of communication - users may respond better to the spoken word than other media. For
example in a company presentation, 'sound bytes' from satisfied customers can be used.

There are however a number of disadvantages to using audio:

 Like most media, files can be large. However files sizes can be reduced by various methods (see
File Formats), and streamed audio can be delivered over the Web (see Streaming).
 Audio can be easily overused, and when sounds are continually used users tend to tune them out.
When used in a complex environment it can increase the likelyhood of cognitive overload. Studies
have shown that while congruent use of audio and video can enhance comprehension and
learning, incongruent material can significantly reduce it. That is, where multiple media are used
they should be highly related to each other to be most effective.
 For most people, audio is not as memorable as visual media.
 Good quality audio can be difficult to produce, and like other media most commercial audio,
particularly music, is copyright.
 Video in Multimedia

Visual multimedia source that combines a sequence of images to form a moving picture. The video
transmits a signal to a screen and processes the order in which the screen captures should be shown.
Videos usually have audio components that correspond with the pictures being shown on the screen.

Animation
Animation is the process of designing, drawing, making layouts and preparation of photographic sequences
which are integrated in the multimedia and gaming products. Animation involves the exploitation and
management of still images to generate the illusion of movement. A person who creates animations is
called animator. He / she use various computer technologies to capture the still images and then to animate
these in desired sequence.

Types of Animation

 Traditional animation (cel animation or hand-drawn animation)

 Stop motion animation (Claymation, Cut-outs)
 Motion Graphics (Typography, Animated logo)
 Computer animation
 2D animation
 3D animation