Using an intranet to deliver multimedia training material in colleges

Abstract

The development of web-based training is now well established and is leading away from the notion of software being released solely on a CD-Rom; instead, it is made available additionally via Internet portals. The significance of this is that colleges with Intranets capable of delivering multimedia via an Intranet are well placed to take advantage of the growing market place for such training. The basis for this research stems from the desire for increasingly faster and more efficient use of multimedia, which is delivered via an Intranet as opposed to the utilisation of CD-Rom technology. The implication is that software/ multimedia authors will develop more efficient systems that take best advantage of existing web-based technologies. The trends evident from the small survey reported, show a general acceptance of the Intranet as a medium for the delivery of teaching and learning materials in addition to the established use of CD-Rom multimedia software. The inference is that the Intranet will not replace CD-Roms; rather, it will be used to complement it. The education and training sector has become a major industry within the multimedia arena. Direction is sought to define the future trends in the development of multimedia training packages and styles from within this sector. The technology opens up new opportunities for learning and is an enabling factor in the restructuring of educational philosophies worldwide. However, the education and training sector has not allowed multimedia to cause a change in direction, rather, it is using it and other Information Technologies to engender and facilitate this required change. It is commonplace to find complex computing equipment in all areas of education and the uptake of multimedia, as a learning resource is widespread. This research seeks to investigate the means of delivering multimedia in an educational context comparing the efficiencies and deficiencies of established techniques for the deployment of educational multimedia.