Interactive Multimedia on the World Wide Web:
Implementation and Implications for the Tertiary Education Sector

Abstract

This paper consists of two main parts. In the first part we examine the design and implementation of an interactive multimedia application on the World Wide Web. The discussion covers the process of selecting a suitable Web server, its installation and administration. It also deals with the design and implementation of interactive multimedia courseware, and materials for electronic journals, under the new Windows NT operating environment. In addition, we examine important aspects of instructional design of electronic material for the Web.

In the second part of the paper, we explore the implications of the emerging technologies in this area for the tertiary education sector. These technologies will both influence, and be moulded by, new directions in education policy and practice. As the pace of technological innovation accelerates universities will be under increasing pressures to utilise technically-enhanced education tools to capture and hold their shares of the tertiary market. This will no doubt prompt much rethinking about the optimal application of new technologies as well as about the inner life of universities.

Keywords

World Wide Web, Interactive Multimedia, Tertiary Education, Distance Education