The place of the WWW in an undergraduate multimedia degree program

Arshad Omari, Department of Library and Information Science, Edith Cowan University, Bradford St, Mt Lawley 6050, Australia. Phone +619 370 6459 Fax: +619 370 2910 Email: a.omari@cowan.edu.au Home Page: Arshad Omari [HREF 2]

Introduction

The Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science (Interactive Multimedia Technologies) provides studies of both a theoretical and practical nature in the area of interactive multimedia (IMM) and draws together theory and knowledge from the disciplines of cognitive science, information science, media, art and design, education, communications engineering and computer science. Students gain knowledge and skills used in the design and development of IMM products for education, information and entertainment and develop an understanding of the specialist roles needed in the team based development of IMM products and the skills associated with those roles.

The degree involves the collaboration of a number of Faculties within the University each of which services units and provides minor areas of study for the diverse population of students studying in this program. Students graduate with a BA or BSc according to the discipline area of their minor study area. For example, students wishing to pursue concurrent studies in media, a course of study within the Arts Faculty, graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Interactive Multimedia Technologies) while others choosing Computer Science as their minor area, graduate with the degree of Bachelor of Science (Interactive Multimedia Technologies).

Degrees at Edith Cowan University are comprised of 22 units and most students studying in each program complete a 12 unit core (major) with 6 units in a minor area as well as 4 elective units. Many programs offer supporting majors of 10 units so it is not uncommon to see students completing degrees with double majors. The Interactive Multimedia Technologies program commenced in 1996 after several years of planning, with 12 core units (Table 1). A fuller description of the course structure can be obrained by clicking here [HREF 4] .

Table 1 : The BA/BSc (Interactive Multimedia Technologies) at Edith Cowan University.

BA/BSc (Interactive Multimedia Technologies)

It became clear in early deliberations and planning that this would be a program where the studies in the minor area would be of critical importance to the overall education of the student. It would be the minor area of study that would underpin the development of multimedia skills and knowledge and would likely determine a student's ultimate area of expertise within the multimedia industry. It was expected that that most students would seek employment in positions that reflected the area of their minor studies. The more appropriate minor areas were considered to be those such as computer science, media, photomedia, graphic arts and visual arts, each of which would provide a strong support for the multimedia studies. Click here [HREF 5] to see a full list of minors that support this degree.

The place of the Internet and WWW

IMM 2203

We knew in our planning that many of the students who enrolled in this course would have little previous experience with the Internet and we decided to make the practical component for the course relate to multimedia development for the World Wide Web. It was generally agreed that this activitity demanded specific skills and knowledge above and beyond those likely to emerge from conventional multimedia development units. A set of 13 weekly activities was planned to include an introduction to the Internet, the World Wide Web, developing HTML documents, instructional design and implementation issues. In the 12 months that stood between the initial planning and the delivery of this unit, there were significant advances made in the flexibility of HTML, World Wide Web browsers, and of the WWW technologies such as Java and Shockwave, and we attempted to incorporate many of these into the unit planned for Semester 1 1996.
As we planned the unit for 1996 we began to realise that very soon, one unit be insufficient to cover this emerging field.

The practical component of the course is built around developing HTML documents using the features supported by Netscape 2.0. Our course deals with developing HTML documents with standard formatting features, tables, images and links, as planned in 1995, but also includes using frames, simple Javascript programming and the use of plug-ins such as Shockwave and Quicktime movies. There was considerable content needed in the course other than that planned in our earlier deliberations. Figure 2 shows the course content for IMM 2203 in Semester 1 1996.

Table 2 : The course content for IMM 2203

Even at this stage, it was evident that with the additional practical elements much of the original content could not be covered effectively in the available time. Important topics such as the implementation, development and delivery issues also needed some treatment. At this stage we turned to some open learning strategies to help us out. We decided to develop an instructional text for the course and to support this text with HTML documents to enable students to investigate further topics through independent study and inquiry tied to assignments. The outcome was to set assignments where the students could display their development skills through HTML documents and where the content of those documents demanded focused research on topics of our choosing enabling us to assess learning outcomes in other required areas.

We have developed an instructional text for our course which combines technical information with appropriate instructional activities. The text is accompanied by a large array of HTML documents that students are encouraged to use when developing their skills. The instructional text has students create their own HTML by intially modifying existing documents and moving from this to creating their own. The use of templates, employed with great success in many introductory programming courses, is an important teaching strategy in this course.

HTML programming is a very comfortable course to teach and learn from a resources perspective. With Netscape and a text-editor alone, documents can be developed, tested and edited very quickly. The course can proceed when the network is down and most students can wortk on their documents on their low-level home machines. Media elements such as graphics, pictures, sounds and movies can all be acquired from the WWW. Layout and design can be taught and learned through the myriad of existing documents. When help is needed, there is copious on-line support and students can be encouraged to use their own initiative in this regard. We expect that students will be able to much of their development and learning with minimal demands being placed on high-level laboratories and computing facilities.

Implementation

We knew that the planned course would need to updated as it ran. The course materials planned in advance were out of date the day they were printed in terms of the currency of the software discussed and described. Although we planned to be using the most current HTML versions, Netscape browser, and plug-ins, many of these are still in beta form and will likely be improved in the 4 months that the course runs. Important new products have emerged in the meantime, in particular a beta version of Java that offers considerable potential and scope for WWW multimedia development.

Issues

• Individual differences In the early stages of a course of this nature, it is necessary to accommodate students from vastly differing backgrounds and experiences. The need to have some organised approach to teaching novices and experts in the same class must be addressed. This problem is always evident in new programs where industry professionals are seeking some form of credentialling and raises the need for institutions to make provision for recognition of prior learning through experience rather than formal courses of study.
• Pre-requisite knowledge A course in HTML authoring to prepare multimedia developers must develop a range of skills and understandings. Students need to be conversant with digital media developments, able to produce the media elements supported by the plug-ins, eg Director movies, have skills in programming and scripting to use such features as Java and Javascript. The placement of this unit(s) in relation to other development units in the overall course structure demands serious attention.
• Course Notes Delivery In a HTML course, one would expect that all course notes and materials should be delivered through the WWW. This provides the scope need for just-in-time planning and delivery and enables constant updating. We chose to use print-based materials for our instructional text for several reasons. In the past students have always printed the electronic versions making great and expensive demands on laboratory printing services. Also print-based versions provide more flexibility for mixed-mode delivery of the course catering for the needs of students with home computers but limited network connectivity.
• Designing for the WWW HTML development appears as one area of multimedia development where a single person rather than a team is responsible for document development. Success relies on the developer showing appropriate skills in interface, graphics and instructional design. It is interesting to speculate how the needs for multiskilling should be approached in the design of an entire course. At the same time we need to come to terms with the assumption that IMM development skills are generic and to consider whether there is a need to consider WWW materials development apart or with development of other materials.
• The WWW as a legitimate multimedia authoring environment Much of our course planning was based on CD-ROM as the only legitimate form of multimedia delivery with the supporting units planned around the skills needed to develop in this medium. We believe that the WWW is now a legitimate multimedia authoring environment in its own right and its development strategies need to be addressed in supporting units. For example, the introductory authoring unit, as well as Authorware and Director, should include HTML. The introductory graphics units should contain components that address the low bandwidth requirements of WWW media. The units covering interface design need a component that addresses hypertext design and the object-oriented programming unit should include Java as a programming environment.
• The Placement of a Specialist WWW Unit In our program, the specialist WWW unit is delivered in the second semester of the second year. In retrospect this appears a little late in the students' course. We believe that a better placement would be in the first year so that subsequent supporting units in graphics, instructional design and programming can include elements that build on the specific skills required for developing WWW based materials. The existing late placement places heavy demands on the content of a single unit and reinforces the notion of the WWW as a second-rate authoring environment.
• Lifelong Learning It is quite clear in planning and delivering a course of this nature that the software and tools employed will be long outmoded by the time the graduate attains some form of permanent employment. There is a need in the instruction to provide students with the ability and interest to maintain their skills and knowledge through continual personal participation in the WWW culture. While most other multimedia development tools have life expectancies of several years, WWW tools change frequently. Students need to be given a strong background in this area and need to be able to maintain their skills and knowledge through personal initiatives and activities.

Summary and Conclusions

In particular, we advise others planning programs of this nature to consider the content to be covered and not to underestimate its depth and scope particularly in the light of current developments. At the same time, issues we have had to deal with include: catering for individual differences among enrolling students, deciding on pre-requisite knowledge bases on which to develop course content, how to effectively deal with the need for all students to singularly demonstrate skills in interface, graphics and instructional design and the means by which students can be encouraged to maintaining their skill levels in a field of ever changing technologies through their own intiative and activities. These issues present significant challenges to universities considering courses of this form and hopefully our experiences will help others in their course planning and delivery.

Postscript

Student responses have indicated that they particularly liked the authoring aspects of the course, especially those which allowed them to bring their Web pages to life, fitting closer to the multimedia paradigms they are used to; Macromedia Shockwave, JavaScript, Quicktime and audio. The potential of using such technologies resulted in self education; for example there were numerous students who although they had never used Macromedia Director, learnt it in order to add interactivity to their web layouts and designs. Similarly, although Javascript of necessity was dealt with fairly superficially as an extension to HTML during official course content delivery, a number of students explored it in a much greater depth on their own.

Analysis of student survey responses is currently under way to evaluate what changes are to be made to the course for future delivery. The advances which have occurred in multimedia content delivery across the Internet in such a short time indicate that it is possible that we should actually incorporate network content creation modules in other parts of the multimedia degree programme; graphics, video, audio, authoring (Authorware and Director are both Net deliverable), interface and instructional design.

The network delivery mode is now a serious option for developers of multimedia content. As the requirements for net delivery are often more stringent than traditional(CDROM) modes graduates will only benefit from the experience gained by experimenting with the current internet.

Hypertext References

HREF 1

http://liswww.fste.ac.cowan.edu.au/Staff/ron.htm/ - Ron Oliver's Home Page.

HREF 2

http://liswww.fste.ac.cowan.edu.au/Staff/arshad.htm/ - Arshad Omari's Home Page.

HREF 3

http://www.cowan.edu.au/ecuwis/docs/handbook/education/edu_baimt.html - Course Description for Edith Cowan University BA/BSc (Interactive Multimedia Technologies).

HREF 4

http://www.cowan.edu.au/ecuwis/docs/handbook/education/edu_baimt.html#structure- BA/BSc (Interactive Multimedia Technologies) course structure.

HREF 5

http://www.cowan.edu.au/ecuwis/docs/handbook/education/edu_baimt.html#min - BA/BSc (Interactive Multimedia Technologies) supportinmg minors.

HREF 6

http://www.cowan.edu.au/ecuwis/docs/handbook/courses/iii/imm.html#IMM2203 - Description of IMM 2203, Interactive Multimedia Foundations 4.

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