I am currently researching the possibility of publishing a new text on Multimedia by Anton Eliens, and am keen to receive feedback from lecturers who are currently teaching in these areas. Many thanks, therefore, for agreeing to help with my research. Below are listed the questions I would like you to answer.

A report following the headings listed below would be ideal. If you would please avoid answering "yes" or "no" to individual questions, and answer all questions as fully as possible, I would be very grateful.

As far as length is concerned, I would hope to receive approximately five sides of typed A4. Can I please remind you that the deadline for this review will be Friday, 28th January 2005.

Please contact me if you have any queries or require any further information:

Many thanks

Philippa Gallagher

Editorial Assistant

Computer science related definitions use modalities and senses in their definitions with multimedia being defined as a medium that uses more than one sense and again would also include multimedia content as opposed to just transport mechanisms. My own definition is that a multimedia is:

Synergistic: the whole is seen as a whole and not the sum of its constituent parts. Think of a kid playing a computer game. Sound and vision and the transport of such and the interface is all transparent to such a level that the kid doesn’t need to think about the individual parts that make up the multimedia experience.

Interactive: There is some level of user interaction. This can be simple as a set of basic questions which give a minimal level of choice or complicated AI response. Again think of a kid playing a computer game.

Metamorphic: The multimedia product should grow/shrink according to its environment. This is because I look at multimedia from a developers perspective for business applications. Prototyping gives rise to a sort of organic product development lifecycle. Metamorphic means this sort of lifecycle and also covers installation options where users decide how much of a product they want.

Polythreaded: the multimedia application has more than one route through it and the user is free to choose how they access the product. There is a design set of features and some design set of route constraints. Again think of a computer game with different levels – or a web site.

Lean: the multimedia application should use no more resources than necessary, should not burden the user with unnecessary interface controls and should only display information required.

Embodied: the multimedia application has all of the content and all of the user interface controls required for all of its users. It meets the overall user profile and specification

Admittedly I’m looking at it from a business application development perspective but the overall essence is that there is no simple definition.

• What are the essential sub-topics in the field? What other courses contribute to an understanding of Multimedia

This then depends on the perspective but a general description would have the following at some level

Transport: how do the components get delivered and arrive at the user at the right time and place. This covers basic networks and integration languages such as SMIL. Could cover basic security and transport layer languages.

Business: Who are the stakeholders; what are the risks? How does the product fit in with the strategy of the business? What are the aims and objectives of the multimedia product to be developed? Tools and methods for business strategy. Business Metrics

Users: Who are the users? What do they want out of the application? What content do they want? User profiling. Tools and techniques for users. User testing. User metrics.

Technical Application Design: Technical Specification. Tools and techniques for the design of multimedia applications. Technical metrics. Testing.

Evaluation Techniques: How can you ensure that the implementation reaches its goals?

Information Content: the information to be put over/displayed. How you get this content is a necessary part of multimedia production. For a course this would be the basic course content and syllabus.

Navigation paths: How can the information content be accessed in terms of structure? What tools are provided.

Interface design: How can the interface be designed and implemented. What tools are available? What features should the interface have?

Getting the message across: Design for simple information transference. Good and bad designs.

Individual Media design techniques: Video, Still Image, Sound etc. techniques for the design and implementation of these.

Professional Issues: Ethics, Social and legal issues.

Convergence and digitisation: Digitalisation enabling the convergence of disparate media and art and science boundaries

Node design: the design for a given multimedia mode. This takes the information content and all of the above and transforms it into an integrated multimedia component.

Project management: How you get a team of people to do the above. People, peoples backgrounds. Language of understanding.

• What principles and technologies are taught?

The principles and tools are then fairly broad and cover all of the above items

• What is the balance between theoretical considerations and practical implementation? How do you think this balance should be achieved in a textbook?

The balance depends on the type of course being offered. In real life the layman only wants to see the output of the product ie the multimedia experience but may want to know a little about the delivery mechanisms eg surround sound. A games player wants to know what controls are required, what the standard of delivery is like e.g. video quality but doesn’t want to know what makes the interface controls work. A designer on the other hand wants to know how a component can be designed and constructed and needs to know this in depth. A project manager needs a different set of tools and techniques again.

HNC, HND, Professional, BSc, BA, and masters level programmes. There are a number of programmes and modules on other more general programmes. In general these programmes are specific to a particular aspect of multimedia e.g. aesthetics, social and ethical issues, technical design. General modules are also specific to particular programme aspirations eg. Business application design.

• At what level(s) is the course offered? Is the course core or optional? How many students take the course?

ALL levels. Lots of students on all levels: BSc 100-220 students on multimedia modules level 1, 60-200 level 2 etc. MSc modules 80-100 students

• Have there been any significant changes to the profile/ability of your students and how the subject needs to be taught at your institution?

Yes. Students have better technical knowledge at low levels but standard of English and thinking skills is poorer. Mixed background and 50/50 split of home/overseas

• How do you see the subject developing in the future?

To be part of standalone programmes and to be more dominated by design issues, business issues, social issues, and transport delivery issues rather than by languages and packages. However low level programmes will still need to address packages and languages.

• What are the essential sub-topics in the field? What other courses contribute to an understanding of Multimedia

As such the features covered here are good.

• What principles and technologies are taught?

• What is the balance between theoretical considerations and practical implementation? How do you think this balance should be achieved in a textbook?

In the case of this book, its low level and so has to be general so it needs to cover with enough detail to perform small tasks any methods and technique used in multimedia construction e.g. Microsoft wizard type approach rather than depth on a particular item. It seems to do this fairly well.

Don’t know

• At what level(s) is the course offered? Is the course core or optional? How many students take the course?

Level 1 BSc

• Have there been any significant changes to the profile/ability of your students and how the subject needs to be taught at your institution?

Cant answer

• How do you see the subject developing in the future?

Cant answer

Not really otherwise the book will get to big and fail to meet its own aims and objectives. A book at a higher level would need to cover other issues such as those I’ve outlined at the front of this reply.

• How useful/important are the tables and illustrations?

There aren’t really many of these. There are lots of bullet points which make points easily and the section on virtual environments is good.

• What quantity and types of illustration would be ideal for a book on Multimedia

It’s a book so its hard to do but multimedia should really use multimedia to explain itself. Maybe a hyper text would be more appropriate. Examples of coursework that show how the student could complete application design that fits in with the additional chapters outlined by the author would be good. The section on case studies is good though. The section on virtual environments shows the standard that should be adopted for more of the book I think with more pictorial examples but its hard to get syntax and basic facts across in diagrammatic form. This may well have been done in the online media provided but the access I had made it too slow to access in a usable manner.

• How useful are the other pedagogical features: Best Practice Checklists, Quick Exercises, and Longer Exercises?

• What do you think of the overall pedagogical approach for the book? How well is the teaching and learning process enhanced?

Sound book for the student audience stated. May be used as an introduction by laymen but designers new to the area would look elsewhere I feel. As a basic text book it gets its message across. The virtual environments chapter is great and would keep student interest but the rest may appear a little daunting as it is ‘written’ and may be perceived as ‘boring’ because of that. This book would do for multimedia level 2 modules on general technical programmes as well.

Greater emphasis on user interaction in the online media would be necessary. The book would also benefit from the integration of material from the case studies into all of its chapters and the use of more diagrammatic material.

.

• Are there any essential or value added electronic components that we should consider including on CD-ROM/DVD?

Hypertext version of book would be good with multimedia examples

• What are the real strengths and weaknesses of the main competing texts (content, pedagogy, design, supplements)? Please list 4 or 5 key points.

.

• Do they take a significantly different approach to Eliens?

.Eliens market is different so its not a fair comparison

• What pedagogical features do they include? How well do these aid teaching and learning?

Most multimedia books contain some teaching material but it is of little use in practice. I am yet to see a good example of multimedia presentation of multimedia delivery. Peachpit Press authors such as Lynda Weinmann do provide good examples of teaching support that does fit with some current teaching and learning theory. In general though there is a dearth of such material.

Impossible to tell really. The book has example questions and is well written but needs aims and learning objectives for all components. The online media system was unusable – am still waiting for the first screen to download (40 minutes wait so far).

• In what ways is Eliens weak compared to these books? (If possible, please list 5 key points.)

Its no worse but needs multimedia examples of multimedia design components. Multimedia needs multimedia books.

• Would you use this book as a textbook for your course(s)? As essential or recommended reading?

No as my modules are business oriented. The multimedia programmes that I run have lots of module on multimedia but each would require a text book specific to its aims and learning outcomes eg sound

• What would you identify as the key strength(s) of this manuscript?
• Given the above, what would be your ideal profile of a Multimedia textbook?

Yes