Teaching digital multimedia as a component of business education

Journal of Information Systems Education, 2003 by Records, Harold A, Pitt, Ronald E

ABSTRACT

The growth of the Internet and the explosion of digital communication technologies in the 1990s have given rise to the importance of digital multimedia in the American economy. We define multimedia as the transmission of content through a combination of text, graphics, pictures, sound, animation, video, and hyperlinks, resulting in communication that is multisensory and potentially interactive. Multimedia has had an impact on Internet marketing, the music and motion picture industries, the education industry, and healthcare. It is therefore relevant to marketing and information systems and would seem to have a place in business curricula. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of teaching digital multimedia in a business discipline. A review of multimedia offerings in higher education indicates that the concepts, technical aspects, and creation of digital multimedia are taught variously in computer science, the creative arts, communication, or psychology but are largely absent from the domain of business disciplines. We report on our experiences teaching a three-credit, 15-week, junior/senior-level Digital Multimedia course under the Computer Information Systems heading. Topics associated with the course include conceptual understanding of digital multimedia, business and legal issues surrounding digital multimedia, and technical underpinnings and skills in the creation of multimedia. A key component of the course is a semester-long team project on a topic selected by each group of students. Challenges in teaching the course include cost of hardware, software, and facilities; containment of the scope of topics; differing expectations of students entering the course; and availability of support materials.

Keywords: digital multimedia, computer arts, digital content, business curriculum, digital creativity

1. INTRODUCTION

The growth of the Internet and the concomitant development of digital communication technologies during the 1990's have resulted in numerous permanent changes to the American business landscape. A major component of digital communication is multimedia: the transmission of content through a combination of elements including text, graphics, pictures, animation, video, sound, and hyperlinks, resulting in communication that is multisensory and potentially interactive. Several factors have combined to increase the prominence of digital multimedia in business, including the growth of bandwidth, new data compression algorithms, the falling cost and increasing capacity of digital storage, widespread distribution of software for decompression and display of digital media, an increasingly powerful toolset for digital media creation at the desktop, and conversion of existing multimedia assets from analog to digital formats.

The impact of digital multimedia on the American economy would be difficult to estimate. The music industry and motion picture industry are developing new technologies and distribution systems and arc engaged in legal challenges to deflect threats incurred from file sharing by millions of users. New categories of products based on multimedia have been created, such as increasingly sophisticated computer games, electronic children's toys, and digital greeting cards, which have grown to be a significant competitor to conventional cards (Fatherree 2000). Marketing in the entertainment industry is now heavily dependent on digital multimedia, and the education industry is undergoing significant changes as a result of digital media for computer-mediated or on-line learning, virtual demonstrations, testing, and student project creation (Peled 2000). Macromedia Flash, which is the industry standard for animation on the web (Aguilar 2001), is now viewable by 97 percent of online users (PR Newswire 2001). Digital multimedia is affecting the healthcare industry through video-based networks that transmit on-line patient information and, eventually, control of surgical procedures (Kodama 2000).

The purpose of this paper is to describe the potential role for a digital multimedia course taught in a business discipline. The paper begins with a review of multimedia offerings in higher education and then describes the content and results of our experience in teaching a digital multimedia course under the Computer Information Systems heading. The challenges of offering a digital-multimedia business course are discussed.

2. MULTIMEDIA IN THE CURRICULUM

An Internet search suggests that in the educational arena, some aspect of digital multimedia is taught at virtually every college or university, primarily in the domain of computer graphics or the creative arts. However, aspects of digital multimedia are touched upon in fields as wide-ranging as psychology and communication. Three levels of multimedia educational programming appear to exist, although there is some overlap among these: 1) training on individual multimedia software packages, usually through continuing education programs; 2) courses that contribute to a related undergraduate or graduate degree program; and 3) centers or programs focused entirely on multimedia. As an example of level 1, Georgia Tech offers a series of courses leading to a certificate in web site design that includes vector animation and graphics. There are hundreds of such courses available in the United States, but they are generally targeted to individual learners rather than to cohorts of students who are pursuing a degree. As an example of level 2, the Rhode Island School of Design incorporates several digital media courses into its majors in graphic design and film/animation/video. Also, many programs in communication and psychology incorporate courses that consider digital multimedia in interpersonal communication and user interface design, respectively. As an example of level 3, MIT offers programs in Media Arts and Sciences and in Comparative Media Studies, and also operates the well-known MIT Media Lab as a research and graduate education unit. Cornell's program in Computer Graphics is another example of level 3.