A typical Flower of Bangladesh
Title: "Introduction of Interactive Multimedia CD-ROM in Distance Education: perspective:- Bangladesh Open University."
Md. Hakikur Rahman, Computer Division, Bangladesh Open University, Board Bazar, Gazipur 1704, Bangladesh.
Multimedia technology into application is a complex task, because it is not a single technology. It ranges from developing courseware for the computer-based training, through consumer electronics companies selling video games for entertainment, to the proprietors of multiple media in publishing sector. Multimedia stands at a convergence point of several streams of development in the field of Computing, Communications and Video Processing.
As the lonely distance educator in the country, Bangladesh Open University from its recognition in the parliament in 1991 has clearly taken the stand of using available low cost technologies to reach the remote rural based students and appears to become a gigantic technology based university in a very near future.
Multimedia applications depend heavily on the integration of subsystems and components; such as data capture and compression of each type with relevant standards, storage, retrieval, output generation and communications.
Information systems based on hypertext can be extended to include a wide range of data types, resulting in hypermedia, providing new approach to information access with data storage devices, such as, magnetic media, video disk and compact disk. Alongwith alphanumeric data, today’s computer systems can handle text, graphics and images, thus bringing audio and video into everyday use.
Multimedia puts additional pressure on communications systems with types of information flow, bandwidth requirements, development of local and wide area network with likely impact of narrowband and broadband ISDN. Early use of multimedia was mainly for off line training and education using interactive video disk and standalone players, turning to Just-In-Time training including On-Line help desk for main frame systems or networked environment.
Some other uses are Point-Of-Information and Point-Of-Sale systems to communicate information to the public and carry out transactions. Recent developments use CD-ROMS, networked communication, Internet, Web sites ,etc.
University teaching and learning experiences are being replicated independently of time and place via appropriate technology mediated learning processes, the Internet, the Web, CD-ROM, etc. To increase the educational gains possible from using the Internet while continuing to seek to optimize the integration of other learning media and resources through interactive multimedia communications. Along other conventional interactive teaching methods, Interactive Multimedia Methods seems to be adopted as another mainstream in the path of distance learning system.
Keywords: Multimedia, Internet, ISDN, Web, CD-ROM.
