The development and application of multimedia in learning: a survey of literature

Multimedia applications used in education and training are a relatively recent phenomenon. The development and use of multimedia has been influences by many social and economic factors related to the enormous growth of computing in the world today. The roots of multimedia however have a relatively long history which stretches back to early applications of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s. The history of the development of learning theories and applications is also relevant to the development and application of multimedia technology in education. These theories and their application to learning and training methods may be traced from the early days of psychological investigations at the turn of the last century. It is important to consider how the understanding of the underlying principles of learning and the development of computer technology have interacted in the development of multimedia in education. Multimedia offers great potential as a tool in learning. The object of this report is to survey the development of multimedia used in education and to look at issues related to its role.