ABSTRACT
Information and communications technology (ICT) can range from relatively established forms such as tape-recorders, video and television, to more recently developed computer-based facilities such as the wordprocessor, hypertext and the internet. Over the last few years, however, the development of the computer has allowed the use of these different forms of media to become more integrated. For example, photographs taken with a digital camera can be stored in the same way as any other file on disk and fed straight into a computer and included as part of a wordprocessed document. Similarly, audio and video material can be captured, edited and stored as data for research, or used as part of an authored document. The term ‘multimedia’ is widely used and carries with it connotations about the capability of a computer to handle such ingredients as text, sound, static and moving images. However, such a term says more about the incapability of older computers in the above respects. Indeed, Heppell (1994) regards the term ‘multimedia’ as potentially redundant, in that everyday life is a multimedia experience but we do not find it necessary to describe it as that.
