The Importance Of Multimedia In Education

Learning is the process by which we receive and process sensory data, encode such data as memories within the neural structures of our brain, and retrieve those memories for subsequent use. The variety of information stored within such memories is enormous, including such items as: how to control your sphincter muscle until a socially appropriate occasion, how to identify mommy in a crowd, how to ride a bicycle, what is the shortest path to grandmother’s house without going near the lair of the wolf, what is the tune for Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, and what a philosopher means when she says "The cat is on the mat." All learning takes place within the brain, and as our understanding of the underlying structures and processes of the brain increases we can begin to apply that knowledge to improve our construction of learning environments.

Our ability to describe and understand the basic processes by which our brain learns has been enhanced by recent technological developments and by the accumulation of long-term studies in human and animal populations. Of particular benefit has been the development of brain-imaging

We should also be able to maximize the impact of multimedia in such environments through application of learning theories and our knowledge of the human brain. Learning environments should not be construed simply as the traditional formal classroom within the context of institutionalized public education. Such environments occur within the workplace, the home, and other social institutions as communication and information technology continues to penetrate Western society. We should also be aware that the use of multimedia will have an impact upon the development of the human brain, particularly when such techniques are used with children and adolescents whose brains are still developing and