Introduction

Multimedia is becoming integrated into more aspects of society because it provides a user with multiple ways of gleaning information. This idea becomes very important within the scope of education. Classroom lectures, assignments and exams that employ multimedia often cultivate better student performance as it hones problem solving skills, invigorates student involvement and motivation, and can cater to the specific learning style of the student.

Background

Multimedia can be used in many different ways depending upon the subject area and academic level of classroom. There are, however, commonalities amongst all these contexts that multimedia addresses. For example, all students have a specific learning style which best enhances their ability to learn any subject, but it is difficult for a teacher to provide for all the specific styles of a classroom of twenty or more students. Because of multimedia's "video, audio, graphics and animation capabilities...[it] allows students to access information according to their own learning needs," making it useful in any kind of classroom (Zheng, 2009, p.175).
Another problem teachers are often presented with is a lack of motivation and student involvement in lessons and subsequent assignments. Because multimedia has "interactive affordances" it usually depends upon student participation, and thus stimulating interest (Zheng, 2009,175). Finally, "multimedia projects allow students to gain skills beyond content-area knowledge" such as problem solving skills like "finding and interpreting information [and] articulating and communicating knowledge" (Ivers & Barron, 2006, 5-6).