Interactive Multimedia Computer Systems. ERIC Digest.

Noting that the merging of various types of media with the computer has presented the field of education with a hybrid technology called interactive multimedia (also referred to as hypermedia), this digest begins by defining this technology as "the integration of text, audio, graphics, still image, and moving pictures into a single, computer-controlled, multimedia product" (McCarthy, 1989). The four major components of an interactive multimedia system--i.e., the data system, the software, the hardware, and the communications system--are described, and advantages and disadvantages associated with hypermedia are examined. Examples of hypermedia applications and programs are also given. The digest concludes with a look to the future of hypermedia and the numerous design issues that need to be resolved. (14 references) (MAB)