Internet Multimedia Trends

The World Wide Web has taken the world by storm, but the bigger news is the Java programming language. On-screen buttons will be able to be created easily by anyone to allow users to point and click to hear sound or music files, to view video clips, and to perform any type of activity such as an automated database search for specific current information.

In addition, web pages will be able to host animation capabilities. One application of this is that information displayed on a web page could be continually updated based on input from users. Web pages will become increasingly interactive.

One major advantage of Java is that it allows updating of client software "on the fly." Currently, when client software such as Netscape is upgraded, each person with a copy of the old version of Netscape must retrieve and install the current version to be able to enjoy the enhanced features of the upgraded version. Java's capabilities allow client software to be automatically upgraded on the users computer. From the users standpoint this means increasingly exciting Internet features will become available without having to worry about retrieving and installing client programs. This will be done automatically and invisibly to the user.

In the coming months hand-held, wireless, touchscreen color tablets will become available allowing web browsing and Internet access without personal computers as we know them. More and more the software we'll use won't be resident on our computers or on our "Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)" tablets, but will be resident on the Internet. For this reason it is predicted that personal computers won't need to continue to become faster, as the speed for applications will come predominantly from the Internet connection.

Conclusion
Inevitably, more and more exciting educational capabilities and products will become available. As teachers, we must never let the technology dominate our educational goals. "Value pull, not Tech Push" is a theme to remember. The quality of the educational experiences we provide, whether face-to-face in the classroom, or via any form of technology, must be the leading factor in our decisions as facilitators of our students' learning.

Funding to provide teachers access to these new teaching tools will depend on the general public understanding their importance and potential contribution to the entire local and global community.