Sociomedia: Multimedia, Hypermedia, and the Social Construction of Knowledge (Digital Communication)

Sociomedia continues the assessment of hypertext and hypermedia systems begun in Text, ConText, and HyperText and The Society of Text. It examines the use of integrated multimedia to support social or collaborative research, learning, and instruction in the university, one of the best environments for developing and analyzing the effects of computing technologies on our understanding of complex sets of information. The twenty-five contributions discuss critical design issues in the creation of advanced multimedia computing technologies, describe the systems now in use, and assess the effectiveness of this emerging technology.

Barrett's opening essay further explores his original and thought-provoking application of social construction theories of knowledge to the development and analysis of multimedia systems. Some of the chapters that follow look at the effectiveness of particular multimedia systems across the curriculum, from medicine, sociology, and management to language learning, writing, literature, and intergenerational studies. Other chapters examine the implied pedagogy within these systems, or the effects of using multimedia and hypermedia in the classroom.

Readers should come away from this collection with a critical stance toward the use of integrated media for information retrieval and creation as well as an informed knowledge of the kinds of multimedia systems in development or use. Developers will be able to use this collection to gain insight into the kinds of design choices others have made and their effectiveness in practice.

Edward Barrett is Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sociomedia continues the assessment of hypertext and hypermedia systems begun in Text, ConText, and HyperText and The Society of Text. It examines the use of integrated multimedia to support social or collaborative research, learning, and instruction in the university, one of the best environments for developing and analyzing the effects of computing technologies on our understanding of complex sets of information. The 25 contributions discuss critical design issues in the creation of advanced multimedia computing technologies, describe the systems now in use, and assess the effectiveness of this emerging technology. Barrett's opening essay further explores his original and thought-provoking application of social construction theories of knowledge to the development and analysis of multimedia systems. Some of the chapters that follow look at the effectiveness of particular multimedia systems across the curriculum, from medicine, sociology, and management to language learning, writing, literature, and intergenerational studies. Other chapters examine the implied pedagogy within these systems, or the effects of using multimedia and hypermedia in the classroom. Readers should come away from this collection with a critical stance toward the use of integrated media for information retrieval and creation, as well as an informed knowledge of the kinds of multimedia systems in development or use. Developers will be able to use this collection to gain insight into the kinds of design choices others have made and their effectiveness in practice.