Due to the rapid development of hardware and software, the interest in multimedia is rising dramatically. Multimedia for instruction are interactive Products designed for training or education, by using technology including computers, videodisk, CD-RO...
Due to the rapid development of hardware and software, the interest in multimedia is rising dramatically. Multimedia for instruction are interactive Products designed for training or education, by using technology including computers, videodisk, CD-ROM, and interactive CD. There is a lot of current research on multimedia. Most of this research is concerned with the identification of criteria or principles for good multimedia product such as the instructional issues and learning effectiveness rather than the tasks of management of development process.
However, since the characteristics of multimedia development are very different from, and more complex than, those of other media and of traditional computer-based instruction, and since multimedia development requires tremendous funds and a large staff, existing production management principles can prove insufficient in some real production settings. Because multimedia production demands complicated technical and managerial skills, effective and efficient management models are necessary to ensure a good quality production process for multimedia.
Most multimedia products are developed by a team of qualified experts: task or content experts, instructional designers, programmers, graphic and visual specialists, video and audio specialists, and editorial specialists. With such a team approach it is usually necessary that an individual be designated as project leader, and assigned the task of resolving issues related to the development of the multimedia product The team leader should be able to manage people and schedules, and capable of evaluating the quality of multimedia products. She/he will have to manage production in a rapidly evolving field, one that is becoming increasingly sophisticated and making accordingly greater demands on the knowledge, skills, and creativity of the development team. The requisite team-leadership activities involve both management tasks which address issues related to the development of the instructional multimedia product. The management tasks include, for example, the process of making and enforcing decision, resolving differences of opinion, and the coordination of team activities.
The purpose of this paper is to provide, by drawing on existing research and theory, some important principles for the management of multimedia development process, principles that may help the inexperienced multimedia production manager to arrive at an efficient production process management, as well as a good product. These principles have addressed managerial, communicational, technical, and cooperative issues. The production management of multimedia projects is multifaceted. Project leaders need skills in planning, managing resources, and maintaining strong relationships among team members, as well as instructional design expertise. It seems that there are many compelling reasons for giving attention to the production process. The success of multimedia production also depends on the creation of a good development environment in which all sniff members can achieve a high level of confidence in their activities and gain satisfaction from their work.