MultiMedia Mathematics

Introduction Computer Based Learning (CBL) is a field of growing interest in the University and in schools of any degree, but the availability of effective CBL products (H. Anton, R. Larson et al.), is limited by some critical factors: the difficulty to define the full structure (contents, static and dynamic aspects) of the electronic book; the difficulty for the teachers to adapt the form of the lessons to the electronic medium (J. Probert and S. Price); the problem of building a coherent while attractive interface and the cost and time required to develop a full product. These difficulties become stronger when the covered subject presents peculiarities in terms of notation, graphics, animation and interactivity as in most technical topics (M. Beilby). In order to deal with these problems, it may be useful to follow a full multimedia approach and consider the final product as a multimedia application rather than a mere electronic book. In this way, the multimedia writing techniques (planning, scenario, storyboard, ...) are fully available and help to structure the contents and define the interface which characterize the application. This paper presents MultiMedia Mathematics (MMM), a work-in-progress which explore the possibilities of using multimedia methodologies for building a learning environment on mathematics to be used by students of the Faculties of Economics . While the aspects related to learning of mathematics are out of the scope of this paper, we present here the main characteristics of the application: • A high level of interactivity. For improving the learning process and permanently verifying the effectiveness of learning • A simple structure of the application and a coherent interface. In accordance to the book metaphor used by Multimedia ToolBook, the application is structured into different chapters which fully integrate the three building blocks of the application (text, exercises, tests) • A set of effective navigation tools. The navigation tools are present either in the form of hyperlinks or in the form of buttons, and allow the reader to choose his or her own way in the exploration of the different topics without getting lost in the web of the links • A good level of upgradablity. Especially in terms of adding new topics and more exercises or tests.