Multimedia textbook for

virtual education .
environment
by Kher Hui Ng and Ryoichi Komiya
This paper discusses a proposed multimedia textbook to be iniplernenred in a virtual education environment
(VEE) at the Mnltimedia University in Cyberjaya, iVfalaysia. The aim ofthe tnirltimedia textbook,
which is tavgeted at cwgineeriny courses, is to briny out a students creative abilities and to niinirnise basic
study and learning time so that niore subjects can be provided to prepare stndentsfor~frrtureinterdisciplinary
RGD and indnstrial work. The multimedia textbook will be designed both for stirdents on-catnpnr and for
those scattered locally and internationally Shorter learning times have already been confirmed using an
experimental multimedia textbook having a limited set ofinterjices (see, hear, click). The remainin2
interfaces will next be implemented and AI software included to enable a studentr learning behaviour to be
monitored and to custonzise learning materials according to the strrdenrk level cf understanding.

ne of the goals of a university engineering

print out notes from the net and continue their study
education is to bring out a students crrative
using the paper versions2. Onlinr coime pages are
abilities so that they can contrihute
tliereforc sonietimes simply l i n b to Word documents
and are nierely download sites for users. Assuming that
effectively to society through technology
an average of 15 nunutrs is required to download and
innovation. The Functions of a faculty of engineering
are twofold to provide basic education and to carry out
print one chapter ofnotes covering a weeks lecture and
research. Traditionally, basic education has been
that a student rakes five subjects, more than an hour of
provided through undergraduate courses of three or
precious time will be wasted in this cumbersome task.
four years duration; research has brcn carried out in
To fully exploit present technology, online courses
graduate schools, leadmg to a masters drgree after nvo
should instead allow students to engage in real-time
years or a PhD degrre afier three years. However, due
interactive study via the net.
to the treniendous rxocrrss in science and
technology the gap between the
knowledge and skill Icvels of students
holding a bachelors degree and the level
Self-paced Student-centred
that society nerds has hrcouie wider. In
Promotes
L
A
Provides
view of this, we started a niddtnedia
basic and
original and
Creative
extended
textbook rrsearch project aimed at
imagination
knowledge
minimising the time needed to learn many
an ideaiistic
subjects, includmg interdisciplinary subjects
Instills ethics and
Develops
engineering
professionalism
R8D minds
used in K&D and industrial work. If the
education
average learning time can be niiiiulisrd,
more subjeca can be taught in less &ne. In
Prepares students
Uses a variety of
educational
far real-life working
addtion, more time can be allocated in the
technologiesand
experience and
undergraduate curriculum for industrial
toolsto aid learning
demands of industry
Interactive and
aaining and a research pmject.
constructive
learning

Review of present online courses

~ o slecture
t
notes in onlinc courscs today
still have a textbook-like nature: students

I
Fig. 1 An idealistic engineering education

ENGINEEKING SCIENCE AND EDUCATIONJ O U R N A L APRIL 2002

73

idealistic engineering education system. Our

view of an ideahtic engineering education is
sunmrised in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 show how
muldmedia textbooks can be delivered to
impmve university education methods in
order to achieve the goals shown in Fig. 1.
A virtual education environment (VEE)
is a computer-based interactive environment that supports the process of learning
and teaching university courses. The
multimedia textbook is a new teaching and
learning application tool that will be used to
support a university VEE. The virtual
education environment is defined by connecting hardware and software functional
blocks to the canipus network as shown in
Fig. 3. Distance learners anywhere outside
the university can access the campus VEE

(stand alone)
*Distance education application stalls from this level

Experimental multimedia textbook

create an interesting learning environment that

stimulates a students interests, learning dynamism
and motivation
help students learn more effectively and easily by
using dfferent media and in various combinations
reach dfferent levels of students by providng
diversified learning styles
provide user control over study itenx and pace of
learning
realise interactiveness that is dynamically responsive
to the studenti level of understanding and interests.

Traditionally, as students move on &om secondary

school to university the more advanced concepts that
they must master have still to be studied using paper
textbooks. Unfortunately many smdeno; have
difficulty with abstract formal methods and thus never
develop a deep understanding of these concepts4.One
reason for this is that it is very difficult to present many
important concepts using only text and graphics. A
multimedia textbook can be used to present
information in the form of different lands of
multimedia elements (text, graphics, audio, video and
animations) that will improve a students visualisation
and understanding capability
An experimental multimeda textbook, called
Introduction to computers, has been developed using

Intended implementation of the

multimedia textbook
We aUn to impmve on todays online comes by
introducing a muldmeda textbook that Wiu acheve an
Fig. 3 Campus VEE
(VTE =virtual teaching
environment; VLE = virtual
learning environment)

whiteboard
campus
network
SBNW

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I"

Table 1: Design philosophies for experimental multimedia textbook

1 Features

Rationale

Chapter title

The chapter title helps students maintain their focus and the scope of their study t o the chapter.

Page number

The page number lets students know where they are in the lesson and how long they will have
to maintain their concentration before reaching the end of the chapter.

Navigation control

Buttons such as 'Menu', 'Back', 'Next' and 'Exit' are used t o help students navigate or choose
study items.

Keywords

Keywords are highlighted in red t o capture a student's attention

Text lines

Short sentences are used. New points are placed on new lines or in new paragraphs. This enables
students t o capture the main points easily.

Text colour

When backgrounds are light-coloured. dark-coloured text is used (and vice versa).

Screen colour scheme

The colour scheme. which is consistently used in all screens, is limited t o orange, blue, yellow,
red, black and white. Contrasting colours are used so that text is easy t o read. Bright colours are
used t o create a sense of fun in learning.

Screen layout

The screen design has two column boxes. The right-hand box is t o display text information, the
other to display supporting media. This suppoTts dual coding of media.

Transition effects

Transition effects are used t o smoothe page turning, t o bring a student's attention t o a specific
object (i.e. Wipe down of diagram), or to show a process.

Hypertext and
hypermedia

Hypertext provides additional information as shown in Fig. 5. Hypermedia links a page t o a

video dip.

Instructiondhints

Small instructions or hints are given t o tell students what to do next

Evaluation results

Macromedia's Authorware. Many features have been

incorporatrd into its design to make it an effective and
interactive learning aid. It contains multimedia
content, a quiz and a case study on computer
applications, hypertext (an example is shown in Fig. 5),
hypermedia, navigational controls and a user-friendly
interface. Table 1 illustrates some of the desibn
pldosophics that werr incorporated into the
experimental niultllliedia textbook.
Fig. 6 shows the dual mema comng screen layout. A
study made by Naja. shows that multimcma helps
learning mainly when the mema support dual coding
of information'. For example, when text and graphics

The time taken to complete both the experimental

nmltimedia textbook and its paper version arc shown
in Fig. 7. The results show that the avrrage learning
time was reduced by as much as 48% when the
rxperinimtal multimed~atextbook was used. A similar
study made by Professor James Kulik and associates at
the University of Michigan found that when
multimedia is used effectively the average learning time
is reduced significantly,sometimes by as much as
More than 90% of the assessors rated the
experimental multimcdia textbook as rither 'Excellent'

support each other, thereby increasing information retentiveness.

Evaluation

campus VEE

The multimedia textbook was

evaluated using both qualitative
and quantitative itirthods. Fifteen
undergraduates and academic staff
Erom our university were selected
at random to test and evaluate
the multimedia textbook. They
were asked to answer surveys
concerning:
campus VEE
of other universities

(c) programme evaluation based on

ratings 'excellent', 'good',

'fair' and 'poor'
(d) a recall test.
the

Fig. 4

Global VEE'

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75

The results of the recall test show that most of the

assessors were able to recall some of the multimedia
content when asked. The high average score96%-for the quiz also supports the finding that the
percentage of information retained is high when a
multimedia textbook is used.
Based on the results of our evaluation the
following conclusions can be drawn:

Fig. 5

The average learning time can be reduced

dramatically by using the multimedia textbook.
The overall acceptance of and preference for the
multimedia textbook is high
Students find learning from the multimedia
textbook interesting.
Students learn more effectively and gain a deeper
understanding of their subject using the
multinieda textbook.
Different learning styles can be catered for using
the multimedu textbook.

Hypertext screen display (RAM has been clicked)

Present limitations and solutions

Fig. 6 Example of a screen design with dual coding of media

or Good, as shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 shows that the

majority of assessors felt that the multimedia textbook
was more effective than and preferable to a paper
textbook.

Distribution
The introduction of an ideal multimedia textbook
that contains so many features will be d5cult to
aclneve at this point in time, as design standards will
need to be clarified and technology constraints
overcome. Delivery of large multimedia files over
the network and storage limitations are most likely
to cause problems. The size of the experimental
multimedia textbook alone is 124 MB, 95.7% ofthe
to& size being taken up by large video files.
The size of the final multimedia textbook will be
sevcral hundred megabytes. With the current canipus
net operating 10 Base T Ethernet the download time
would be as shown in Table 2. If Switched (10 Base T)
Ethernet is available, the download time might be

Fig. 7 Average learning

times

35

30 25 20-

-E

0-

15

10

5 -

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Fig. 8 Overall
performance rating of the
multimedia textbook

80 -

60

6a

40

a
.0
.-

8 200

II

Table 2 Download time of multimedia textbook through

10 Base T Switched Ethernet

acceptable, othenvise it will be intolerable to users. If

did-up access using an audio frequency band modem
is used the download time will be huge. A possible way
ofoverconung ths limitation is to store the main body
of the multimedia textbook on a CD-ROM and to
transmit additional explanation or latest information
over the net. O f course, the introduction of an ATM
LAN (local-area network using the asynchronous
transfer mode) and .use of the ATM public network
together with ADSL8 (asymmetric digital subscriber
line) or optical-fibre cable acces? would facilitate the
distribution of the multimeda textbook.

Size
200 Mbyte
400 Mbyte
800 Mbyte

Download time
160 s

320 s
640 s

made often and introduced quickly in new editions. As

there is a limited number of qualified professionals in
the world today, it will be necessary to share the design
and development work.
Standardisation of the multiniedia design and
development w d therefore become necessary in the
quite near future. ltenls rcquiring standardisation are:

Inremational standardisation
The design and development of a multimeda
textbook is very sinular to that of a motion picture.
Figs. 10a and b show this correspondence. Clearly
many s d members with specific expertise are
necessary. As the content must keep up with the latcst
trends in technology and science, revisions must be

colours
user interface design
rules for meda combination
screen layout
authoring tools
Fig. 9 Comparison
between the multimedia
textbook and a paper
textbook

0effectiveness

preference

fa,,

poor

mng

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Design phdosophies, rules for media

combination and user interface design
are features that could be standardised
for use in future with the popular ebook.
orlginai work
(iiterature.Sound,
animation, Pictures,
videoclips1

The intelligent multimedia

textbook

scenario writing

r-l

dramatisation

dramatisation

1
I

casting

I 1

scenesating

media combination

pagedesign

I
Lshooting

authoring

editing

editing

For experirueutal purposes, we have

developed a multimedia textbook
having a limited set of interfaces (see,
hear, click). We have confirmed that its
use can lead to a shorter learning time
than use of a paper textbook. By
integrating artificial intelligence (AI)
into the multimedia textbook and using
a niultimodal interface we shall be able
to develop a new intehgcnt multimedia
textbook". By selecting appropriate
sensors to capture visual, audio, kinaesthetic and physiological information
from students, we shall be able to
monitor learning behaviour and
customise learning materials according
to thr student's undcrstanding.
The intelligent multimrdia textbook
WIU hive a fungtional interfacr as
shown in Fig. 11; Table 3 illustrates the
interface descriptions. The virtual
lrarning environment terminal (VLET)
providrs an integrated hardware and
software learning system.

Conclusions
tl

This paper has discussed a new learning

support tool for engineering courses
called a multimedia textbook. It is
proposed
that the multimedia textbook
.
.
sliould be implemented via a campus
Table 3 Interface description

I From

To

Information content

Functional interface name

VLET

student

text, pictures. tables. animation. video clips

visual

Student

VLET

face identification, learning behaviour

visual

VLET

student

voice, sound. music

audio

Student

VLET

reading, speaking, speech behaviour

audio

VLET

student

shake, move reaaions

kinaesthetic

Student

VLET

touch, write, click, constructions,kinaesthetic

behaviour

kinaesthetic

VLET

student

to be decided (response in the form of visual,

audio and kinaesthetic)

physiological

Student

VLET

physical emotion conditions such as temperature,

pulse, blood pressure. stress

physiological

ENGINEERING SCIENCE AND EDUCATION JOUKNAL APRIL 2002

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m
Student

1- '

Fig. 11 Functional
reference model of an
interface between a
student and a virtual
learning environment
terminal

visual

VLET

.. .
.
.
..
.
.
..

composed of CPU,

OS,software application

audio

--'

..-.
.
...
.
.
..
.

lmultimedia textbookl.
software agents,
peripherals (display,
keyboard. tablet,
3D minter. tow etc.1

I
4
physiological

..-.
....
.
- ....

mvimnment for engineering cour~cs'.Pmc. Asia Pxific

Conf on Communicationr/Opt~~~l-Electrolic
Conf. oii
Communications. AI'CC/OECC'99, Ueging. China,
18th-22nd October 1999, 2, pp.86+867 @cuing
Univerdry of Post? and T~elccommunicatior,~)
4 RESNICK, M.: 'Technologies for Lifelong Kindergarten',
Edur TEditioJ. Res. M u . , 1998, 46, (4)
5 NAJJAR, L. J.: 'Multimedia information and learning',
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6 HOFSTETTER. F T.: 'Multimedia litrracv'
IMcGraw,~
Hill, USA, 1Y95), Chap 4, p 4
7 TATIF'AMULA. M ,and KHASNABISH. B 'Multmirdia
comrnunicatiun networks' (Artrch House, 19Y8)
8 GORALSKI, W.: 'ADSL and IXL technologies'
(McCrm-Hill, 19981, pp.291-302
9 AGRAWAL. G. P: 'Fiber-optic coiniiiunication systems'
(John Wilcy 8: Sons, 1997)
10 KHEK HUI NG, and KOMIYA, K.: 'Introduction of
intelligent interface to virtual learning environment'.
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& Communications Technologies, Sth<>tb October 2000,
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campus and distance studentr pursuing online courses.

The multimedia textbook will enable the average
learning time to be minimised so that more subjects can
be taught in less time and more time allocated in the
undergraduate curriculum for industrial training and a
research project. However, issues such as design
standardisation need to be clarified and technology
limitations overcome. We plan to carry out further
work to solve both these issurs. By integrating AI into
the multimedia textbook and using a multimodal
intehgent intc~face,we expect to develop an intelligent
multimedia tcxtbook in thc future.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank all members of the
Centre for Virtual Reality and Computer Graphics at
the Multimedia University of Malaysia for tbeir
contributions and commem in reviewing this paper.

OIEE: 2002

References
The authon were with rhr Faculty ofEnginrrring. Multimedia
University, Jalan Mulrimedva, 631llll Cybrjaya, Selangor,
Malaysia. K-H. Ng is now a postgmduiuate mearch student ir the
Mixed Reality Laboratory, School of Coinpurer Science & IT,
Univenic/ of Nortingham. UK. I<. Komiy. is now teaching at
Ryum Keirai Univenity Japan.

1 See
http://wwwmonbu,goJp/anmashi/l')99mg/~04/
4114-5.htm
2 See http://counrr.telecampus.edu/
3 YEOH ENG THIAM, BENOIT VAILLANT, TEO
LlAN SENG, and KOMIYA, R.: 'Virtual education

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