"Digital Media is having a big impact on many things in this age. Examine and analyse the impact of digital media on our culture".

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Michael Holtby                     Student No. 2304474

CMT2046: Essay

"Digital Media is having a big impact on many things in this age. Examine and analyse the impact of digital media on our culture".

Before examining the effect that Digital Media has on society and indeed western culture, we need to discover what the term Digital Media actually means…

Just what is it that distinguishes Digital Media from previous forms of combined media? It is the fact that the bits that represent text, sound, pictures, and so on can be treated as data by computer programs.  A computer program is able to control the order in which various components are presented and combined, and can do so in response to input from a computer user.  In other words, Digital Media can be interactive, in a way that, for example, a TV news bulletin is not, and that goes far beyond the simple control afforded by a VCR.  

Digital Media is a term used to describe any computer application that uses more than one type of output medium, such as text, graphics, video, animation or sound.  Strictly speaking, the term ‘media’ is the plural of ‘medium’, just as ‘data’ is the plural of ‘datum’.  Digital media has two states: Static and Dynamic.  Static digital media are items, which do not have the capability to do something, move or react with the environment, for example, text and graphics.  Dynamic digital media consists of audio, video and animation, which all have the ability to stream and play or move, i.e. do something dynamic.

There are many areas of society that have been affected by Digital Media including education, commerce, communications, entertainment, among others, which are to be explored in this essay.

When discussing education nowadays Digital Media is a vital ingredient not only in the learning of students but also as a teaching aid for tutors.  In secondary schools and universities, Digital Media is always apparent in the classroom, lecture hall or laboratory.  

Digital multimedia teaching materials can be used to present information in more direct ways than traditional books and lessons.  For example, film clips and original recordings of radio broadcasts can be integrated with a textual account of events leading up to the Second World War in a history lesson.  Virtual Science lessons can take place, where equipment and materials are insufficient; students can work on a digitally mastered piece of software that allows the experiment to occur virtually.  In both instances allow pupils to work at their own pace and indeed pursue individual interests they may have.

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An example of how teaching has been affected by Digital Media is Computer Aided Learning (CAL). CAL commonly uses CD-based digital and multimedia systems for delivering staged lessons and for testing learning.  Individual records of progress can be stored on hard disks.  Many reference materials designed for browsing, such as encyclopaedias, are now designed in digital media format.  Computer Aided Design (CAD) has also had a huge impact on the designing world.  

Garden designers and house invaders alike can now simply use Digital Media elements to create a life-like 3-Dimensional garden or room.  This has allowed CAD to ...

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*** This is a good essay, which shows a good understanding of the ways in which digital technology is impacting on contemporary culture. The essay would benefit from less anecdotal evidence when debating the benefits/disadvantages of digital technology. It needs more examples to support points.