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 take off and now is commonly used as a norm for such designers.
As with the virtual science experiments in schools, Digital Media can be used to produce interactive stimulations of equipment and procedures, in cases where it could be expensive and in some cases hazardous to use the real thing for training.
The social impact of Digital Media on education speaks for itself (literally) if students knew less now than their historical counterparts because of the impact of digital forms of educational media, the state of the health of the nation's academic benchmarks such as University Challenge would have dumbed-down noticeably. This has not been the case at all; in fact more points are now gained than ever before.
Digital Media has a contrasting impact on commerce to that of education. Much of the material used in business is produced for a specific company or client, often in-house. Ebay is the most recognised and most used commercial machine ever, Digital Media has allowed this to happen. Ebay works like a virtual auction, where the public view an image of the item for sale and bid for it. Without Digital Media Ebay would not exist, digitally crafted images have a huge impact on the consumer market, without a well-captured image of the product, customers will not bid. It would be like roulette, you would not know what you are going to get!
Digital Multimedia is also extensively used in sales presentations and promotions; for example, computers on sale in a show room often run high quality graphic media to show off their capabilities, and web pages often function as catalogues or brochures. Graphic designers are able now with the use of Digital Media applications are able to create electronic versions of their portfolio. An electronic portfolio can be inexpensively duplicated onto CD-ROM and sent to potential clients, or even posted on a web site as an online virtual exhibition. This is not only the case for graphic designers but also the general trend for documentation is electronic-books or e-books. This move from a hard copy to digital format has provided the opportunity to make use of Digital Media elements such as video clips, animation and images to explain thoroughly and supplement the text.
Kiosks are a further of example of Digital Media making and impact on society. Kiosks are used to provide information in public places such as museums, train stations and airports. They are usually using digital touch-screen technology. These kiosks have enabled the general public and in-particular tourists to have access to essential information at their fingertips, literally. Kiosks do have to be robust to withstand frequent use, and occasional misuse, by the general public. An example of where kiosks have had a considerable impact on society is in Toronto, where digital kiosks have been installed in shopping malls, which allow people to pay local taxes and court fines.
Digital Media has allowed communications such as teleconferencing to take place. With use of a Wide-area network, including the Internet, online meetings can be carried out in real-time with the use of video and live sound. This technology can cut the considerable costs and time of travelling to meet people face-to-face.
Space Invaders was the first video game to change the habits of people on a national scale. Every pub, bar and club had games machines making money...spawned whole industry of games manufacturers and the hardware to go with them so 'jumpers for goalposts' was out and Super Mario was in. Whole generations altered their learning streams and we all became soundbite-oriented. Youngsters today probably will only know about the D-Day landings from playing games like Medal of Honour. No one reads a book anymore is the cry from parental bodies and school governors (but it's not true - witness the meteoric success of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series for one). Actually what is the difference between digitally streaming a novel through headphones or ear buds to the reader and opening the paper pages of a book? One is more eco-friendly than the other, that's all. Some argue that literacy is a major issue, but surveys show that literacy rates have never been healthier. Old fashioned values are having to adapt...the 'romance' attached to 'old' format books and magazines is equitable with that between vinyl L.P.'s and MP3 format music files. There are still music aficionados who actually prefer the surface noise produced by a stylus on a record to the silence of Dolby-enhanced CD's...
Most computer games exploit digital media techniques to the fullest. Indeed, it has been this sector of the IT industry, which has led the way in developing compression and other techniques to get around the inherent limitations of the hardware and communication devices.
In the past, society has treated television, computing, graphic design, radio, games machines, music production, telephones, animation, calculators, e-mail, the Web, photography, film and video as separate technologies.
Now that these applications all use digital methods, today’s digital media systems can integrate them using the same hardware. A PC can serve as an interactive television, a voicemail system, a music system, a games machine, and so on. Similarly, the same software can be used on a variety of platforms. For example, computer games producers now develop multimedia games that can be played on-line on the Internet, or on a television, games machine or telephone, as well as in the normal way on a standalone computer.
The term for the coming together of these hardware and software technologies is convergence. Convergence is possible because of the growth, capacity, and speed of computer components, high-speed communications, and digitising techniques for all the media. DVD is a storage medium that is replacing the videotape, audiotape, computer diskettes and CDs. In the same way, televisions, radios, computer monitors and screens, and visual displays on telephones, games machines and calculators, will eventually converge into one technology.
Research shows that Digital Media involvement through video gaming and movie watching has meant there has been a steady increase in levels of obesity in many of the western countries. For example, in America levels of obesity are at an all time high, this is mainly due to the lack of exercise by the American populace. Youngsters not only in America but also in the majority of westernised countries, have totally differing lifestyles to those just 10 years ago.
Nowadays youths play video games for hours and days on end, not wanting to play football in the park or join clubs such as the scouts or cubs.
Health risks are imminent from playing video games for hours and with very little exercise. Repetitive Strain Injury is likely due to the constant movement in one direction; eyesight deficiencies are probable due to the glare and closeness, which you sit from the screen and back strain is also feasible due to posture instability. These are all negative cultural impacts of what Digital Media has done in “our” age.
Crime is another sector that has been widely affected by Digital Media in both positive and negative fashions. The government and police have huge databases, with images of criminals and fingerprint recognition images, which are a huge aid in collating evidence and combating criminals. The downside to this positive impact is the crimes that Digital Media has created such as Identity theft and fraudulent activities.
Impact of digital media on statistics, weather forecasting (not that we can do much still to predict disasters like the recent Tsunami) and entertainment means we can now study whilst on the move, we can watch films whilst we have a meal, we can watch the news happening in a country we are just about to land in. The speed of transfer of information has transformed communication between people at work (e-mails), people at play (instant replays of contentious sporting moments), people at prayer (flat screen displays of Pope's blessings to the faithful etc.), people at leisure (the whole gamut of films, digital broadcasts of TV programmes, interactive participation in TV add-ons, the continuing evolution of games media (X-box, PS3, etc. etc.) Those detractors from digital media forms are like believers that the earth is flat- they are in denial concerning the unstoppable progress of human inventions. Culturally we maintain our classical art examples whilst embracing new technology to create artistic masterpieces in Adobe Photoshop - it is just not recognised as legitimate yet. Oscars for screensavers, the Booker Prize for databases and web pages, the Grammy's for download quality MP3's Kazaa!! The future's orange? No, the future's digital...
Bibliography
K.M. Reid et al. (2001) A-Level ICT for Edexcel. Oxford, UK: Heinemann
N & J Chapman (2002) Digital Multimedia. UK: Wiley