Unit 2-1 Business and Industry

After completing this unit, you will be able to:

• Understand how multimedia is transforming business and industry into a global economy.
• Consider the appropriate uses of point-of-sale kiosks, videoconferencing, and just-in-time training systems.
• Examine how these technologies are being used in your local community.
• Predict whether digital video will replace the VCR as the primary means of distributing video recordings.
• Experience what it is like to shop for merchandise on the World Wide Web.
• Define the term day trading and know why to be careful if you try it.

Reading

Read chapter 3 of the Multimedia Literacy textbook to study the concepts covered by this unit.

Online Activities

Multimedia provides businesses with powerful new ways to reach and service customers. Interactive multimedia merchandising is replacing storefronts with point-of-sale kiosks and home-shopping networks that have increased sales dramatically. Video conferencing permits face-to-face meetings without your needing to travel. Multimedia teaching systems provide just-in-time training whenever and wherever needed, significantly reducing corporate training costs. Global networking makes these services available anytime, anywhere. The following online activities reinforce important concepts and bring the reading to life:

• Anyone who shops has been frustrated by the time and effort required to locate a product you want in the style, color, and size you need. How often have you been told that what you want is out of stock? Follow the Multilit Web site links to businesses which provide interactive merchandising systems that can help you find the product you want in the size you need, and that permit you to do comparison shopping without having to spend all day visiting different stores.
• Due to the high cost of transportation and the large amount of employee time spent traveling to meetings, videoconferencing is on the rise. More than 50 countries have videoconferencing equipment, and in North America alone there are more than 10,000 videoconferencing rooms. One of the largest public networks is in Kinko’s stores. To find out more about Kinko's and other videoconferencing services, follow the Multilit Web site links to desktop videoconferencing.
• Travel is a natural subject for multimedia because the more you can show customers about where they will travel, what their accommodations will be like, and what they will be able to do at their destination, the more likely the person will enjoy the trip and want to use your service again. That is the goal of Web-based travel services that include fare finders, travel news, featured vacation packages, and online booking for lodging and transportation by land, rail, air, or sea. Follow the Multilit Web site links to test drive some online travel systems.
• Anyone who invests in the stock market knows what a dramatic effect current events have on the day-to-day value of volatile stocks. This is why the financial services industry is using multimedia to provide on-screen windows that display broadcast videos and news feeds from the Cable News Network (CNN), Reuters, Dow Jones News, Knight-Ridder, and CNN’s Financial Network (CNNfn). Brokers can buy or sell quickly when news breaks. Follow the Multilit Web site links to tour these Web-based news feeds or download your own customizable EntryPoint stock market ticker.

Assignments

One of the major assignments in this course is the term paper that you will write on a topic of your choosing related to a multimedia trend or issue in your chosen field. The other large assignment in this course is the multimedia application that you will develop and publish to the Web, again on a topic of your choosing. If business is your field, it is possible that the readings in this unit will help you decide upon one of these topics. After you choose your topics, remember to respond to the assignments that ask you to tell your instructor what topics you have chosen:

• A major part of your grade in this course is determined by a term paper that you write on a topic of your choosing related to a multimedia trend or issue in the field of education or communications. Your paper must be about six pages long and contain at least six bibliographic references if you are taking this course for undergraduate credit, or about twelve pages long with at least twelve references for graduate credit. Before you write the paper, you need to have your topic approved. Please tell what your paper is going to be about. Say why you have chosen this topic, tell how you plan to research it, and indicate how the writing of this paper will help you achieve the goals you had for taking this course. Your instructor will respond by writing a comment on this assignment to let you know if your topic is approved.
• The largest part of your grade in this course is determined by the multimedia application that you will create. Your application must have at least seven screens if you are taking this course for undergraduate credit, or at least fourteen screens for graduate credit. Before you develop the application, you need to have your topic approved. Please tell what your application is going to be about. Say why you have chosen this topic, and tell how you plan to design it. Describe your intended audience, tell how they will use your application, and indicate how developing this app will help you achieve the goals you had for taking this course.