This title was first published in 2001. Offering a fascinating new perspective on the processes of technical and social change, this book complements contemporary innovation studies by adopting an integrative perspective on social learning as characterized by the introduction of educational multimedia. The contributors provide insights into policy making in the fields of education and multimedia, educational practices related to the use of multimedia and wider processes of technical change. Accessible in style, the book will appeal to researchers and policy makers alike and will be of particular relevance to those interested in education, media, science and technology.@en

Evaluations of multimedia projects have contributed little towards multimedia innofusion in the education sector. One plausible explanation is that most evaluations focus on the way projects are managed ('withinproject- level' focus). This teaches us little about innofusion processes. It is more relevant in this respect to evaluate in what manner project-related innofusion of multimedia occurs within the institution ('at-project-level' focus). In this chapter the 'at-project-level' focus is applied to a multimedia project in a faculty. The project drifts within the faculty. It changes meaning and locus several times until it becomes associated with a specific course. Meanwhile different actors become involved. The network of actors expands, implodes and re-emerges around a new nucleus. Most actors, notably teachers, are intermediary multimedia users and producers combined. The case illustrates that innofusion of multimedia occurs along lines of use as well as production. Several mechanisms are noted which have propelled faculty-wide innofusion. The most salient example is the project's drifting. Usually, such a project would be criticised for lack of project control. This study concludes, however, that project control need not benefit multimedia innofusion. It may hamper innofusion.@en

In this case, a hypermedia programme is used for a new visual culture course. The course has two aims. Students are to learn how war is represented in different visual media (e.g. photography and television), and they are to learn how to do research in a non-linear way. The use of hypermedia software is a means to make explicit the process of non-linear structuring of research data. The software is new to all concerned. Special about this course is that the two teachers treat hypermedia use as an experiment. They do not define a best practice beforehand. They seek diversified hypermedia use and therefore steer as little as possible. In this chapter I analyse their approach as an attempt to sustain and exploit the interpretative flexibility of hypermedia use. It is an attempt to postpone closure, which is a main ingredient of diversification experiments. It proves difficult for teachers not to give any pointers at all for the use of hypermedia for non-linear research. They partly succeed. At times, the lack of guidance frustrates students. The students' capacities of homecomputer user and experienced learner affect their hypermedia use in the course. In particular during the first weeks, these influences sometimes come into conflict with the course requirements. Some hypermedia uses are constrained by the software. In certain cases students find ways to work around these constraints. Unexpected hypermedia uses develop. Although there is no material to compare with, postponement of closure appears to encourage new uses. Furthermore, it requires frequent reflection on the use of hypermedia for non-linear research. The experiment has led to intense learning by students as well as teachers.@en

Standardization research is a fairly new and is a still-evolving field of research, with possibly major practical ramifications. This article presents a summary of the authors' subjective views of the most pressing research topics in the field. These include, among others, standards (e.g. incorporation of ethical issues), the potential impact of standards, the corporate management of standardization and legal issues like Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). In addition, gaps have been identified with a respect to a basic understanding of standardization, suggesting a need for better education in the field.@en