HyperInternet® - an Introduction
Multimedia writing has been a goal for many students and staff in classrooms for the past few years, but the focus in education is now shifting due to an increased awareness of the global implications of creating and sharing information via networks. Allowing staff and students to incorporate live Internet resources within their reports and presentations is a logical next step for true multimedia writing. Electronic publishing has continued to evolve over the years - from the lowly graphic screens on the first Apple IIs up to the present, where high powered RISC processors allow full-motion 3D rendering for the most realistic computer-generated images available. Desktop publishing and word processing continue as a viable medium for staff and students to express their ideas. Videodisc technology has not taken over the classrooms. CD-ROM is rapidly becoming a standard on all computers with full-motion, MPEG2 video coming soon. How has all of this affected the typical classroom teacher and students? It's put a tremendous amount of pressure on staff to try to stay current with the wide variety of software available to handle these options and students have been victim to not being allowed to use the full breadth of information sources in their classroom reports due to a perceived lack of software that allows the true integration of these varied sources.

The process of multimedia writing has not decreased in complexity since the first slide shows. While it's true that you no longer have to be a BASIC programmer to display graphics on the screen, nor do you have to be a HyperTalk or Lingo master to make connection sequences (buttons), the software of today requires a great deal more planning for proper use of available options. Even though it's easier to do most tasks with today's software when compared to the techniques of even five years ago, the number of tasks that the software is capable of doing has increased to the point where much time is spent learning the software rather than concentrating on content. Add to that fact that many schools are now offering Internet access for information and you've just introduced the variable that might push electronic publishing back to a single dimension - the print medium.

How does the above fit in with the notion of HyperInternet® (or Intermedia if you'd rather)? First, the idea that staff and students should be constrained to single sources of electronic media should be long gone, even in desktop publishing. In other words, why restrict a student or staff member to using only sounds or graphics that come with a program; why restrict them to only CD-ROM resources; why restrict them to only textual telecommunications data? If the software you and your students use to create electronic publications doesn't allow for the easy integration of multiple file formats, perhaps you should consider a different package. Second, data coming from CD-ROMs, digital cameras, scanners, videodiscs, software clip art and sounds is, by its nature, static. The data won't change so the publication will always keep its original content - even if it's meant to be a "living" document. HyperInternet is the process of creating electronic publications that can change as the information referenced changes. The process also must allow for the use of file formats common to the Internet. The Internet, whether using material created locally or from a remote site, gives us the opportunity to finally publish information electronically using a moving target. HyperInternet® simply involves the creation of electronic publications where data of almost any format can be integrated and links can be made locally, remotely and globally. This session will demonstrate how all of that can happen in a straightforward, easy to use and teach method with the software package HyperStudio®. First, we need to consider the wide variety of data formats that the Internet has to offer, then we'll look at three distinctly different methods in which HyperStudio¬ allows us to access Internet resources.

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