THE STORY OF THE PENCIL includes real or literal occurrences to which anyone

can relate Example: The Plant Sower

by Paulo Coelho

The Grandchild was looking at his grandma writing for a Uses of Multimedia and its Formats
letter.
There are many uses of multimedia for a deeper
Suddenly he asked: “Are you writing a story about us? Is it understanding of a lesson. Audiobooks are ideal for
by chance a story about me?”. The grandma stopped second-language learners. Song files and music videos
writing, smiled and said to her grandchild: “Indeed I am can be used to compare social norms in different eras.
writing about you, however more important than the words Multimedia can offer students a better understanding
is the pencil I am using. “I hope you will be like this pencil of the lesson.
when you grow up”. The child, looked at the pencil
curiously, but could not see anything special. “But . . . it is The multimedia formats from various media includes:
exactly the same as every other pencil I saw in my life”. “It text and graphics for slideshows, presentations,
is all in the way you look at things. There are five qualities in diagrams and infographics. Audio has podcasts and
that pencil that, if you will be able to maintain, will make recordings. Screen captures, lecture captures and
you a man in peace with the whole world.
animation are examples of video components of
First quality: you can make big things, but never forget that multimedia. Other multimedia components include
there is a hand guiding your steps. This hand we call it God, blogs, vlogs, webinars and other interactive content.
and he will always have to address you towards his will.
Multimedia applications include the interaction of
Second quality: sometimes I have to stop writing and different media types like animation, video, text and
use a sharpener. This makes the pencil suffer a little, sound. It has become a part of our lives as soon as we
but at the end it will be sharper. So, learn to bear a entered the digital age. Before the modern
little pain because it will make you a better man. technology, there are tools helping us appreciate
some of the types of multimedia such as videos on
Third Quality: the pencil always allows us to use an
television. There are various components of
eraser to cancel mistakes. Understand that correct
multimedia such as:
something we did is not necessarily a bad thing, but
something fundamental to keep us on the right path. 1. Videos- Digital video is a primary component in
multimedia, especially those that appear online and
Fourth quality: what is really important in the pencil
on television. The different formats of these types of
is not the wood or the shape, but the lead that is
multimedia include wmv, avi, mped and flash. Some
inside. So, be always careful of what happens inside of
of these formats are better than others because they
yourself.
load faster and can be viewed or loaded using
At the end, the fifth quality is: always leave a sign. In different platforms and operating systems. Many
any case, be aware that everything you do in your life videos have changed formats ever since the mobile
will leave trails; try to be conscious of every single phone industry became more advanced in technology.
action Many of the video formats require plug-ins on
browsers and specific mobile applications to load.
Here is a list of multimedia formats:

FABLE

a brief story illustrating a moral or revealing general

truths about human nature often includes talking
animals or animated objects as the principal
characters

Example: The Ants and the Grasshopper

PARABLE

a short story designed to allegoricallly teach some

religious principle, moral lesson, or general truths
2. Animation D. Benefits of Using Multimedia

Animation is a form of art for most people, especially those

• Digital storytelling allows students to improve
that are in the business of producing animated movies.
their knowledge about a specific subject and
Right now, animation has become interactive, allowing
users to directly affect the outcome of animated increases skills such as writing, researching
components and events. Flash is the most common and reading.
platform for animation, and using this component, the
interactivity of animation is enhanced. • Using multimedia improve a learner’s overall
academic performance. In particular,
3. Text multimedia in the classroom is used for self-
Text has always been and will always been the most directed learning or SDL.
common among the types of multimedia components in
different applications. Text in combination with other • Students manage their time and assess what
media components can make any application more user- needs to be included in their learning
friendly. By using text, interactivity is increased. Text activities. This style of learning is used mostly
elements are particularly important for accessibility with older students who already know how to
purposes. Users of an application need to input text for the manipulate many of the multimedia venues
system to identify them. available to them.

Text is also used to create a digital signature, such as in B. Information and Communication
passwords. Technology or ICT

4. Images Information and communications technology (ICT)

refers to all the technology used to handle
Digital image files are needed to create videos and telecommunications, broadcast media, intelligent building
animation. A user would sooner go to a website filled with management systems, audiovisual processing and
colourful photographs than one that contains only text transmission systems, and network-based control and
elements. Familiar image formats include jpeg and png. monitoring functions. ICT is often considered an extended
These formats permit editing. Images are created by synonym for information technology (IT).
graphic designers using various software
ICT skills are about understanding and applying a range of
5.Audio computer programs, software and other applications.
These include: word processing, spreadsheets,
Voiceovers comprise a tremendous number of
databasespowerpoints and search engines
the types of multimedia components. Audio files include
background music and special effects. Any audio in an
application is designed to improve a user’s experience.
ICT skills are being manifested if you can do the
following:

• encode your document; bring out your best writing

Characteristics of multimedia using MS Word- word processor

• Multimedia can be used in the presentations,

• manipulate numbers and data for computation;
making them more fun and
discover and connect to data, analysis using MS
Excel – number processor
• A multimedia presentation has various
viewing options such as projector or a media
• generate slides for presentation; design
player and the like.
professional presentations using MS PowerPoint –
• You can also download the multimedia slide presentation
presentation or play it live.
• The technology of multimedia can also be • create everything from labels to newswriting and
used to make the information be conveyed marketing materials using MS Publisher
more easily to the user.
• Multimedia technology has improved the • Copy(Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) any items from
learning experience by combining various internet – images, video clips, music and be able to
forms of media together.
embed them in your outputs
 • CITE SOURCE(s) on any imported images, video This includes the monitor, hard drive, memory and
clips, music ---to avoid plagiarism the CPU. Hardware works hand-in-hand with
firmware and software to make a computer function.
• Manage browsing websites Hardware is only one part of a computer system;
there is also firmware, which is embedded into the
• Save any files with appropriate file formats hardware and directly controls it.

• Associate yourself as a Techie person (one who has

smart and clever ways of manipulating computer
• Digital Transactions can be broadly defined as
and other related-gadgets)
online or automated transactions that take place
between people and organizations—without the use
D. Components of ICT of paper. Digital transactions save time and money,
The term Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resulting in a better bottom line. Customer
is generally accepted to mean all technologies that, experiences are also enhanced (think of the
combined, allow people and organizations to interact in the convenience of eSigning versus having to print a
digital world. contract, sign it, and then return it by mail or fax).
And digital transactions improve tracking capabilities
Components of ICT —which helps reduce errors.

• Cloud computing – The term is generally used to

describe data centers available to many users over • Digital Data is data that represents other forms of
the Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often data using specific machine language systems that
have functions distributed over multiple locations can be interpreted by various technologies. The most
from central servers. If the connection to the user is fundamental of these systems is a binary system,
relatively close, it may be designated an edge server. which simply stores complex audio, video or text
Clouds may be limited to a single organization information in a series of binary characters,
(enterprise clouds), be available to many traditionally ones and zeros, or «on» and «off»
organizations (public cloud) or a combination of both values.
(hybrid cloud). The largest public cloud is Amazon
AWS .

• Internet access is the process of connecting to the

internet using personal computers, laptops or mobile
• Software is a set of instructions, data or programs devices by users or enterprises. Internet access is
used to operate computers and execute specific subject to data signalling rates and users could be
tasks. Opposite of hardware, which describes the connected at different internet speeds. Internet
physical aspects of a computer, software is a generic access enables individuals or organizations to avail
term used to refer to applications, scripts and internet services/web-based services. The internet
programs that run on a device. Software can be began to gain popularity with dial-up internet access.
thought of as the variable part of a computer and In a relatively short time, internet access
hardware the invariable part. Software is often technologies changed, providing faster and more
divided into application software, or user reliable options. Currently, broadband technologies
downloaded programs that fulfil a want or need, and such as cable internet and ADSL are the most widely
system software, which includes operating systems used methods for internet access.
and any program that supports application software.

• Hardware – in the context of technology, refers to

the physical elements that make up a computer or
electronic system and everything else involved that is
physically tangible.
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