Users follow links established by authors. Knowledge is distributed between links and nodes. Most educational multimedia use to the present has been of the knowledge presentation or especially the knowledge representation types. Nelson and Palumbo mention the need for multimedia authors to empower the user to be able to create their own links and other representations thus actively constructing their own knowledge. This knowledge construction is central to the thesis of this paper, learners should be able to engage in constructive mental activity when they encounter new information.
Multimedia can provide a vehicle for presentation of such newly constructed knowledge.
Several findings which have implications for the design of a multimedia program will now be presented. In technologically rich environments there is often a role reversal where teachers utilize student knowledge and expertise in the classroom. Classrooms that were lecture oriented tended to change into environments where the method of classroom instruction shifted to one of cooperative learning and peer tutoring. Teachers were able to see the benefits of the students as experts as a sense of teamwork developed in the classroom and peer mentoring developed. It was also shown that the infusion of large amounts of technology helped in instruction change as the atmosphere was one of one of expected change through the use of the new technologies.