Guidelines for developing interactive multimedia. Applications in nurse education

In an environment of increasing economic constraint, it is necessary for nurse educators to design and implement cost-effective teaching and learning strategies. Computer-based interactive multimedia applications in education have been touted as a cost- and time-effective method of providing a dynamic, information rich, learning environment. Given the profusion of this type of media in the general marketplace, an increasing number of educators are now wishing to develop specific computerized multimedia applications for use in nurse education. Accounts of a number of such developments exist in the literature. However, there is a dearth of literature outlining the processes involved in interactive multimedia production. It would, therefore, appear timely to address issues related to multimedia development. Based on the author's experiences, this article will offer a number of practical suggestions for the development of interactive multimedia applications in nursing education.