Richard Caladine

Rich Media Technologies

This chapter reports the outcomes of a two-year project investigating the implementation of rich media technologies in higher education in Australian universities. Rich media technologies are described as the range of synchronous and asynchronous videoconferencing technologies that facilitate interactive communication between users who can see, hear, and interact with multiple communication streams. The investigation used a taxonomic approach to define which technologies could be included in the “rich media” category and established a website providing access to professional development resources and case studies demonstrating effective practice as well as scanning the higher education sector nationally and internationally for exemplars of policy and practice that could inform future implementations. It found that rich media technologies have the potential to be lighthouse technologies for reducing costs and environmental footprints across the higher education sector while improving the efficiency of administration and research as innovations in pedagogy for learning and teaching emerge. Surprisingly however, our research indicated that rich media technologies are sinking into the wash of the e-learning tide in Australian higher education, rather than cresting the wave of the social communication software swell, primarily due to lack of coherent policy and planning within the sector. They have not maintained their status as lighthouse technologies because their capability in a digital world is not well understood by managers and others beyond a small number of videoconferencing enthusiasts.