Designing Multimedia for Ecological Tourism in an Educational Setting.

This paper describes the development process of multimedia software designed to educate and provide awareness of ecotourism in Costa Rica. Ecotourism is a form of nature-based travel and recreational experience combining a respect for nature and local cultures with economic development incentives. The software intends to pursue the goals of ecotourism by presenting an alternative method of traveling; it provides a sustainable and entertaining alternative to direct visits. Additionally, it offers training prior to departure by presenting background reference readings, videos, and "dos and don'ts" lists. Created during a hypermedia development course, the multimedia software, "Ecotourism on a Computer Screen: Ecotourism in Costa Rica," incorporates stills, graphics, videos and sound clips. The paper also details lessons experienced in the development of the software. Successful and unsuccessful techniques are described. Many of these procedures are repeatable, while several others should be avoided or implemented differently. In order to provide some useful hints for multimedia development both at the storyboard and programming levels, these alternatives are evaluated. Suggestions for facilitating a semester-long multimedia project are added. Future work includes developing a framework to test the effectiveness of multimedia software for ecotourism. Eight figures present sample screens. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/AEF)