The word multimedia has been with us since film strips and multiple screens, but the definition keeps expanding as new tools become more widely available due to lower costs and user-friendly designs. Surround sound, three-dimensional graphics, and even smells are all part of current "immersive" multimedia experiences, many of which can be created by today's students. Sound has become much more important, as have haptics (i.e., devices that allow for participation through specialized controllers that offer physical feedback). 

At the University of Southern California, the Annenburg Center for Communication gives special attention to multimedia studies, particularly through the Institute for Multimedia Literacy. The Institute promotes new ways of defining "literacy" in an age of information technology, and it seeks to establish an effective relationship between multimedia tools and the traditional media of the written and spoken word.    

[Modified from Prensky, M. (2003). Digital immigrant remedial vocabulary. Retrieved April 30, 2003, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Digital%20Immigrant%20Remedial%20Vocabulary.htm]