FCM@MMU: content creation and multimedia design

The careful planning and emergence of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia has captivated regional and international attention. Its basic intention is meant to spearhead and heighten national interests towards the information technology (IT) sector, while addressing issues of a borderless nature. Thus, an important entity in the MSC is its Multimedia University (MMU), the showcase, higher-education establishment for multimedia education and research and development. The Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) at MMU has grown tremendously since 1997, and it provides higher education opportunities in multimedia design. Its blend of course content, making up of pre-production, production and post-production multimedia training, includes both face-to-face and ‘class online’ dissemination methods. As multimedia curriculum of this mixed nature is relatively new worldwide, FCM have so far been successful in providing both local and international multimedia industries its required knowledge workers, content developers and ‘cyberpreneurs’. This paper will review the structure, assessment methods and learning pedagogies of the faculty in multimedia design and development, highlighting how a faculty that endeavours to keep up with the latest leading-edge technology and Internet culture can provide a down-to-earth curriculum and level-headed content creators. The paper will also illustrate and discuss the faculty’s research and development centres together with its collaborating industries, as support for course and staff development.