It's time to tap the pedagogical potential of the new malleable, or editable, media.

New technologies of the last two decades are altering the way we communicate, express ourselves, and learn. Computers, telecommunications systems, satellites, optical disks, and others store and transmit information digitally rather than on film, paper, or tape.

The new media created by these technologies are radically different from previous communications media in two key ways:

• Media recorded and stored digitally remain malleable, or editable. They are not fixed media; you can alter them. For example, a photo taken with film is hard to change. A photo taken with a digital camera is infinitely changeable.
• A single tool - the computer - can be used to record, store, and manipulate a variety of representations for information (text, sound, graphics, audio, video, animation, etc.).

Let us explore these key differences.