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Why Stream?
Streaming can be used to make audio and visual materials available to your students on the Web.
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Do you audio or videotape your lectures?
These tapes can be made available on the web as streaming files. -
Do you show videotapes?
To a degree, these can be made available- although at much lower quality and smaller frame size. Copyright laws also may prohibit commercial videotapes from being streamed. -
Do you use PowerPoint slides?
You can create slideshows that are synchronized to an audio track.
Streaming media may be used to:
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Illustrate and explain concepts
- Demonstrate a skill or task
- Enhance understanding of content by utilizing sound and motion
- Supplement class materials with audio and/or video presentations to engage different learning styles
- Act as a primary instructional source in distributed (distance) learning, such as audio or video lectures on the Web.
What type of course materials can be streamed?
| Media | Course Material Type |
|---|---|
| Audio | with graphics or images |
| Video | with text |
| with images and text |
Uses of audio in instruction can include...
- On-line lectures, music, speeches, foreign language, recorded interviews, narration, stories, sound clips of events, sounds in nature and the use of sounds to learn, such as a medical diagnosis.
- Streaming audio can also make authentic language materials available to students.
Video in instruction can convey...
- Sight, sound, motion, time, and space.
- Uses of video may include video clips of events (historical or live), on-line demonstrations, visual representations, or time lapse motion.
- Course materials that involve motion or dynamic interaction work well with streaming video.
Is video necessary?
While it's attractive to consider using video, ask yourself if it's really necessary. Video requires a high level of production skill and resources.
Consider other ways to present dynamic instructional materials on the Web. For example:
- Audio alone, or still images sequenced to the audio track, uses less bandwidth and may result in a more reliable method of presentation.
- Animations can also be used in place of video. They can be created with tools, such as Macromedia Flash or Shockwave. These animations can also be synchronized with streaming audio files.
