Streaming Media - December 2007/January 2008 - (Page 39) and it plays every time, even streaming progressive download. I’m a big fan of up-and-coming Flash.” According to Morris, students want to be able to watch and listen to lectures on PDAs and iPods, so Morris and his team have been working to deliver that for them. “Of course, they would love to have this stuff in iTunes or in MP3. We have a lot of students who listen to lectures during commutes in auxiliary ways, and that’s one of the real benefits in academia to be able to capture a lecture or content to make it available for on-demand playing,” he says. Riismandel says his students don’t want to deal with codecs or players. They just want it to work without too much effort. “They want an embedded player where they don’t have [to] think too hard about the player or plug-in or codec. We have a fair number of Mac users, and Windows Media becomes a problem. You have to use the WMV plug-in for QuickTime, and that becomes a stopper for many users. Vice-versa, Windows users don’t have QuickTime installed.” To resolve this, Riismandel says he may encode the video in a variety of formats. He says that he doesn’t get a lot of direct feedback from students, but when he does, it is often complaints about the university’s approach to video delivery, which is generally out of his control. “The complaints we hear more often have to do with access. For instance, some of our content is streamed only due to copyright reasons or instructor desire. They don’t want people downloading. So inevitably we’ll get complaint emails from students in these courses saying, ‘I hate using Real Player or I hate using Windows Media Player. Why can’t I just download it?’ We have to explain the department chose not to take that option. This was a choice. This [is] not just something we are too stupid to do.” Students also complain at the end of the semester or exam time when there is a heavy drain on bandwidth as every student is trying to access the video at the same time. Riismandel says this is due more to broadband issues—everyone in an apartment building trying to view video the night before an exam—than anything he can control on his end. Do They Have Faculty Buy-In? Just because you offer video doesn’t mean professors are ready or willing to use video either as part of the curriculum or as a supplement. As you would expect, there are various levels of buy-in, which tend to break along generational lines with younger professors more willing to use video than their older counterparts. Morris reports that about 150–200 out of 700 full-time professors make use of Drexel’s services. This The Tools, Technology & Services for Interactive Internet Broadcasting. TalkPoint is the industry leader in the production of large, live, Internet broadcasts. Whether you want to do it yourself, or need a little help, we have the expertise to make it happen. Our standards-based approach to Webcasting ensures your presentation will reach everyone in your audience every time. No matter what type of events you are looking to deliver. Continuing Education, Webinars, Corporate Communications, Product Launches, Simulcasts Interactive Internet Broadcasting WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM 39 http://www.talkpoint.com http://www.talkpoint.com http://WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM
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