Who needs streaming media?


In fact, it always has been possible to obtain high-quality video over the Internet, if you are prepared to wait for the video file to download. You click on the link and then sit back and wait. And then wait some more. If learners had plenty of time at their disposal and weren’t likely to lose their attention during the downloads, and if pigs could fly, then this method might just work. In the real world you need media that plays as near as possible to immediately, engages the learner and keeps them that way. That’s how streaming helps.

Streaming is the transmission of synchronised video, audio and graphics over the Internet or intranets, not on a ‘download now, play later’ basis, but in real-time. After the few seconds required for buffering, the media plays continuously for as long as the clip lasts, whether that’s less than a minute or for hours on end. Streaming not only removes the wait from watching video, it also provides you with the option of seeing events live, as they happen, which is perfect for sports or important news.

Streaming also provides an important benefit for network administrators. When video is downloaded normally, all available bandwidth is utilised, potentially clogging the whole network. With streaming video, only the amount of bandwidth allocated in advance is deployed, meaning no nasty surprises. What IT people will be less pleased about is that there is still a standards war going on, with three main competing formats. The contenders are RealNetworks, Apple and Microsoft (so no trouble picking the eventual winner there then), each of whom provides a streaming media server and provides playback through their own player – RealPlayer, QuickTime Player or Microsoft Media Player. This is no problem if you’re streaming to a defined audience all using the same player, but if you’re publishing to the Internet, you may have to provide each file in more than one format.

Trainers aren’t worried about formats and nor are learners; the issue for them is the quality of the learning experience. Video not only engages the senses, it has the ability to depict real-world events more powerfully than simple text and graphics. It may not be essential to all training but video certainly broadens the scope of what’s possible. If streaming technologies can help us to add video to the e-learning mix, then we’re moving in the right direction.




E-Learning's Greatest Hits
E-learnings Greatest Hits
ISBN: 0954590406
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 198

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