Streaming video in the classroom

Occasionally, faculty at my university will contact me to request videos to use in their classes. They want to provide students with a learning opportunity that's a little different from the usual lecture or discussion format, and they are generally quite pleased if I can locate titles that work well with their course content.

One barrier has been that adjunct instructors need to request video titles well in advance because their classes are held off-campus, and the discs must be sent by mail from the library. And of course the videos have to be returned soon after the class, which can be inconvenient.

A recent addition to our library collection is streaming videos. Through a company called FMG, we now offer a several video titles, mainly in business and education, that can be viewed over the Web. An instructor can either stream the video through a projector during class, or assign students to view the video on their own computers outside of class. Faculty and students can see a list of available titles and get more information (such as video descriptions and running times) through our online catalog. The catalog record provides a direct link to view the title.

While the collection is still quite small, I'm glad we have found a better way to provide video resources to students who take classes off-campus or online.

I believe that universities that offer distance education programs really have to work to stay abreast of new technologies that will enable them to provide the same learning experiences for all students, regardless of location.


Photo: (CC) Kevin Stanchfield: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgt_spanky/3970722137/