Video Streaming in Online Learning

Abstract

The use of video in teaching and learning is a common practice in education today. As learning online becomes more of a common practice in education, streaming video and audio will play a bigger role in delivering course materials to online learners. This form of technology brings courses alive by allowing online learners to use their visual and auditory senses to learn complex concepts and difficult procedures. This article offers an overview of using stream-ing video in the online educational environment and discusses the various formats of streaming media. The various hardware and software programs used to create streaming video are also examined along with the advantages and drawbacks of using streaming video in online instruc-tion. Finally, a discussion of how streaming video can be used in online instruction and its curricular applications are addressed. Instructional tools for delivering materials to learners have improved since the conception of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW or Web). Learners today have increasing access to instructional materials that have been traditionally distributed in the classroom. Materials such as lecture notes, communication tools, assignments, visual graphics, and so forth, are now easily obtainable through the Internet. In addition, the Internet can provide media-rich environments such as digital video (Garrison, 2001). Hartsell, T., & Yuen, S. (2006). Video streaming in online learning. AACE