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Web Casting - The Future of Online Education

by: Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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Despite the communications power of the Internet, nothing
beats good old human interaction when it comes to learning
a new skill.

You can always read a book, listen to a tape, or watch a
video to learn how to do something, but, in the end,
learning from a live teacher who can answer your questions
on the spot works best.

Until recently, the Internet resembled a large "book" of
electronic text and pictures where any extended "human"
interactivity could only take place offline by tele-
conference or in-person meetings.

Now, however, the appearance of cheap "web casting" creates
an inexpensive opportunity for mass interactive
communication between people spread all over the world.

"Web casting" (broadcasting through the web) enables a
presenter to transmit a live presentation over the Internet
to as many as 10,000 participants.

For most online events, participants only need an Internet
connection through a standard phone line and audio
speakers.

In the post-9/11 era, people simply don't like to travel as
frequently. The meal and hotel costs associated with
attending seminars or other adult education events make it
even harder to attract a full audience.

However, with web casting, you can pull together a large
group of people from around the world at a specific time on
a given day, teach them something, and then let them all
get back to their lives without the traditional
interruptions and expenses of travel.

Web casting enables you to literally present just about any
type of information or educational material you want.

You can do everything from a simple "radio" type
presentation where people passively listen, to a multimedia
presentation complete with Power Point slides and live
tours of actual websites.

At this point, imagination seems to represent the only
limitation as far as what you can do to teach people
through the Internet using this technology.

Currently, large corporations and independent speakers and
entrepreneurs seem to represent the majority of web casting
users.

I believe this comes from the fact that people simply don't
know about it yet and don't understand how to use it.

Once that changes, web casting will go a long way towards
replacing tele-conferencing as the preferred means of long-
distance education.

In the future, as costs decrease even further, you will
find people using web casting for everything from online
family reunions and sales presentations, to home-based
cooking shows and pay-per-view seminars. As the technology
improves, the potential uses will skyrocket.

As with any new technology, a few drawbacks exist.

Though web casting works with modem speeds as low as 28K,
no one standard has emerged for broadcasting content.

Some services require Real Player, while others require
Microsoft's media player, and, as usual, Mac users often
get left out in the cold without any options.

Right now, search engine giant Google.com rates the best
source of information on how to offer your own web cast.
Simply log on to Google, search for "webcast," and
investigate the ever-growing number of available resources.

About the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to
use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted
visitors to your website or affiliate links...

Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
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How Video can be used Effectively Online

A powerful way to convey your communication messages to your audience is to be able to have your promotional video available on your website.

Yet, we have probably all experienced visiting a website and clicking on a video only to have to been irritated that the content is not viewable or that the sound is inaudible. The result is we leave the website in frustration.

So how do you make sure the video content on your website can be watched by your audience? It all boils down to how you want your viewers to access your video file and the level of video quality you want your movie to be played at.

There are two different ways of sharing your video file on the web:

1. Streamable Video

This is where the viewer is able to download sections of your video (otherwise known as "streaming"), while the video is playing. The main benefit of this method is that the user does not have to spend time downloading the complete video before viewing.

There are three major streaming video formats ? RealVideo (RM), QuickTime (MOV) and Windows Media (WMV). These are playable on Real Player, QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player respectively. Windows Media Player is widely available on most PC's, as it is part of Windows Operating System. The other players need to be installed.

The only negative with streamable video is that the quality of the video is dependent upon Internet connection. In addition, it has the annoying habit of dropping video frames because the streaming software has to adjust the data rate based on the speed of your Internet connection, in order to keep playing the video.

2. Download and Play

This is where the viewer needs to download the entire video first, then play it on their video player application. The main advantage is that the video quality is not affected by Internet connection speed.

However, it can take some time for the video to download if the file is large.

So which format do you choose?

In a world where first impressions always count, it is extremely important for companies to appear professional and trustworthy at all times. Marketing videos with poor picture quality are likely to reflect a poor quality company in the mind of the viewer. Consequently, we always recommend the download and play option. This is because it allows for high quality video content to be viewed.

However, as you don't want viewers to give up on downloading your video, we only recommend that short video clips are inserted onto your website.

This means your website users will be able to download a short video at a high quality picture resolution that will portray your company in the best possible way.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au.

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How Video can be used Effectively Online