Use Digital Video to Enhance Learning

Getting connected-existing and new users How to search-using the search tools Viewing Videos-downloading and streaming Playlists Learning tools Saving you downloaded videos to a CD Questions and answers Todays Agenda

Getting Connected To open United Streaming click on the icon on the teacher resources page of the library website.

To open United Streaming click on the icon in the application launcher window Getting Connected

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A1B2 C3D4 New users in each school building will need to know the unique 8-character Passcode that has been assigned to their school. When they enter the Passcode and click the Sign Up button, they will be taken to an account set-up screen. Note: Teacher Passcodes should be used for faculty accounts. Separate student Passcodes are used to generate accounts for student users in each school. User Passcodes

Central High School

You can use any of five different types of search tools to locate video clips, pictures from the Image Library, and supplemental resources and tutorials that are also posted on the website. User Tip: Because the unitedstreaming resources are varied and diverse, you should learn how to use all of the search tools in order to make the most effective use of the website. Search Tools

When you conduct a search, you will see a display of the search results like the one shown here. Titles will be listed alphabetically and sorted by topic. If the list of results is too long, you may want to refine your search terms or use another tool. New Feature: Search results now display full video titles, individual clips, and pictures from the Image Library. Click on the tabs to look at the resources that you need for your projects. Search Results

The Playlist feature is a powerful tool that allows you to maintain organized lists of clip titles that you can easily access when you are ready to stream or download videos. To add a clip to your own Playlist, just click on the a button in front of the appropriate clip title. When the Playlist window displays, you can choose to add the clip to your general list or create custom folders to match your units and projects. Playlist

The Image Library contains photographs, illustrations, and other digital images that can be used in multimedia projects and presentations. You can search the collection using keywords or you can browse the collection by category. When you see an image that meets your needs, click on the thumbnail to see the picture displayed in a special viewer. Image Library

Once the image is displayed in the viewer, you now have the option of downloading the image file in one of three resolutions. --Thumbnail: small images suitable for interactive buttons and hyperlinks --Low Resolution: Medium sized images designed to be used in screen presentations and web pages --High Resolution: High quality pictures that can be enlarged to reveal fine details Image Library

The Clip Art Gallery is one of the newer features on the unitedstreaming website and is designed to supplement the Image Library. You can use the clip art images to illustrate your documents and slide shows. You can also associate hyperlinks to any image to launch a video clip. When you see a clip art image that you want to insert in a project, click on the thumbnail to see the picture displayed in a special viewer.. Clip Art Gallery

The Writing Prompts section includes a collection of interesting photographs that have been selected to serve as the basis for a variety of writing assignments. When you click on the Writing Prompt button, you will see a larger version of the picture along with suggested focus questions. Users Tip: Start with this collection and then explore the entire Image Library for additional pictures for your composition assignments. Writing Prompts

The interactive calendar is a great way to locate and show video clips that relate to important events that occurred on specific dates in history such as political movements, scientific discoveries, and cultural achievements. To view a list of clips that pertain to the events of a specified date, just click on the appropriate day on the calendar interface. Note: You can also navigate to other months by clicking the Previous or Next links at the top of the calendar. Calendar

From the list titled Today in History, you can select individual video clips to preview or show to your students. The length of each clip is indicated following each title. When you click on a link to a video clip, you will see an interface with buttons for streaming and downloading the file. Many teachers view the calendar as an additional search tool that helps them to locate resources that they may have missed with the standard search tools. Calendar

Use the Quiz Center to create online quizzes and tests that are linked to selected video clips from the collection. You can start with a new file or modify any of the existing files in the quiz library to meet your needs. When you add you own instructions, references to the state standards addressed in the quiz, and links to selected clips, you can create an activity that you students can complete independently, even if they do not have unitedstreaming accounts. Quiz Center

Be sure to check the Learning Resources section of the website regularly for special Teacher Feature materials. These teaching modules include lesson plans, student handouts, and links to unitedstreaming videos that pertain to a specific unit of study or special event. Teacher Feature

There are three common ways that you can use downloaded video clips: Standalone files: Just double-click on the file icons to open the preferred media player to play the clips. Hyperlinks: Create hyperlinks in most standard applications to link words and pictures to video resources that you wish to add to your lessons. Embedded Video: Insert video clips directly into documents and slides and view the clips without using a media player. Hyperlinking In software applications like Word, PowerPoint, Inspiration, and many others, users can click on defined hyperlinks to view video clips with a specified media player.hyperlinks Embedded Video PowerPoint, AppleWorks, and Keynote are among the software products that allow you to embed video files right onto the pages and slides that you have created: Downloaded Clips

Saving Clips to a CD To insure that you will always have the clips that you have downloaded, they should be saved to a CD To burn your clips to a CD, you must use a Dell computer that has the sticker shown above. You must insert a blank CD into the drive before starting the burning process. Complete instructions can be found on the Teacher Resources and Mobile Technology page of the Library Website

Classroom presentations with LCD projectors Televisions with scan converters Computer labs Mobile carts with laptop computers Student stations and centers Libraries and Media Centers Implementation Models

Each minute of downloaded video will require about 1.8 Mb of storage space on hard drives or other storage media. A building with a dedicated T-1 line could accommodate 6 users streaming video with no buffering assuming no other users. Home users with 56k modems can easily search and use support materials; downloads are possible but will be slow. Windows Media Player (version 9) and Apple QuickTime Player (version 6) are recommended for best results. Minimum screen resolution should be set at 800 x 600; you will get better results if you set screen resolution at 1024 x 768. You may need to install updated codecs if the media player is not properly playing the audio or video components. Technology Information to Know Tech Tips