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UCAIug SharePoint Training > Video for Training > Low-cost video training  

Video for Training

Discussing options for training users with video.
  
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Started: 8/13/2009 3:27 PM by randy.rhodes
Low-cost video training
I've been updating the UCA training site recently. This week we installed a new video webpart on this site. Within 30 minutes we located three FREE Sharepoint add-ins that would play either Windows media files or .wmv PLUS Silverlight, Shockwave, and other formats. The first two didn't work, but the third one worked pretty well.
 
You can view items in the playlist at the bottom of the player where it has been installed. Click to view the page - then click on the sample item shown in the playlist at the bottom.
 
Note that whenever we use GotoMeeting for web conferencing, we can save the entire session into a Windows Media file format. The sample I uploaded is an impromptu recording of Chris Regan's explanation of how to configure the Knowledge Base roll-up web part...something we've been struggling to get functional for over a year now.
 
This is only a first-pass effort - we can improve this with time and effort. And - fortunately - it really doesn't take a whole lot of effort, since all of the tools are available now.
 
I'd like to recruit a few people to help out with this, and ultimately to contribute content. For example, a 30-minute tutorial on how to write use cases - or use CIMtool - or how to understand a particular section of the CIM...the list is endless. 
 
It is not difficult to produce screencasts with tools such as Techsmith's Camtasia. Most of the screencasts shown on my list of external tutorial videos were created with Camtasia.
 
I added alerts for a dozen or so friends of UCA and CIM. If you read this, please click through and reply with your thoughts. Also, I am planning to do a web conference in the next week for site owners and those who support various UCA sites. So I am hoping to get some thoughts from all of you. Thanks!
Posted: 8/13/2009 3:44 PM by ralph
Seems like a useful tool for playing back meeting presentations also (assuming that we record them of course). 
 
I'm not a big fan of video training because I find it takes too long. Most CBT programs that are not video allow me to quickly skip to parts of interest. It is harder for me to find the interesting part on a video.
It could be that I haven't yet come across the right video training materials.
Posted: 8/13/2009 3:59 PM by randy.rhodes
If you are hosting a GotoMeeting or GotoWebinar, there is a red Record button on your control panel. It saves to a .wmv file under My Documents on your PC as the conference progresses. You can stop recording and later resume, and it will append to the same file.
 
Some video webparts do allow immediate scrolling forward through the video. That makes it easy to eliminate what you don't care about. The webpart we used on the OSIsoft T&D user group site does that (although it doesn't seem to be functional at the moment, for me anyway). Those user videos have been converted from Windows media into Shockwave, which makes that feature possible.
 
Internally here at PacifiCorp we have been creating videos with Camtasia, exporting them to Shockwave, and posting them on PacifiCorp-hosted Sharepoint (MOSS, actually). These are mostly demonstrations of PI-related tools - in some cases an investigation of how particular users are using their software. It's working surprisingly well. Shockwave even plays back visually through the MeetingPlace web conferencing software we use here.
 
When we tested this earlier this week, Chris replayed the .wmv file while I was watching his screen through GotoMeeting and my viewing was uninterrupted by any video or audio delay. That was surprising - and pretty impressive. Of course we only had Chris, Kay and myself on the web conference together. Performance might suffer with more attendees.
 
There is a video provider out there on the web that lets viewers set bookmarks. I suspect the webparts we're looking at now may have that capability before too long.
 
The webpart we installed this week on the training site is described on the Amrein site.
Posted: 8/20/2009 12:30 PM by randy.rhodes
We added some introductory text to the UCA Tutorials page, and restored the Quick Launch to the left panel to make it easier for viewers.
 
 
This would be a good time to create a short demo or record a piece of a webconference or a webinar and upload it to this video library.
 
Let me know if anyone has a need to capture some knowledge or communicate to a group of people.