How to Take a Web Lecture

Viewing a Web Lecture should be as easy as clicking on a link, but there are some preparations and decisions you'll need to make beforehand:

1. Viewing the video requires RealPlayer. If you don't have RealPlayer installed then you should do so now (it's free). Here's how:
   1. Go to the real.com download page at http://www.real.com/player/
   2. This page will encourage you to download RealPLayer Plus, for which there is a charge. You may do so if you wish. But to get the FREE player look for the link to RealPlayer Basic and follow that link.
   3. Fill in the form and press the button that says "Download FREE Realplayer 8 Basic". Unix users should follow the Unix link farther down the page to go to the "Community Supported RealPlayer" page.

2. You have the option of viewing the video either embeded in the web browser window or as a separate, detached window. Windows and Mac users can choose either to suit their tastes. Unix users will find that the slides don't advance with the embeded version, and so we recommend that

   Unix users should view the detached version of the video!

3. The link to each lecture should show you the time it will take to view the lecture. Be sure to set aside at least that much time (and probably a little bit more) so that you can view each lecture without interruptions.

4. Some Web Lectures can be viewed with QuickTime instead of or in addition to RealPlayer. If you don't have QuickTime installed then you can download it here.

   Please note though that we recommend the RealPlayer version if you have a choice, because it gives you more navigation options (you can change the slides independent of the video). Furthermore, the QuickTime version will probably not work with Unix.

5. When the lecturer used PowerPoint slides, a link may be available to allow you to download the PowerPoint slides separately. This gives you the option of printing a copy of the slides beforehand to help you follow along, or for later reference.

6. If you have a slow link the lecture may often pause for "Buffering". Suggestions for how to deal with this are given in the Problems page.

	For information: wlap@umich.edu
http://www.umich.edu/~wlap	Last modified: Mon 07 Jan 2002