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Advantages and
Disadvantages of Different Types of Teaching Media that can be used in a
Teleclassroom or on the Web
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Medium
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Advantages
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Disadvantages
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Web
(HTML)
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- widespread ease of
access
- easily modified
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- seldom optimized for
printing
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|
Print
document format (PDF)
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- retains precise
formatting
- easier to print than
html
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- takes a little time to
open Acrobat Player
|
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Web
Browser w/Multimedia Plug-ins
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- wide variety of media
- browsers and plugins
are free
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- bandwidth limitations
- may require
hardware/operating system upgrades
|
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RealMedia
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- large files start to
play (stream) before entire file downloaded
- players are free
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- need streaming server
to host
- quality limited by
bandwidth
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QuickTime
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Windows
Media
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|
Handwritten
Lecture Notes with Document Camera
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- quick and easy for
instructor
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- writing may be
illegible
- notes not available to
students
|
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Flash
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- optimized for Web
- streaming multimedia
- 98% of browsers already
have Flash plug-in
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- requires periodic
updates of Flash plug-in
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Authorware
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- very sophisticated
interactive multimedia capabilities
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- requires browser
plug-in
- for larger file sizes,
may need to be distributed on CD-ROM or DVD
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Director
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Interactive
CD-ROM
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- good for large media
files
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- requires physical
distribution
- updates require new CD
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DVD
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- good for large media
files
- interactive
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- requires physical
distribution
- need DVD player
|
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MP3
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- Web-based distribution
- can be streamed
- good compression
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- requires significant
processor power
|
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VHS
Videotape
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- better quality than
most video streams
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- requires physical
distribution
- linear format
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Photos,
35 mm Slides
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- can be converted to
video format
- can be organized in
image database (WebCT), or Web-based "slide show"
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- Web delivery of high
resolution images is slow on modem connections
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PowerPoint
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- can be good for
teleclassroom presentation
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- awkward or not
optimized for Web delivery
- requires optimization
(font style size) for video display
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Word
Processing Software (Word)
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- quick and easy for
instructor
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- requires optimization
(font style size, etc.) for video display
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Excel
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- quick and easy for
instructor
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- requires optimization
(font style, size, etc.) for video display
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Photos,
Books, or Printed Materials
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- quick and easy for
instructor
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- requires document
camera, or scanning/digitizing
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