Viewing Streaming Video in myWPI

Courses containing video are streamed using one of two players: Windows Media Player or Quicktime. It is recommended that you download and install both players prior to beginning a course so that you can troubleshoot any technical problems in advance.

Download Windows Media Player
Download Quicktime

How do I know which player to use?

Course videos are streamed in myWPI in such a way that your computer should know which player to run. However, the four screenshots below can help you determine which player is necessary. Click the screenshot that best matches the content you are trying to view for play information.

Windows Media Player file	QuickTime Player file

Recorded Lectures - Windows Media Player file	Recorded Lectures - Windows Media Player file

Watch a Windows Media Player Video Embedded in myWPI

To watch a Windows Media Player video from within myWPI, you can use the player controls. Use the Play button to play the video. While the video is playing the Play button becomes a Pause button. You can toggle between Play and Pause while watching the video. Use the Stop button to stop the video completely. You can also use the Rewind and Fast Forward buttons or the "pill shaped" Seek bar ("") to navigate through the video.

Open a Video in Windows Media Player

This option opens the video directly Windows Media Player. This option allows you to use all of the features of Windows Media Player software, such as resizing the video or playing it full screen.

Download a Video to Your Computer

To download the video to your computer "right-click" on the Download link above the video and choose Save Target As... or Save File As... from the drop-down list. Then, navigate to the location on your computer where you would like to save the file and hit save. The file can then be viewed from your computer or burned to a CD etc.

If you do not see a download link, your instructor has disabled this option, or there may be another restriction that prevents downloading, such as a copyright restriction.

Watch a Quicktime Player Video Embedded in myWPI

Multimedia files that use Quicktime are added to myWPI sites using a Podcast tool. You will recognize these files by the orange speaker icon that is represented next to the item in myWPI. These files require a Quicktime Player on your computer, which is available as a free download.

To view a podcast episode in a course content area, click on the link for the episode. The link may say watch, listen, play, or open, depending on the type of file that is linked. Attached supporting material is also linked, as shown in the example below.

You can also download the media file directly to your computer by right clicking on watch, listen, play, or open and selecting Save Target As.

Accessing Podcast Episodes in the Course Tools Area

When a podcast episode is added to a content area, it automatically appears in the Podcast tool within the Tools area of the course and can be accessed there in addition to the content area where it was added.

Go to Course Tools > Podcast.

The Podcast page appears.
Click on an episode title to play the episode, or click Play All to play all of the episodes.

Subscribing to a Podcast

If RSS feeds have been abled for the course podcast, all users in the course can subscribe to the podcast and receive the podcasts through their podcast aggregator or podcatcher, such as iTunes.

Go to Course Tools > Podcast.
If you use iTunes, click the iTunes button. iTunes will be launched and a subscription to the course podcast will be added, completing the subscription process for iTunes.

If you use a podcast aggregator other than iTunes, right-click on the RSS button.
Select the Copy Shortcut option if using Internet Explorer or the Copy Link Location option if using Firefox.
Open your podcast aggregator application and past the copied link in the appropriate location for the application.

Watch a Recorded Lecture in Windows Media Player

To watch a recorded lecture, click the link in your class myWPI site that looks similar to this:

You will be brought to a page that displays all the recorded lectures for the course in reverse-chronological order. The older lectures will be towards the bottom of the page while the newer lectures will be displayed towards the top. To view the recording, click the View Lecture link.

Note

Lecture Recordings play the best in Internet Explorer 6.x or later browsers.

Recorded Lectures will open in a new browser window. In Internet Explorer, the professor or instructor video will be displayed on the left. The content recordings will be displayed in a larger video on the right. In Firefox, the two recordings will open in two seperate windows. Once you are viewing a recording, you can jump around in it by selecting the link for Thumbnail View. The Thumbnail view will open in a new browser window.

Maintained by itweb@wpi.edu
Last modified: Aug 30, 2007, 13:51 EDT