Forum LAMS for Tech-Heads - General Forum: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Using videos

By: Ernie Ghiglione

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Hi Daniel,

This week I've been doing some testing with video uploading in LAMS.

The requirements are quite intense:

* Teachers should be able to upload any type of video files (.flv, .wmv, .avi, .mov, .mp4, etc)
* The video files have to be played in learner according to the software/OS the students has.
* Videos have to be played in mobile devices (whenever possible).
* If LAMS server is on a private network (no internet access), then videos should be played/streamed from the LAMS server.

I was planning to have one and only one video service in LAMS, but with these requirements, it doesn't seem that really can do this.

Therefore my current thinking at the moment is that we will need two different "tools" to handle this and you would use one or the other according to your requirements.

For instance, the Kaltura Widget has its clear advantages: pretty much takes *any* video file you can think of, does codec conversion and provides a fantastic content delivery network for faster video streaming. It also can provide different players according to your browser and/or mobile device. However, as this is an online service, if you are on an intranet (as some schools are), then this simply does not work for you.

The movieplayer plugin we use (the one your teacher was struggling with) has disadvantages. The main one is that if the user does not have the appropriate video plugin installed in his/her computer, then this won't work. Unfortunately, in many cases to install these video plugins you need to have administrator rights and most computer labs at universities/schools won't allow the students to install any of that. But, the movieplayer can play files directly from the LAMS server. And if you are in a private intranet with no internet access, then this would work for you.

So I think we need to have some instructions on these pages that will help the teacher make the right decision about the player/video streaming engine they want to use. I'm pretty certain that some simple text on each of this plugins explaining the pros and cons of each will save a lot of time and frustration.

Let me know your comments (if any).

Thanks

Ernie

Posted by Ernie Ghiglione