Meeting technical requirements is one of the most critical issues schools and districts face in considering video streaming. In fact, the biggest argument against allowing video streaming solutions into school districts has always been that there is insufficient bandwidth available.
First, it’s important to understand that interactive video requires significant dedicated bandwidth. This is because as streaming video is downloaded from the server (a process called buffering); it reserves memory on a client and uses it as a temporary holding location. Once enough of the file has been received by the player, playback begins. While the first section of the video is being played, the player continues to download the rest of the video from the server.
When a streaming session stops playback and begins the buffering process again, it is usually a sign that there is insufficient Internet bandwidth available to keep a continuous video playing. The background downloading can slow down or stop due to network congestion, lack of bandwidth available on the remote server the stream is coming from, or a slow computer not able to keep up with the process.
Provincial Learning Network (PLNet) upgrades would be necessary to facilitate large numbers of students simultaneously accessing streaming video over the Internet. There are, however, ways around the problem of low bandwidth.
While video streaming can require high bandwidth, there are solutions that do not require a boost in bandwidth. For example, a district or school could block video streaming protocols at a firewall level in order to limit the amount of total bandwidth being consumed. Internet-based solutions offer ways to restrict streaming/downloading during peak hours, and local host solutions store the same content at the district or school level if desired. Intranet-based solutions offer higher quality videos at a local level while not consuming bandwidth from the outside.
School districts should also consider that districts across BC have a wide variety of connections to each other and to the Internet. Some districts are connected by 100 Mbps fibre optic connections, while others are using 1.5 Mbps ADSL connections. In districts that have optimal infrastructures, a server at the district level would allow a more centralized deployment. This would make management of the single server easier and could be more cost effective than deploying a server to each school. Districts that do not have solid infrastructures, or are already near capacity on their wide area network (WAN) connections would be better off deploying a server at the school-level. This would put the streaming load on the internal local area network (LAN), which keeps all of the traffic inside the school.
Vendors provided ERAC with information about the training opportunities and technical support they provide.
In last fall’s review, ERAC's reviewers found that Discovery Education Streaming, CCC! Video on Demand, Learn 360, and MonD could each work in any school district if properly implemented. Available file formats include: Windows Media Video (.wmv), Advanced Streaming Format (.asf), Motion Picture Experts Group (.mpeg, .mpg), Apple QuickTime (.mov) and Flash video.flv.
Two of the services reviewed (MonD and CCC!) are local server-based solutions, and two (Discovery Education Streaming and Learn360) are Internet-based solutions. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. An optimal solution might be to purchase one of each, but that would probably be too expensive to be practical for most school districts.
