Engineering Outreach Online Course Delivery FAQ

General Questions
What is this all about?
Are the online lectures the same as what is on the DVDs?
Will I still regularly receive DVDs in the mail?
How is the quality of the online lectures?
Do I need a broadband connection to download these lectures?
Is this "streaming video? Do I have to be online while I'm watching it?
What software is required to download and watch the lectures?
What file format are you using?
How large are these files? How long will they take to download?
Can I save these files on my computer if I want to refer back to them later?

Watching and Downloading Your Course Lectures
Where do I go to access the online lectures for my course?
I am having trouble logging into the online viewing and download site.
I see an error message or a blank screen when I try to watch a lecture in my web browser.
Windows Media Player is giving me an error message when I try to play back a lecture.
When I try watching the lecture in my web browser, the playback is jerky and keeps stopping.
I am taking a live class and I don't see the latest lecture from today posted online. Where is it?
I'm still having trouble. Who do I contact for technical support?

General Questions

Will I still regularly receive DVDs in the mail?
Yes. In addition to access to online lectures, you will still receive all your lectures on DVD. If you are taking a live course, you will receive a shipment each week. If you are taking a course that was produced in a previous semester, the DVDs will be sent in 2 or 3 shipments; depending on the semester. In the future, the DVDs may become optional.

How is the quality of the online lectures?
They are available at the same full resolution (640 x 480) as you will find on our DVDs. Because of data compression, there is a slight loss in quality, but we have chosen to offer relatively large high-quality files for you to download. The audio quality is virtually the same as on our DVDs. We offer all of our lectures at two different data rates:

• Standard quality, 640x480, 384 Kbps, about 120 MB per lecture
• High quality, 640x480, 1000 Kbps/sec, about 320 MB per lecture

Do I need a broadband connection to download these lectures?
Some form of broadband service is required. This would include cable, DSL, wireless, fiber, or other kinds of high-speed connections. Dial-up connections are not adequate.

Is this "streaming video"? Do I have to be online while I'm watching it?
No. Though you do have the option of watching the lecture while it is downloading (buffered, progressive download), the complete files may be saved to your hard drive and watched at any time later. In fact, we recommend downloading the files first as this will ensure trouble-free viewing if your internet connection is unstable. Our lectures are recorded as they are taught throughout the week on campus. Each lecture is then converted and posted online within 3 hours. You may watch or download it to your computer any time after that.

What software is required to download and watch the lectures?
You may download and watch them on a Windows, Mac, or Linux PC with at least a 2 GHz processor, at least 512MB of RAM, and a 64MB or higher video card. Our site is viewable with all major web browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Though many different media players will work, we recommend QuickTime or VLC Media Player. Both of these are freely available online.

What file format are you using?
Our lectures are encoded with the H.264 MPEG-4 codec. This is the same high-quality codec used by the iTunes video store, Amazon Unbox, and many online television sites (ABC, CBS, etc.).

How large are these files? How long will they take to download?
An average 50-minute lecture will be a 120 MB file at our standard data rate and 320 MBs at our high-quality data rate. The average consumer broadband connection should be able to download our standard rate lectures in less than one hour. Your results will vary depending on your connection speed and distance from our network.

Can I save these files on my computer if I want to refer back to them later?
You may save the files to your PC or to any kind of external media, such as a removable hard drive or memory card. To archive an entire semester's course at the standard data rate will require 5-6 gigabytes of storage. Saving an entire set of lectures at the high-quality data rate will require 14-16 gigabytes of storage.

Is there an RSS feed available or any way to subscribe to my lectures?
Yes. An RSS feed is available for each student. You can use iTunes or any similar feed reader to subscribe to your course as a podcast. This will allow your computer to automatically download new lectures as they are posted during the week. The RSS feed is https://outreach.engr.uidaho.edu/videofeeds/secure/podcast.aspx. It will require the same username and password as the download website.

Watching and Downloading Your Course Lectures

Where do I go to access the online lectures for my course?
Go to http://www.uidaho.edu/eo/onlinelecture.

I am having trouble logging into the online viewing and download site.
This site uses your student ID (i.e. 091-12345) and your six-digit PIN. This is the same combination used to log into VandalWeb. If you have forgotten your PIN, you may reset it online. If you have three failed login attempts, you may also need to reset it.

I see an error message or a blank screen when I try to watch a lecture in my web browser.
Playing back a lecture inside your web browser requires the QuickTime plugin. Even if you already have it, please download and install the latest version (7) and try again. Or, you can try downloading the file to your desktop first.

Windows Media Player is giving me an error message when I try to play back a lectures.
The H.264 codec used for our courses is not included by default with Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player will not work without installing an update. Instead, we recommend trying QuickTime Player or VLC Media Player. Both of these are free to download and easy to install and use.

When I try watching the lecture in my web browser, the playback is jerky and keeps stopping.
Your internet connection is unable to keep up with the data rate. You will need to download the file to your computer first and then watch it.

I am taking a live class and I don't see the latest lecture from today posted online. Where is it?
Generally, they appear online 3 hours after they are recorded on campus. However, sometimes the professor may cancel class unexpectedly. Some classes include remote shoots and field trips that take additional time to process. If a lecture doesn't appear right away, check back later. If you don't see it posted by the following day, contact eoweb@uidaho.edu.

I'm still having trouble. Who do I contact for technical support?
Please email your questions to eoweb@uidaho.edu or contact us by phone at (800) 824-2889 or (208) 885-6373.