Library Information Services
...Helping students become Independent, Information - literate, Lifelong Learners!


Spring Branch Independent School District
Dr. Barry M. Bishop
9016 Westview
Houston, TX, 713-365-5616

Unitedsteaming Support

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Things to consider

How to use

In order for it to work well, several things have to be working properly.

1. Fiber from NOC to your school (most likely this works all or none).

2. You campus LAN needs to be working properly (a place for problems).

3. The LAN needs to be working at 100 megs not 10 megs.

4. The computer network card needs to be set at 100 megs, not 10 megs.

5. The computer needs to be plugged into the wall/pole socket, not a hub.

6. The computer needs to be new enough and fast enough to handle the necessary speed. (most of the Dells [i.e. new] seem to be running just fine).

Comments:

Computers may have to be traced to which drop they are connected to . .then all the drops may have to be matched to the switch port they are connected to in the closet. Then, an inventory of each switch IP address must be gathered and then each computer's network controller must be reconfigured to run at the 100 / Full duplex mode. Some computers will be able and some won't.

Any "mini-hub" connected computers will not work well at all. There are also other programs that might need to be installed such as Acrobat Reader 5.5 and several plug-ins in order for this site to be accessible. Then the local resources of each computer may be an issue as well.

I am not sure that the memory is the problem so much as the processing speed. New fast computers seem to work. Old slow computers do not. You almost just have to try them and see. I have gotten several e-mails today from campuses that tried Unitedstreaming on an older computer and had trouble. Then when they tried on a newer computer, things worked great and they are loving it.

I was trying to do it on the "old" computer that I was given 3 years ago. It is not one of the newer teacher Dells and apparently just doesn't have enough RAM to properly buffer the video. We pulled it up downstairs on one of the machines, and it is working beautifully. 

On the new Dells that the teachers have, there seems to be no problem with the pauses of the videos only with the older computers in the library. 

On the Dell computer it works fine. What is very helpful is for folks to print out the 11 page online help that is available at their web site. If you put the Windows Media Player on the Desktop as directed in the online instructions, it works fine. I tried originally just downloading it to Programs folder and it did not work.

Here are 3 very user friendly single pages that detail
1. Logging on
2. Hyperlink
3. How to cite a Unitedstreaming source for a bibliography

Pick 1 or 2 teachers (Science or Social Studies, not L.A. yet)
Show them how to:
1. Log on (link now on Library Resources Page).
2. Search (I would start with the curriculum standard [TEKS] search, see one below).
3. Show "BlackLine Master" and Teacher's Guide"
later:
4. How to make a hyperlink


Example search to help you get started:
1. From the Library Resources Page, click on the Unitedstreaming link
2. In the Username box type the username  
3. In the Password box type the password
4. Click the login button.
5. When the search screen comes up, scroll to the bottom right.
6. In the "Category" box, select "Science"
7. In the "grade" box, select "Gr. 5"
8. When the standards come up on the left, click on the first one that says "Videos meeting this standard" (by Standard Number 1)
9. On the right, click on the video titled "How to Prepare a Science Fair Project"
10. Notice the links for "BlackLine Masters" and Teachers Guide" at the top of the right area
11. Click on the "S" next to the "Science Fair Project Overview (01:37)"
12. Watch the video clip
 

Copyright

Page edited - 10/29/2008

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Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston, Texas
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