CNS › Lectures On Demand

This page describes how to use your media player with the plug-in to watch lectures.  The images on this page show QuickTime.  Depending on which media player you use, your monitor screen may look slightly different.  But, everything should work the same except as noted below.

starting a lecture

Click on the link to the lecture you wish to watch.  You can practice with the lectures found on the Sample Lectures page. The media player on your computer should be launched automatically.  If you encounter problems, visit the Troubleshooting page.

If you are using Windows Media Player or RealPlayer, the lecture will start by itself.  If you are using QuickTime, the screen will remain black until you push the play button at the bottom center of the window.  You will briefly see "Please Wait" in each of the windows that appear.  Within a few seconds the lecture should start.

split screen layout (default)	picture-in-picture layout

controlling the screen layout

When you begin watching a lecture, you will see two side-by-side images on your monitor screen. This is the split screen layout.  The image on the left is from a camera located in the back of the classroom. This camera attempts to find and follow movement at the front of the room and will usually show the instructor. The image on the right shows whatever is being projected on the screen in the classroom. This image may be from the document camera, a computer, or a VCR/DVD player. If the classroom has two screens, only the left screen is being captured.

Click once on either of these images to enlarge it. The other image will become a miniturized picture-in-picture. You can drag or resize the picture-in-picture window. Click once on the enlarged image to return to the split screen format.

controlling the lecture playback

While watching a lecture, do not push the  <  <<  ||  >>  >  buttons located at the very bottom of the screen.  Using these controls may cause the lecture to hang, forcing you to close the media player and start over.

To control the playback of the lecture, use the play / pause / fast forward / rewind buttons located just below the image of the projection screen on the right side of the split screen layout.  In picture-in-picture mode, these buttons are located either in the picture-in-picture window or in a pull-down tab at the top of the screen.

Click || to pause the lecture and > to resume playback. Click >> to fast forward the lecture and << to rewind the lecture. Clicking >> or << multiple times causes skipping at a speed of 2x, 8x, or 16x.

You can jump to any point in a lecture by dragging the slider bar located above the buttons and watching the clock located to the right of the buttons. The clock shows the hours, minutes, and seconds since the beginning of the lecture.  Do NOT use the slider bar located at the very bottom of the screen.

When using the fast forward button, the rewind button, and the slider bar, it is normal to experience a delay of a few seconds while the video server responds to your command.

finishing a lecture

When you are finished watching a lecture, simply click the close button in the media player window.  Your web browser window should remain on the screen and you can select another lecture to watch.