Ustream

= Communication Tool: Ustream = Group Members: Sydney Herman and Jake Reller



Brief introduction of the tool
Ustream is a website that is used to broadcast live feeds. You can watch live news reports, the birth of animals, people playing sports, along with numerous other activities. Also, you can have synchronous communication with other people through chats regarding different videos. Ustream allows anyone with a camera and an internet connection to globally broadcast a live feed of almost anything that they want. Ustream uses one-to-many communication to “encourage viewer interaction”.

//**Advantages of the tool **// Efficiency: Ustream is an efficient tool because it allows easy access to thousands of different videos. It allows you to browse through all of these videos, but, it also has divided sections of different categories of videos that are available. You can even use the search bar to find exactly what you want. Effectiveness: This is a very effective website, because it can provide you with the access to videos and other information that you might otherwise had not been able to find. Also, it allows you to have conversations with other users, which can help you to grasp a better understanding. Enhancement: Usteam is a very enhancing website, because it not only allows you to view videos, but it allows you to view live things as they are happening. This enhanced experience is brought to you not only by the live videos, but also by having the ability to talk about what you are viewing with other people. Ustream can really enhance the learning and knowledge of people in so many different ways.

//**Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool **// Some of the limitations of the tools include not being able to view certain things live all the time. You aren’t going to be able to view chicks hatching any time that you want, this only happens on occasion. So, you can really only experience the live videos of what you want to see, if you happen to be on Ustream at the exact moment that these things are occurring.

Another limitation of this website, is that not everyone has the access to tools to broadcast something themselves.

Application of the tool in your subject area
//One way that Ustream could be used in an Elementary School classroom would be to use it when on the subject of science. There are many videos on Ustream that use nature as their focal point. Being able to watch as plants grow, or what interactions occur in nature, would be very helpful and enhancing to a students learning. Since elementary students probably wouldn’t be able to figure out how to use Ustream at home, the best way to do it would probably be in a computer lab. The teacher could use a projector to display the videos to the whole class. As they watch the live videos, they could have discussions based on what they are seeing and what they are learning. //

Find a tutorial video on YouTube
Find the tutorial video on YouTube and find the "embed" html code. Copy the code. media type="youtube" key="dj2TrJ_TVHg" height="344" width="425"

//List of key features showed in the ScreenToaster ://
This tutorial shows you a step-by-step procedure on how to create and use a Ustream account. It tells you how to create a live show. It also tells you how to record the show if you wanted to broadcast something to Ustream. It gives a screenshot image which follows the step-by-step procedures. It also tells you which settings you might need to change in order to have the best quality video. It discusses the chat feature of Ustream. It later describes how to place different items in your broadcast, such as text or youtube videos.

Useful Resources
If your classmates want to learn more about your topic, where should they go? Please recommend 3 websites or more.

For more information check out the following links: [|PC Magazine Review of Ustream] [|Ustream Description and Milestones] [|Ustream Wikipedia Page] [|The Business Side of Ustream] [|7 Things You Should Know about Ustream]