The Centre for Communication Studies at the University of Guyana on Monday launched a one-week workshop on webcasting solutions, using streaming audio and video.
The UTECH Media Centre at the University of Technology in Jamaica (UTECH) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are in a collaborative effort with the Faculty of Social Sciences at UG for this training. Lectures were delivered by facilitators from UTECH.
The workshop aimed to create a learning community which exposes participants to the technologies, principles and practices of streaming audio and video within an e-learning context.
The training also sought to facilitate brainstorming of potential applications for different target audiences and industries through practical sessions and group projects.
Director of the Centre for Communication Studies, Wanda Chesney, said that 22 participants were drawn from such areas as public relations departments and government ministries and also included media practitioners, personnel from Internet Service Providers (ISP), and the academic community. The cost per participant was US$200.
UTECH’s Vilma Gregory, in giving an overview of the course, said that it would examine how various media applications could be used in each of the various environments.
The workshop covered:
1. Navigation and Electronic File Management
2. Basic Web Page Design and Authoring
3. Digitising Images, Audio and Video for the World Wide Web
4. Encoding Techniques for Streaming Audio and Video
5. Publishing to a Web Server
Participants also had the opportunity to examine concepts such as the benefits and limitations of streaming audio and video technologies and the implementation and management challenges of such technologies. The workshop also addressed the subtle production differences between live and on-demand streaming. It also demonstrated the potential impacts of the new technology on different industries.
Dean of UG’s Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr Mark Kirton urged the participants to take back the content of the workshop to their respective constituency. He also expressed gratitude to the University of Technology and UNESCO.
Also present at the launching were Carmen Jarvis, Secretary-General of UNESCO, Guyana Commission, and Professor James Rose, Vice-Chancellor of UG.