Webcasts: A Method for Rapidly Delivering Expertise and Training

For ten years, the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET^®) has been delivering distance learning modules in the form of laser discs, CD-ROMs, and most recently, Web-based modules. One of the newest techniques used to deliver training is the "Webcast." Borrowing the root of its name from the world of broadcast media, a Webcast is a live or on-demand multimedia presentation delivered over the Internet. The initial response to training delivered via Webcast technology has been very positive. Many learners prefer the guidance that an instructor's presence brings. Webcasts retain the convenience of self-paced learning, yet they can also provide a feeling of engagement with the presenter. Since Webcasts are in essence captured lectures, they are inherently focused and easily grasped in a reasonable timeframe.

Webcasts use Internet "streaming" technologies to deliver long media files a little at a time while a viewer watches, rather than sending all the files before the viewer begins to see them. Newly available high-bandwidth service options and sophisticated compression schemes have made video, photographs, and computer-generated slides reasonable Webcast components. Because they are delivered via the Internet, Webcasts can also include interactivity created using HTML, Javascript, and/or Java as well.

The benefit of this new technology is that an expert's presentation can be quickly captured and made available to an audience of any size. With the appropriate production system in place, Webcasts can even be used to disseminate live presentations. Of course, audio and video quality over the Internet is limited and traffic congestion can occasionally cause delays, but these limitations are quickly being overcome with improvements in Internet infrastructure and end-user connectivity.

Ideally, a library of Webcasts could be established where learners could access key topics, discussed by leading subject matter experts whenever it is convenient or appropriate. The COMET Program has begun developing such a collection to supplement its other distance learning materials. During the year 2000, the program has increased Webcast production schedules to bring the latest science to the field as rapidly as possible. The Webcast collection is freely available to the entire community and should benefit operational forecasters in the public and private sectors as well as the university community. The presentations are available at the MetEd training site http://meted.ucar.edu. Three specific early examples by Matthew Bunkers, Dr. David Schultz, and Dr. Timothy Spangler are available directly by accessing http://meted.ucar.edu/convectn/ic411/index.htm, http://meted.ucar.edu/export/csi/index.htm, or http://www.comet.ucar.edu/presentations/visualization/index.htm, respectively.