Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center
How to Use the Showcase
Each year's Innovative Teaching Showcase is a new and unique publication. Every attempt is made in each Showcase publication to make it as accessible and viewable as possible. Although the use of photographs and graphics greatly enhances the experience for those able to view medium-bandwidth web pages, each Showcase is also available in a text-only format for those who require this format.
We have tried to make the Showcase as accessible as possible, and all essential information is obtainable outside of the multimedia elements and via the text-only versions. If you wish to view the video clips on the Multimedia Showcase, however, web browser plugins are necessary. We require the latest versions of these plugins because we have tried to optimize the download speed and the video in order to increase the quality of your experience. See below.
Tips for using this website:
- Javascript needs to be enabled to fully enjoy this website.
See: How do I enable JavaScript in my browser? - To find specific Showcase pages, search all Showcases.
- To fully enjoy the video files on the Multimedia Showcase pages, ensure that you have a medium to high bandwidth connection and that your plugins and players are up-to-date. See below.
- If you encounter difficulties with this website, please send email to cii@wwu.edu or view the text-only versions.
Plugins for Multimedia Showcase pages:
Because the Innovative Teaching Showcase is an annual web publication, each year's set of Multimedia Showcase pages were designed to provide the best playback experience for the user, given available streaming video technologies at WWU in the year it was developed. For this reason, older Showcase videos are not as high quality as more current ones.
Most of the Showcase videos require your web browser to have the Flash Player browser plugin, as the videos are hosted on Youtube and/or Vimeo. On occasion, a video that did not get uploaded to Youtube will be available in a different format (.wmv or .mov).
- Flash Player
Required for viewing most videos in the current and archived Showcases.
- Windows Media Player: If your computer is running the Windows XP operating system, you will already have this player installed on your system.
May be needed to view non-Youtube archived videos.
- Quicktime Player: If you have a Mac or use the Netscape web browser on a Windows computer, you probably also have the free Quicktime player web browser plugin necessary to play quicktime files.
May be needed to view non-Youtube archived videos.
- RealPlayer: (The link to the free player is in the upper right corner of the screen.)
May be needed to view non-Youtube archived videos.
The content of the Portfolio and Institutional Goals pages can be viewed without special plugins.
How to Access YouTube Videos if Blocked
Some education sites have Youtube blocked, which makes viewing our educational videos impossible. Here are some options:
- Zamzar - This website allows you to enter a URL of a Youtube video, the desired video format, and the email address where a link to the download page it should be sent. The user can then download the movie and play it locally.
- KickYouTube - This is a service that works by embedding the YouTube video into another website that is not blocked (hopefully):
- Go to the YouTube URL you need.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF-sHajd0OQ
- Insert the word "kick" between the www. and the youtube.com section of the URL.
http://www.kickyoutube.com/watch?v=mF-sHajd0OQ - The video should appear on the KickYouTube website and play from the browser.
- Go to the YouTube URL you need.
If you need further assistance, please email us at cii@wwu.edu
