vLearn FAQs
General
What is video streaming?
Video streaming is a method of delivering digital video files across the internet. Videos play in your web browser, in much the same way as you watch YouTube videos. When you load the vLearn Player in your browser and click play, the video file is sent in a steady stream of small portions (hence the term ‘streaming’).
vLearn uses video streaming to take care of the technicalities of hosting digital video and simply provide you with a website link to play the video. There is no log-in required to play videos and no restrictions are imposed on the number of users or how many times the video can be played over the duration of your vLearn Streaming Licence.
What is the vLearn Player?
The vLearn Player is the video player component of vLearn. With each purchase of a vLearn Streaming Licence, you get a unique vLearn Player URL that is specific to your institution. The vLearn Player contains a range of features that make it useful for both trainers and employees:
- Full-featured player with standard video controls and full-screen option
- Easy playback within your web browser – support for all major browsers on PC and Mac
- LMS integration via linking or direct video embedding
- Can be easily and freely shared with all staff and students employees in your organisation
- No individual login or authentication required to play video
- Employees cannot access My vLearn Library from the vLearn Player page
What is My vLearn Library?
My vLearn Library is the video library management component of vLearn. Your first purchase of a vLearn Streaming Licence activates the My vLearn Library tab on www.TrainingPoint.net. My vLearn Library contains a range of important features for licence administrators:
- Full list of currently licensed videos
- Detailed information for each video: licence period, price, vLearn Player link and embed script, number of times viewed
- Information about expired videos, including easy renewal function
- Exportable purchase and usage reports
- Direct access to leader’s guides from within library (where available for the program)
- RSS feed syndication option
What is a vLearn Streaming Licence?
A vLearn Streaming Licence gives you video streaming access to your chosen training videos from Training Point for a set period of time – 1 week or 1 year. When you purchase vLearn Streaming Licences you get access to unique vLearn Player URLs for every video, as well as My vLearn Library, a fully-featured library and licence management tool.
Each time you purchase a vLearn Streaming Licence, you must agree to the vLearn Streaming Licence Agreement – which outlines important rights, restrictions and responsibilities. The agreement appears during checkout and should be read in full before indicating your agreement.
What is Microsoft Silverlight and why is it required to play vLearn videos?
Microsoft Silverlight is a website browser plug-in that allows your browser to access rich media content such as videos, games, and rich web applications (similar to Adobe Flash Player). The vLearn Player runs in Microsoft Silverlight, which provides the web’s best video streaming experience – videos buffer quicker and run smoother with less intensive processor use when compared to other rich media browser plug-ins.
Silverlight is a one-time download and install, after which your web browser functions as normal, with the added benefit of accessing rich media content created in Silverlight. If Silverlight is not installed on your computer, the vLearn Player will provide a direct link that enables you to install right away.
Are all your videos available in vLearn?
The vLearn range currently consists of over 200 videos and counting. The range is constantly expanding as we produce and acquire new videos. This takes time as we must first gain digital rights and then convert traditional video formats to vLearn.
How do I know if a program in your library is available in vLearn?
When you see this symbol: 
in search results and subject lists, it means the program is available in vLearn.
Can I purchase specific chapters from programs?
In vLearn, videos are provided as complete programs, with chapters accessible from within the vLearn Player. The individual chapters however are not available for separate purchase.
Playing Videos
Can the videos be played to a class using a data projector or interactive whiteboard?
Yes they can. This works in just the same way as projecting your computer screen. The vLearn Player even has a full-screen option, which expands the video to your full screen size. Streaming videos however are not full DVD resolution, so they will appear somewhat blurry, depending on the size of the projection and how close your audience is sitting.
How do individual employees access the videos?
Employees can play vLearn videos on the special vLearn Player page. When you purchase a vLearn Streaming Licence you get a unique vLearn Player URL which is specific to your institution. This URL can be shared with employees for group access or individual use.
The vLearn Player page has been specially designed for employee use; it contains only the video without any links or access to the rest of the vLearn system. Individual login is not required to play videos.
Do you need a password to play the videos?
You do not need a password to play vLearn videos. Your unique vLearn Player URL contains the video and no login or other form of authentication is required. The URL is specific to your institution and can be shared with any employees of your organisation.
It is however an important condition of the vLearn Streaming Licence Agreement that the vLearn Player URL must only be shared with employees of your organisation and may only be published within an authenticated environment, such as a learning management system that requires login, or an intranet.
Can the videos be viewed by more than one person at a time?
There are no restrictions on the number of users that can view the video at once.
Can I download a copy of a video for offline access?
vLearn is a streamed video service and does not currently offer a download option. If offline access is important to you, we suggest purchasing a traditional DVD copy.
Licensing Rights and Restrictions
What are the rights and restrictions on a vLearn Streaming Licence?
For full details of your rights, restrictions and responsibilities, please read the full vLearn Streaming Licence Agreement.
When will my vLearn Streaming Licence start and end?
Your vLearn Streaming Licence period begins the moment you complete the checkout process on the website. Once complete, you will instantly receive an email outlining the vLearn videos purchased, licence periods and links to My vLearn Library and vLearn Player.
Am I allowed to post licensed videos on public websites?
No. It is an important condition in your streaming licence agreement that the vLearn Player URL must only be shared with employees of your organisation and may only be published within an authenticated environment, such as an LMS that requires login, or an intranet. This is an important requirement that allows us to provide free and open access to the vLearn Player - without this restriction we would need to impose a login or some other form of control on access to the vLearn Player.
Are there any limits on usage (i.e. number of views or concurrent users)?
There are no restrictions on the total number of views or number of users that can view the video at once. You get full access to videos for the period of your vLearn Streaming Licence.
Technical Considerations
How can I get Microsoft Silverlight on my computer?
The vLearn Player will detect whether you have the current version of Microsoft Silverlight and, if not present, provide a link to download and install. Alternatively, you can visit www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight to install Silverlight now. Silverlight is compatible with all major browsers on both PC and Mac. It is not compatible with mobile devices (such as Apple iPhone and iPad).
If you do not have administration privileges on your computer, you will need to contact your IT department or network administrators to arrange installation of the browser plug-in.
When calculating staff for my vLearn Streaming Licence, do I count all staff in the organisation or only the staff that are going to use the video?
‘Staff’ in your vLearn Streaming Licence is calculated as the entire staff population of your organisation. If you are purchasing on behalf of a single office/branch within a larger organisation, and the video will only be used in your office/branch, then you need only count the local staff population.
Can vLearn videos be integrated into our Learning Management System (LMS)?
The vLearn Player is built into a standard HTML page for linking from within an LMS. My vLearn Library also provides embed script for placement of the vLearn Player directly into your own LMS pages.
Trainers and employees will need the current version of the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in to play vLearn videos.
Why isn’t the picture quality of the videos as good as you see on a DVD?
As a video streaming service, vLearn has been designed with internet bandwidth considerations front-of-mind. The video quality has been set at an optimum level that balances the amount of data used to play a video and how long it will take to load with the quality of playback. This is particularly important as many areas in Australia still have relatively slow internet connections.
A high quality streaming option is being considered for those users who are willing to sacrifice bandwidth and load speeds for higher quality playback.