Canvas - Responding with Video in a Discussion [UW-Madison]
Scenario 1: Students Upload Videos Directly to Canvas
Things to Consider
- Completely Mobile Solution - This scenario allows the student to record and post videos completely from their mobile device.
- Student Cognitive Load - This scenario has the potential to cause less cognitive overload since the students could use their phone to do the entire process.
- Storage Limits - Videos can have a large file size. Canvas has storage limits for what can be uploaded. Students may hit these storage limits and not be able to upload their videos.
- Students Directly Uploading Videos (Separate from Webcam Recording) - According to this Canvas document, Any attachments added as part of discussions are copied to [the students] user files. Attachments for graded discussions are not counted against [the students] user quota and cannot be deleted.
According to this UW-Madison KB document, individual users have a storage limit of 512 MB. In other words, students, in total, have a storage limit of 512 MB that they cannot exceed. Video files can get large rather quickly, so students may hit this storage limit if they upload many videos.Warning - Instructor Prerequisite If the instructor plans on allowing students attach files to discussions, they need to make sure the option Attach files to discussions is selected. This is described in the following Canvas guide: How do I allow students to attach files to a course discussion?.
- Webcam Recordings - According to the same UW-Madison KB document, Webcam recordings and media comments created directly in Canvas are stored on a separate media server and do not count toward your course's storage quota.
This means if students are using the webcam recorder via a laptop or desktop computer, those videos will not go against any quota. This would also require that students have a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam.
How to Use Your Android or iPhone to Get Video Into a Canvas Discussion Reply (Student Guide)
Instructors: Provide the following instructions to your students by linking to this KB doc: Canvas - How to Use Your Android or iPhone to Get Video Into a Discussion Reply [UW-Madison].
- Use the recording option that works best for you to record your video.
- Add the video as an attachment to your discussion post:
How to Use Your Laptop or Desktop Computer to Get Video Into a Canvas Discussion Reply (Student Guide)
Instructors: Provide the following instructions to your students by linking to this KB doc: Canvas - How to Use Your Laptop or Desktop Computer to Get Video Into a Canvas Discussion Reply [UW-Madison].
- Use the recording option that works best for you to record your video.
- Depending on which recording option you use, you will use one of the following options for getting your video into the Canvas discussion post:
- Pre-recorded using an app: How do I upload a video using the Rich Content Editor?
- Select the media icon, and upload/record media from the drop-down menu
- From the Upload Media window, select computer.
- Select the media icon, and upload/record media from the drop-down menu
- Using the Canvas Webcam Recorder: How do I record a video using the Rich Content Editor?
- Select the media icon, and upload/record media from the drop-down menu
- From the Upload Media window, select record.
- Select the media icon, and upload/record media from the drop-down menu
- Using the Kaltura Webcam Recorder: Kaltura - Webcam Recording in Canvas [UW-Madison]
- Pre-recorded using an app: How do I upload a video using the Rich Content Editor?
Scenario 2: Students Upload Videos to Kaltura and Embed in Canvas
Things to Consider
- Not a Completely Mobile Solution - Adding videos to Kaltura can be done on students phones, but embedding content into a Canvas discussion post cannot be easily done on a phone. Therefore, students using their phones would have to record the video on their phone, upload to Kaltura via their phone, and then use a computer to embed the video into a discussion post.
- Student Cognitive Load- As mentioned in the section above, this scenario may require students to use multiple apps and therefore multiple interfaces. This may increase cognitive load. Students using their phones would have to:
- Use their phones camera app to record a video
- Use a mobile browser to upload video to Kaltura
- Use a computer browser to embed Kaltura video in discussion post
- Hopping between this many interfaces may cause confusion.
How to Use Your Android or iPhone to Get Video Into Kaltura MediaSpace
Instructors: Provide the following instructions to your students by linking to this KB doc: Kaltura - How to Upload Videos to MediaSpace Using Your Phone [UW-Madison].
Warning! Uploading videos takes a lot of data! The Learn@UW-Madison team recommends that you wait until you are on WiFi to upload videos to Kaltura MediaSpace.
- Kaltura MediaSpace Go (KMS Go) app
- Your phone's browser.
Kaltura MediaSpace Go (KMS Go) app
The preferred method utilizes Kaltura's KMS Go App. Basic instructions on installing KMS Go are available in Kaltura - Installing and Configuring Kaltura MediaSpace Go (KMS Go) App for Mobile Devices [UW-Madison] . Kaltura has additional documentation in: Kaltura MediaSpace Go (KMS Go). Kaltura has additional documentation on creating or uploading content in their documents:
Using your phone's browser
The second method to upload content is through your phone's Internet Browser. To do so, follow these steps:
- Record your video with your Android or iPhone Camera application.
- Open a browser application on your smartphone and navigate to https://mediaspace.wisc.edu.
- Click the plus icon in the top right corner. Click "Media Upload".
- (Optional) If you have not yet logged in to Kaltura MediaSpace, you will be prompted to log in.
- Click Choose a file to upload.
- Either select a previously recorded video (recommended) or record a new video.
- The video will begin to upload. "Upload Completed!" will display when finished.
- (Optional) Kaltura will automatically set the file name as the name of the uploaded video. The file name is not always the best for identifying the video at a later date, so it is recommended that you give your video a more relevant title by changing the "Name" field.
- Once finished modifying the metadata, click Save at the bottom of the screen.
Upload Speed
Even when Kaltura MediaSpace is running smoothly, other internet service providers may experience slower service, which could limit your upload speed.
- Upload speeds and Kaltura's upload performance varies, but an upload speed of 10 Mbps should be able to upload a 250 MB file to Kaltura in about 4.5 minutes.
Processing
The amount of time it takes Kaltura MediaSpace to process a file depends on file size, duration, quality, and usage.
Generally it takes about 2-3 times the video's duration for Kaltura MediaSpace to display your video in low definition (high definition versions take longer to process). For example, a 15 minute video will usually take about 30-45 minutes to process (in low-definition). When Kaltura MediaSpace is being heavily used, processing times will lengthen and could take up to 24 hours.
If your video takes longer than 24 hours to process, please call the DoIT Help Desk. More detailed information is available in Kaltura's document involvingtranscoding times and quality of service.
How to Embed Kaltura Video into a Canvas Discussion Reply
Instructors: Provide the following instructions to your students by linking to this KB doc: Canvas - Upload and Embed a New Kaltura Mediaspace Video in a Canvas Page [UW-Madison].
Kaltura MediaSpace is UW-Madison's media streaming service and is integrated with Canvas. Kaltura media can be embedded wherever Canvas allows you to use the rich content editor.
Note: to embed an existing Kaltura Mediaspace item in a Canvas course, please see Canvas - Embedding an Existing Kaltura MediaSpace Video in a Canvas Page [UW-Madison]
We recommend instructors new to using media with their Canvas course start here. Uploading and embedding Kaltura media in a Canvas Page or other Canvas tool is an easy way to make your Kaltura media available to your students. Embedded media provides more context and keeps the student in Canvas rather than sending them to an external link outside of Canvas. It also allows Kaltura to collect more detailed analytics.
- In your Canvas course, go to the Canvas page, discussion post, or quiz discussion you want to embed Kaltura media in. Click Edit.
- Move your cursor to the point in your Canvas item where you want to insert Kaltura media.
- Click the Embed Kaltura Media button which looks like the colorful Kaltura logo. If your browser is not of sufficient width you may need to click the three dot button on the right to expand the menu to see the button:
- A window titled Kaltura Media will open showing the media content associated with your Kaltura account.
- To upload media at this point click Add New and select Media Upload to upload a new video to your account:
- Read and click the "I agree to the above terms and conditions" disclaimer.
- Scroll down to click + Choose a file to upload or drag your MP4 file onto the window:
- A window will open allowing you to select the video file to upload. While Kaltura can process a wide range of video formats, we find MP4 videos generally work well. We recommend 1280 x 720 video as a good balance between file size and quality. We also recommend you try to keep your video files under 2 GB - the larger the file the longer it will take to upload and process.
- Your file will upload. While it uploads you can edit the name, description, and tags.
Upload Speed
Even when Kaltura MediaSpace is running smoothly, other internet service providers may experience slower service, which could limit your upload speed.
- Upload speeds and Kaltura's upload performance varies, but an upload speed of 10 Mbps should be able to upload a 250 MB file to Kaltura in about 4.5 minutes.
Processing
The amount of time it takes Kaltura MediaSpace to process a file depends on file size, duration, quality, and usage.
Generally it takes about 2-3 times the video's duration for Kaltura MediaSpace to display your video in low definition (high definition versions take longer to process). For example, a 15 minute video will usually take about 30-45 minutes to process (in low-definition). When Kaltura MediaSpace is being heavily used, processing times will lengthen and could take up to 24 hours.
If your video takes longer than 24 hours to process, please call the DoIT Help Desk. More detailed information is available in Kaltura's document involvingtranscoding times and quality of service.
- If you want to customize how your video is displayed, see the Editing Media Settings section in this document. Otherwise, select the </>Embed button to add the media.
- After embedding, you will see an icon indicating it is still processing. Once done processing the video will show up on your Canvas page. You can continue to edit the page and add text if you'd like. Once you're done click the Save button:
- Canvas will display your page with your embedded Kaltura video:
Editing Media Settings
You can edit your file name, description, and tags as it uploads. After your file is done uploading you can:
- Edit the file's name, description, tags, and add collaborators. More information on the collaboration feature is available in Kaltura - Media Collaboration: Changing Media Ownership, Adding Co-editors, Co-publishers, and Co-viewers [UW-Madison] .
- Save button on the bottom will simply save your changes to the metadata while your video uploads.
- </> Save and Embed button in the upper right will embed your video using the default settings in your Canvas Page or other area the Canvas rich content editor is available.
- Gear icon to edit your embed settings. An Embed Settings window will display:
- Choose Player: Choose your player based on the type of media you are embedding. As of 8/15/24 all players automatically include a transcript widget. You do not have to select a specific Transcript player. Video users can choose between:
Default player - This player is setup with the most commonly used options. Most users use this player. The download icon may appear to allow for download of closed caption or attached files, but the source video file can not be downloaded.
Download player - Use the download player if you want users to be able to download the original source media file locally to their computer. This can be useful if you have students without reliable high speed internet connections. They could go to a library or coffee shop to download your media to view later. If you choose the download player, viewers can download the original version of the video you uploaded to Kaltura by clicking the Download button in the upper right of the video: - Max Embed Size: Users can choose how large the media is displayed within the Canvas rich content editor.
- Thumbnail Embed: Turning thumbnail embed on renders an image that will display instead of the video player. The student needs to click on the image to load the player. Generally we recommend keeping this option turned off.
- Auto Play: Turning auto play on plays the media immediately when the student loads the page with the embedded media. We recommend you keep auto play off and let the student choose to play the media by clicking the "Play" button.
- Set as my default settings for media type: Video (or Audio, or Image): If you like the settings you have selected you can check this box to make future embeds use them without having to set them every time.
- Start at: Set the start time for the media item.
- End at: Set the end time for the media item. Note that users can still play the entire video!
- </> Embed: When you have set the options you want, click the </> Embed button to embed the media.
If after embedding your Kaltura media you decide you'd like to change the options you selected it is easiest to delete your embedded media from the page and re-embed.
- Choose Player: Choose your player based on the type of media you are embedding. As of 8/15/24 all players automatically include a transcript widget. You do not have to select a specific Transcript player. Video users can choose between:
Recording Options
[Doc 71116 content is unavailable at this time.]