Video Tools and Resources
UWT supports two different tools for recording video from your desktop or laptop. Video you record using other tools can be shared in your Canvas courses in a full-featured, friendly way. Finally, you can easily embed video from other sources directly in your modules pages, which allows you to provide context productively beyond merely linking out to YouTube or other sources.
How to Choose a Tool
If you are unsure which video tool to use to record classroom video, here are some criteria that might help:
- Do you want to record yourself, your computer screen, a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, or some combination of these? Use Panopto.
- Do you want to record a synchronous class session that isn't being held in a UWT Classroom? Use Zoom.
- Have you created video using other tools and want to use them? Use your tools to create the video and Panopto to share them.
There are other scenarios for more experienced users. If that applies to you, contact us for help!
Panopto
In addition to being a tool for recording classroom activities on campus, Panopto is your primary means for recording standalone videos. These videos can be of yourself, your computer screen, or both. If you use PowerPoint or Keynote, your Panopto recordings will automatically include useful tools for students to navigate your video by clicking on slides as well as bookmarking and making personal notes about them.
Panopto videos can be shared among multiple Canvas courses and rolled into future versions of your course.
Getting Started
The easiest way to get started with Panopto is from within the Panopto Recordings section of your Canvas course, where you can use the Create > Record a New Session button to automatically create a video whose default home will be in whatever course you start recording in:
The first time you use Panopto, you will be prompted to download and install the necessary software (if you don't have it already). If you run into any problems installing or using Panopto, contact
Panopto video will automatically be useful on various screen sizes. If your video is only of yourself, then you don't need to do anything special. If you are recording PowerPoint or Keynote, see the PowerPoint for Panopto page for proven formatting practices making your recordings accessible across different computers and mobile devices.
For Panopto tutorials and best practices, start with the excellent resources shared by UW Bothell Links to an external site..
For local support using Panopto, contact the UWT Panopto Administrator: athelp@uw.edu.
Zoom
While Panopto is preferred when it can be used, it is an asynchronous tool. For synchronous sessions, you will be using Zoom. Zoom's primary function is for holding, and optionally recording, online class meetings, during which you can share your screen and use breakout rooms for small group discussions, among other features.
Recorded Zoom sessions are useful if you are having synchronous meetings in your class already and need to give students who cannot attend an option to watch the class session later.
Getting Started
To facilitate proper scheduling of meetings and access to recordings, you should always start by scheduling class Zoom meetings from the Zoom section of your course:
For most users, this step alone will suffice. If you have advanced needs, in particular if you need to allow users from outside UW to attend a meeting or want to create pre-assigned breakout rooms, you will follow this step by editing the meeting settings in the UW Zoom portal.
Once you have your Zoom meeting scheduled, you can start leaning how to use it and what some of the best practices are.
For Zoom tutorials and best practices, start with UWT Media Services.
Some useful self-help resources, including Zoom tutorials and best practices, can be found at:
Using Other Video Files
If you create video files using other tools, the preferred method for sharing those with your students is to use Panopto's Upload Media feature to import the video files into your course:
Sharing your files this way allows you to embed your video directly on content pages while retaining the user-friendly features of the Panopto video viewer.
Using Other Video Sources (YouTube, Vimeo, etc)
Canvas allows you to use video from other sources, such as YouTube in two ways: by linking or embedding. While the former is a little simpler, it requires students to leave your course site to view the video, which both deprives them of the immediate surrounding context and makes it more likely they will become distracted by other material on the hosting service's site.
Thankfully, Canvas is somewhat intelligent in handling video from popular sources such as YouTube and VImeo, where you can simply use Insert/Edit Media button, paste in the link to the video, and Canvas automagically embeds it.
If this process doesn't work, most sites will provide an "embed code" for their videos, which you can use on the Embed tab of the Insert/Edit Media dialog.
For step-by-step instructions on embedding YouTube and other hosted video into your class pages, see the "How do I embed a video in a page in a course?" Links to an external site. Canvas Guide