Category: Panopto

This section contains resources related to the Panopto application for video recording. How to set up and record lectures, link to a Brightspace course, and edit recordings.

Successful Reuse of Panopto Videos

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The significant investment in preparing content over the past year for online delivery resulted in an expansive bank of quiz questions, Panopto lecture videos, and content files within courses. These resources have a shelf-life beyond the 2020-2021 academic year, and while minimal effort is required to reuse most types of content year after year, Panopto videos may require extra attention. 

Request Access message
This image depicts the Request Access message that students see for videos they cannot access.

For instructors wishing to reuse videos from previous offerings, ETD is offering Panopto video audits to catch issues now before the semester start date. To receive an audit, please contact etd@dal.ca as soon as possible, indicating the course number(s) and providing a brief summary of the videos you wish to make available for students.  

To ensure videos will be available in future offerings with minimal finesse, it is recommended that Panopto videos be linked using the “Insert Stuff” method [https://edtechtruro.edublogs.org/2021/05/10/how-to-link-panopto-videos-in-your-course/]. 

Some course videos will need no work at all, while others may need permissions added or videos may require relinking.  

For information on re-use of Collaborate Ultra Recordings, please see the following document: https://edtechtruro.edublogs.org/2021/03/26/viewing-collaborate-ultra-session-recordings/.

How to Link Panopto Videos in Your Course

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Link to PDFTo ensure your videos are available to all students, the instructions available in the link below outlines the process of adding a Panopto-housed video to ensure ease of access to all users. You do not have to use Panopto for recording, but it is strongly recommended to use the system for embedding videos in your course.

How to Link Panopto Videos in Your Course [PDF]

Note: factors such as bitrate, aspect ratio, file size, and video length can all impact the time it takes for a video to upload and process. If you are uploading multiple videos at the same time, expect increased delays. This is simply the nature of working with video files. Please allow adequate time for this process.

Panopto Folders and Sharing Videos from your personal folder

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screenshot thumbail of Panopto folders and sharing videosPanopto offers several ways videos can be stored and distributed. This article will explore the differences between where videos can be stored (i.e. My Folder or Course Folders), and the methods of sharing videos from one folder to another. These sharing techniques include either granting permissions for an individual or class list to access a folder/video, or creating a copy of a video and moving the copy to a different folder with the permissions already intact.

Panopto Folders and Sharing Videos from your personal folder [PDF]

Panopto Permissions Issues and Video Linking Best Practice

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There has been a widespread ongoing issue with students not being able to access Panopto videos in courses this semester. This error comes in many forms – Access denied, permission requests, or being redirected to the course homepage. The root cause of this issue is that Panopto is failing to automatically update the class list and the permissions between Brightspace and the Course Folder in Panopto. This article will cover how to fix this issue and prevent it in the future.

If instructors or students are experiencing this issue, please use one of the following options to trigger the permissions for students to update:

  1. Post a video in the course via Insert Stuff and have the students view that video first.
  2. Post a video in the course via Existing Activity>Panopto Video or Quiz option.
  3. Have the “Panopto Recordings” link visible for students to click on, an announcement would work for sharing this.
  4. Have the student open a new browser tab and log directly into Panopto at https://dal.hosted.panopto.com/.

Each option is explored in greater detail in the full instructional PDF.

Sharing Panopto Videos with Specific Individuals

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Videos that are posted within a course’s Panopto folder will be visible to students and instructors in that particular course. Outside of these circumstances, it is possible to share videos with additional individuals who are not part of the course, as long as they are within the organization (Dalhousie). An emerging, specific use this semester is based on the use of the Panopto Video Assignment folder for student oral presentation videos and the need for RESM course instructors to share these videos with individual students’ supervisors.

Sharing Panopto Videos with Specific Individuals [PDF]

Using Panopto for Student Video Assignments

smantleBrightspace

Student presentations in a face-to-face class are both common and important assessments. While it’s true that this type of assessment will require some creativity and stretching outside of one’s comfort zone (instructor and student alike), it is by no means impossible to do successfully in the online environment. Further, encouraging students to communicate with video is a skill that many will benefit from in their present and post-university lives.

To avoid relying on synchronous delivery of student presentations, opt for a recorded presentation. The presentation can be created and recorded in a number of ways, that can each result in a video file that students can upload to a designated folder in Panopto.

Using Panopto for Student Video Assignments [PDF]

Best Practise for Video Linking

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Video has become increasingly common in all Faculty of Agriculture courses, whose typical points of origin include:

  • Videos linked and shared from another server, such as YouTube or Vimeo;
  • Your own video upload (i.e. a lab demo you recorded, a PPT recording, etc.) via Panopto; and,
  • Video recorded using the Panopto recorder.

For the first bullet point, linking a YouTube video is quite flexible, in terms of your choice to link or use the provided embed code. The latter two bullet points both should involve Panopto. Think of Panopto as our own, paid-for and password-protected YouTube streaming server. Although Panopto is not perfect, understanding its limitations and working with its strengths has resulted in an overall positive experience for students and instructors alike.

While it is possible to upload a video directly to Brightspace (thus circumventing Panopto) and then link that video in the Content area, we have received reports of serious issues in viewing these videos and it is a reality that linking video files in this manner will compromise many students’ ability to view the videos. Uploading videos directly to Brightspace is not considered best practise for several reasons:

  • Low bandwidth users will experience difficulties viewing the videos;
  • Some users may be using devices or browsers that will not allow viewing the videos; and,
  • The videos will not be available for students using the Panopto app (that allows exclusively in-app video download for offline viewing).

Visit our blog post, “How to Link Panopto Videos in Your Course” for specific instructions on how to make your videos available for all students.

For assistance in linking or sharing videos from YouTube, or with uploading and linking Panopto videos, please contact etd@dal.ca.

Note: factors such as bitrate, aspect ratio, file size, and video length can all impact the time it takes for a video to upload and process. If you are uploading multiple videos at the same time, expect increased delays. This is simply the nature of working with video files. Please allow adequate time for this process.

Adding Captions to a Panopto Video

edtechtruroBrightspace

Link to PDFIn addition to making video content more accessible to viewers with impaired hearing, captioning can improve the effectiveness of video. Captions can:

  • improve comprehension by native and foreign language speakers;
  • help compensate for poor audio quality or background noise within a video;
  • make video useful when a person is watching with the sound off or viewing in a noisy environment that obscures the sound; and,
  • provide viewers with one way to search inside of videos.

Panopto has the ability to listen to your lecture videos and add ASR (automatic speech recognition) generated captions to your video. However, it is not foolproof, and it does not always do a great job in articulating scientific words. Because of these inconsistences, it is important to know how to edit the captions for accuracy.
Adding Captions to a Panopto Video [PDF]