Using Media for Teaching

Media plays an important role in teaching, and there are many reasons instructors may want to share audio or video files with students in Canvas. For example, you can pre-record a lecture for asynchronous remote learning, create supplementary deep dives to enhance student understanding of specific topics, make quick recordings to share announcements or updates with the class, or post a recording of a real-time remote lecture. You have options for which tools you use to create videos, including Zoom and Kaltura Capture. If you are stuck, the OSU Media Hub personnel provide consultation and support on creating and using media in your courses. Because video files are too large for Canvas file storage, be sure to use your personal media repository, called My Media, to manage and share your media. You can access My Media either from within Canvas or outside of Canvas through OSU’s MediaSpace webpage. My Media seamlessly connects to recordings you create with your OSU Zoom account or Kaltura Capture.

There are also ways to use and share media outside of Canvas when you access your My Media collection through OSU’s MediaSpace webpage. This includes, for example, being able to share your media publicly for all to see or embed your media on a webpage or in SharePoint.

How to record a video

You have a few OSU-supported options for video creation tools, depending on the type of video you are making. Outside of these, you may use any other video creation tool you have available to you and upload the video you create into My Media for sharing in Canvas.

Recording presentations on your screen

Zoom is the most common tool used for recording videos at OSU. While it is known for its ability to host and record remote classes and meetings, you can also simply start a solo meeting, share your screen, and start recording to create a presentation video. Kaltura Capture is also available for download.

Recording your webcam

For short webcam-only recordings, you can use the Kaltura Recording Tool. This is ideal for creating a quick video announcement or an introduction video.

Editing your video

Before you do anything, save a copy of your video file; never replace your original. Having backups is always prudent and will be especially helpful if you make a mistake during editing.

While there are more powerful video editing tools on the market for professional video editor, the Kaltura Editor is freely available to all OSU people and can do most basic edits. When using the Kaltura Editor, it is recommended to do only a few edits at a time before saving and reviewing your changes.

As a final step, caption your videos to meet accessibility requires but also to enhance comprehension and to enable all users to watch the video regardless of their equipment or environment.

How to store and share your video

Any video created using your OSU Zoom account or through Kaltura Capture is automatically uploaded into My Media and can then be easily shared with students from there.

If you used another tool to create your video, you can manually upload media files to My Media. Almost all video formats are accepted for My Media uploads e.g., mp4, mov, avi, etc. Please note that PowerPoint files are not video files.

When videos are first added to My Media, be aware that the initial video quality will be low. Depending on the length and resolution of the video, it may take several hours to finish processing to display the quality of the original video.

Sharing Videos in Canvas

Once videos are uploaded into My Media, those videos can be shared with students in Canvas e.g., through announcements, pages, assignments, quizzes, or discussions.

Video best practices

Name your videos in a consistent and meaningful way, such as always starting with the course ID and topic of the video.

Consider breaking up your course content into smaller lectures. Shorter videos will better keep your students’ attention, they will upload and process more quickly, and they are easier for you to maintain. If you need to update information in the future, or if you find a flub, it is easier to re-record a short video than it is to try to edit a longer video.

The ideal video length is about 3-5 minutes, but for topics where this is not possible, try to keep it under 15 minutes.