Overview
This article addresses commonly-asked questions about sharing your Kaltura media. In this context, "sharing" has as broad a context as possible, i.e. making them visible to others. That is, adding collaborators to your media, putting them in MediaSpace channels, publishing them to Canvas media galleries, and embedding them. Use the list below to jump to a question (if desired):
General Questions
Adding Collaborators (Co-Viewers, Co-Editors, Co-Publishers)
- Why might I add someone as a co-viewer?
- Why might I add someone as a co-publisher?
- Why might I add someone as a co-editor?
- If I give someone co-publisher privileges, can they embed my video in their courses as well?
- If I give someone a collaborator role in Canvas, does it apply in MediaSpace as well?
Embedding Media
- What does it mean to "embed" a video?
- The embed code that Kaltura generates in Canvas - can I use that on external websites?
- To add Kaltura videos in my modules, can I just create an "external URL" course element and use the URL of the video in the Media Gallery?
- Does embedding a video publish it to the Media Gallery as well?
- How do I add text to a page that has an embedded video?
- How do I remove an embedded video from a page in Canvas?
General Questions
Within Canvas, is it better to publish my videos to the Media Gallery or embed them within my modules?
We recommend doing both, but if you do only one, embed them within your modules.
Presenting your students with a well-organized course - a logical module structure, clear learning objectives, plenty of context for what they need to consume, and so on - is a key tenet of effective instructional design. Create pages within your modules for your multimedia that make clear when students are expected to consume them, and use the rich content editor to provide context for how the video fits in with the larger course structure.
Many students, however, benefit from being able to review your videos (for example, prior to an assessment), so consider publishing them to the Media Gallery as well to help students find them easily.
Adding Collaborators (Co-Viewers, Co-Editors, Co-Publishers)
Why might I add someone as a co-viewer?
Like the other collaborator roles, a co-viewer will see your video in their "My Media," but they'll only be able to view it there. They can't publish it to a channel or Media Gallery, nor edit it or download it.
Possible use cases:
- Giving a student access to remedial material that's published to another course
- Sharing the video with a colleague who's considering using it in their course
- Giving access to a recorded lecture that a student missed for a legitimate reason
Why might I add someone as a co-publisher?
A co-publisher will see your video in their "My Media" and will be able to publish it to other media galleries, embed it in course elements in different Canvas courses, publish it to other channels in MediaSpace, and embed your video on public websites.
Possible use cases:
- Allowing a colleague to use your video in their class
- Enabling your TA to gather multimedia study materials in a MediaSpace channel
Why might I add someone as a co-editor?
A co-editor can edit just about anything about your video, and can download it. They aren't, however, able to add any additional collaborators.
Possible use cases:
- Assigning a student worker to edit your captions for accuracy
- Asking your TA to insert chapter markers
- Allowing another user to add tags to your videos to make them more easily findable in your "My Media"
If I give someone co-publisher privileges, can they embed my video in their courses as well?
Yes.
Giving someone co-publisher access to your video will also allow them to embed it in their own courses in addition to publishing it to other Media Galleries. They can also publish it to channels in MediaSpace and even embed the video on a public website.
If I give someone a collaborator role in Canvas, does it apply in MediaSpace as well?
Yes.
To be clear:
- If you assign any collaborator role to a user in Canvas, they'll be able to see the video in their "My Media" both in Canvas and MediaSpace.
- If you assign a co-publisher role to a user in Canvas, they'll be able to publish and embed the video in their own courses in addition to being able to publish it to MediaSpace channels and categories.
- If you assign a co-editor role to a user in Canvas, they can choose to edit the video either in Canvas or MediaSpace.
Embedding Media
What does it mean to "embed" a video?
In a general sense, embedding a video is like taking one of your videos in "My Media" and inserting it into a web page. In order for that to happen, you have to add some code to the page - and so you need to be able to edit that page's HTML.
In Canvas, Kaltura makes this easy with the "embed Kaltura media" button that you can click in the rich content editor. When clicked, you're able to select what video you want to embed, configure a few details if desired, and then your video appears on that page in Canvas. Kaltura is taking care of creating the code and adding it to the page's HTML for you.
Within MediaSpace, you can find a so-called "external" embed code for your media. This is code that you can use on sites outside of Canvas to which you have edit access. For example, I've embedded videos on various other knowledge base articles using embed codes from MediaSpace.
The embed code that Kaltura generates in Canvas - can I use that on external websites?
No.
If you want to embed your media on external websites (i.e. outside of Canvas), you need to grab an embed code from MediaSpace instead. (Check out our KBA Get an External Embed Code for Kaltura Media if you want to learn how.) The embed codes that Kaltura uses within Canvas only work there.
To add Kaltura videos in my modules, can I just create an "external URL" course element and use the URL of the video in the Media Gallery?
No. If you want videos to appear in your modules properly, you have to use the rich content editor to embed it on a page (or any other course element that uses the rich content editor).
It may seem like you can publish your video to the Media Gallery, copy the URL that leads to a particular video, and add an "external URL" element to your module using that link. Unfortunately, that link won't work consistently. Yes, it will work some or even most of the time. But it's just not designed to work that way and we have ServiceNow tickets to back that up!
Ideally you also shouldn't use external embed codes from MediaSpace within Canvas. The Canvas-Kaltura LTI gives videos that are embedded properly a way to accurately track analytics, in particular the identities of the students who access your videos. If you use an external embed code, the video will look like a "normal" embedded video, but the analytics won't be as detailed or accurate anymore.
Does embedding a video publish it to the Media Gallery as well?
How do I add text to a page that has an embedded video?
Just type in the rich content editor with the cursor above or below the video. If necessary, use the HTML editor.
Sometimes after embedding a video, it can be difficult to figure out how to type in the rich content editor, particularly if it was empty prior to the embed. Sometimes you can click all over the place but not seem to make a cursor appear.
If you’re struggling to make the cursor appear, click the </> icon just below and to the right of the rich content editor’s text box. (If you hover your mouse over this, the tooltip is "Switch to raw html editor.")
You’ll then see the HTML code for your page. The video embed code will look something like the code below:
<p><iframe style="width: 800px; height: 450px;" title="How to Enable Downloads for a Published Video" src="https://canvas.ucsd.edu/courses/15712/external_tools/retrieve?display=in_rce&resource_link_lookup_uuid=0ceffb37-0484-42a3-a540-b266008bae9c" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" allow="geolocation *; microphone *; camera *; midi *; encrypted-media *; autoplay *; clipboard-write *; display-capture *"></iframe></p>Just type some text before or after the video embed code. You can then click the “</>” button again to switch back to the rich content editor to get a sense of how things look. At that point it should also be much easier to add and format additional text.
How do I remove an embedded video from a page in Canvas?
If you can’t just press backspace and remove the embed code in the rich content editor, use the HTML Editor to delete the embed code.
If you want to remove an embedded video from a page, you can often just click your cursor after the video and press backspace/delete until the video is removed. If this doesn’t work for you, though, you can always enter the raw HTML editor by clicking the </> icon below the text box. Be on the lookout for text that looks like this:
<p><iframe style="width: 800px; height: 450px;" title="How to Enable Downloads for a Published Video" src="https://canvas.ucsd.edu/courses/15712/external_tools/retrieve?display=in_rce&resource_link_lookup_uuid=0ceffb37-0484-42a3-a540-b266008bae9c" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" allow="geolocation *; microphone *; camera *; midi *; encrypted-media *; autoplay *; clipboard-write *; display-capture *"></iframe></p>After you delete the embed code, return to the rich content editor and ensure that your video has been removed.