Overview
Below is a compilation of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding Echo360, its use, and how it integrates with our other supported tools.
Article Sections
- Echo360 General Questions
- Echo360 Capture Methods
- Accessing Echo360
- Echo360 in the Classroom
- Editing Video Media in Echo360
- Managing Echo360 Media
- Publishing Media to a Course
- Share a Video from your Library (creates a New Class)
- Add a Video to Class in your Course
- Echo360 Accessibility (ASR)
While recording your class lectures, do not check grades, email, or anything confidential which violates FERPA policy. All content is recorded and will be available to students whether scheduled to start automatically or started and stopped manually.
Need to trim or cut out sensitive information? You can edit your video directly in your browser, view a library of help articles on
using the Media Editor in Echo360.
Echo360 General Questions
What is Echo360?
Echo360 is a comprehensive lecture capture and video hosting system with an integrated Active Learning Platform (ALP). The system allows SVSU faculty to record video lectures for students to view on a computer. All content is accessible via Canvas.
What is Active Learning Platform (ALP)?
Echo360's Active Learning Platform provides classroom tools, polling, and quizzes you will also know which students are the least engaged or might be confused. The system provides you with rich analytics to increase student engagement and sets them up for success.
Who benefits from Echo360?
Echo360 benefits both Faculty and Students. Faculty do not have to continue to re-teach concepts and can also create videos for students as needed to address difficult subject matter. Additionally, classes can be recorded so if a student is sick and cannot make class, they do not get behind. Faculty can also pre-record their lectures if they plan to miss class due to a conference, or other situations.
How many people have used Echo360 at SVSU?
Since 2013 we have had over 1,200 instructors and over 20,000 students (many now Alumni) use Echo360.
How much content has been recorded?
As of Winter 2022, there have been nearly 46,000 videos saved to the Echo360 system, with over 1,200 more being recorded/live-streamed each month.
How many students are watching videos?
Currently, on average, there are 7-10,000 hours of content being watched each month and the majority of SVSU students use Echo360 in at least one of their classes each semester.
Who owns the content?
The creator owns the content, just like your Canvas course, it is your intellectual property.
How much storage is available in Echo360?
Since Echo360 hosts the videos securely on their servers, in the cloud, it does not affect your storage in Canvas and there is no limit to the number of videos you store in your Library.
Echo360 Capture Methods
What types of recording systems are there?
Classrooms and Special Rooms
Request automated captures or record ad-hoc classroom recordings in our classrooms and special spaces.
Personal Recordings
Can you upload a video made in other platforms (Zoom, Teams, etc.) to Echo360?
Yes, you can download class recordings made in Zoom, Teams, or another platform and upload them to Echo360. ITS recommends that you upload your videos to Echo360 to take advantage of the benefits of the platform. Note: Your video must be smaller than 20GB.
Can I create a video from a PowerPoint?
Yes, view How to save a PowerPoint Presentation as an MP4 then below view how-to upload media to Echo360.
Downloading Online Meeting Recordings from other platforms.
- Zoom Cloud Recordings are only available for 45 days, as we have limited cloud storage. To retain your videos longer, download your recordings from Zoom.
- Teams meeting recordings are available to download and count towards the total 1 Tb of storage space available per user.
Accessing Echo360
How are videos accessed/who can see the videos?
People who are enrolled in your Canvas course are the only ones that can watch published content in your course. In an Echo360 course, faculty are in control of when the videos are available, they can be available as soon as your class completes, or whenever you decide to make them available. Some faculty like to trim and edit videos before they make them accessible for students to watch.
What supported tools does Echo360 integrate with?
- Canvas: Content accessed in the Canvas course navigation menu or embedded in Canvas (e.g. Announcement, Assignment, Page, etc.).
- Teams: You can access your Library, Courses, Upload, Edit, Create new media, etc. all from within Microsoft Teams. Echo360 appears as a tab in the main left navigation or it can be added to a Teams class channel.
- OneDrive: Add your enrolled course class Team (must complete Canvas/Teams integration) to a Teams channel this allows an automatic copy of your meeting in Teams to copy to Echo360. Log into Echo360, select Account Settings, then choose OneDrive Settings, then "Add OneDrive Subscription".
- Note: You can set up more than one subscription.
- Zoom: If you have both a Zoom Pro account and an Echo360 account, your recordings will automatically copy to your Echo360 Library.
Can I use Student View in Canvas with Echo360?
No, Student View in Canvas doesn't work in Echo360 because the test student does not have login credentials. This is normal and you can disregard it.
Echo360 in the Classroom
What rooms are equipped with Echo360?
All classrooms on campus have some form of Echo360 capability. There are 75+ rooms with Echo360 hardware technology, rooms with hardware devices record what displays through the projector, yourself teaching at the podium, and audio (microphone at the podium). All other rooms have Universal Capture Classroom software installed on the podium computer, it will record your computer screen and audio. View our Classroom Equipment and Technology Features List.
How is my class recorded?
There are several ways to use Echo360. You can record a lecture in a physical classroom, within our AV studio, or on your computer. Classroom recordings can be scheduled or ad-hoc (you control the start and stop of them). See the types of recording systems available to you.
How do I schedule my classroom lectures?
It starts by filling out the Semester Request form. Classroom Lectures can be scheduled with or without Live Stream, for the semester, or for specific date(s). There are 75+ rooms with Echo360 hardware technology across campus, rooms with hardware devices record what displays through the projector, yourself teaching at the podium, and audio (microphone at the podium). Rooms can also have Classroom capture software installed on the podium computer, it will record your computer screen and audio. Classroom Equipment and Technology Features List
When a capture is scheduled it appears as a placeholder in your Echo360 course and becomes available to students when the recording has been processed on the server. You can delay the availability of when students can view the class recording(s) by specific date(s) or make media unavailable immediately to students.
Can I Live Stream my classes?
Yes, when you request automatic scheduling of your class(es) you can request it to be live-streamed, alternatively, you can also choose to live stream the class when doing an ad-hoc recording from the classroom, or while using Universal Capture Personal. Scheduled/Live Stream classes can have the recordings made unavailable or delayed by x number of days. It gives you flexibility when students can access your class recordings.
How can Echo360 help me teach synchronously?
Echo360 is capable of live streaming from your home PC, a work PC, the classroom with Classroom Capture, or any appliance. Students watch the content by logging into Canvas and clicking on the Echo360 tab. The link can not be shared, and all recording controls are up to you (see “How is my class recorded” above).
View questions, comments, and discussion posts in real-time and see who is actively viewing your class. Assess student learning live with Interactive Slides and Polling in your Presentations.
How can Echo360 help me teach asynchronously?
Videos can be created for students to watch 24x7 from any device anywhere with an internet connection. Students can engage with the content with polls, questions, take notes, and bookmark content.
Editing Video Media in Echo360
Can you edit the videos?
Yes, Echo360's browser-based editor makes it easy to edit videos from anywhere, with no complicated tools required. The tool is available directly from the user’s library, the editor allows the user to simply make and save changes, and the published version is automatically updated. Learn more about using the Video Editor in Echo360.
Can you pause while recording a video?
Yes, you can pause a recording indefinitely (all capture types). Learn more about controlling a capture.
Managing Echo360 Media
How can I share my videos outside of a Canvas course or outside of SVSU?
Need to share your videos outside of Canvas? There are two methods for sharing your videos internally (those with an SVSU email address) or externally without one.
- Microsoft Stream: Upload your video(s) to Microsoft Stream, set viewing permissions for specific individuals, specific groups, or allow all individuals with an SVSU email address to view them. Links to your video do not expire.
- OneDrive: Upload your video(s) to OneDrive, set viewing permissions for specific individuals, allow all individuals with an SVSU email address to view your video, or anyone with the link to view them (allows external viewing). Links to your video(s) will expire after 30 days or less, you would need to re-share the video link for longer viewing.
Can I share my videos with other instructors outside of an Echo360 course?
Yes, you can share content outside of an Echo360 course (Active Learning Platform) in the video stores in your Library. Media can be shared with other instructors by creating a Collection or can be downloaded, and managed in other platforms outside of Canvas. ITS recommends using Collections.
You own the video and can download Echo360 media or share it with other instructors. It is your intellectual property that you can take with you. Students and other faculty will not be able to download your videos. You can
share individual pieces of media via Share icon or create an
Echo360 Collection and share bulk media with other instructors (see Collections below).
Sharing Media in a Collection (formerly Groups). Creators of a Collection can set permissions to a user's group rights, a user must have an Echo360 user account. Media in a Collection still resides in the owner's personal library. Permissions include (e.g., Add & Upload, Copy, Download, Remove, and Post).
Learn more about Echo360 Collections.
Can I share course content with co-instructors or teaching assistants?
Yes, you can request to add another instructor to your Echo360 course when you fill out the Semester Request Form. Having another Echo360 section instructor allows the ability for them to upload content (video, video with embedded poll(s), a PowerPoint, or PDF) to a class, in your Echo course. They also have the ability to edit and download your content.
Additionally, you can request someone to be added to your Echo360 course with the role of Teaching Assistant, which has limited functionality.
Course published content is available for all enrolled students and instructors. If there is content uploaded to a class that you do not own, you will not find it in your Library. You can create a copy of the course published media. Instructors that are co-teaching can do the same. Learn how to
create copies of course published media in your Echo360 course.
Note: If the content being copied is large, it will take some time to appear in your Library.
Publishing Media to a Course
There are a few different ways to publish media to your Echo360 course.
- Library:
- Echo360 course
- In Canvas, click Echo360 tab in your course menu; you will see the Classes list page. Click New Class (blue button upper-right of your screen). In the New Class window, type in a name for your class, you can click a Start Date or type in a Description (they are optional) click the blue OK button to save.
- Next, click the blue + icon, to Add a Media to a Class
Alternatively, you can log into
echo360.org and access your media and courses. Note: In order for students to access Echo360 content, they
must first be enrolled in a Canvas course and authenticate through their login through Canvas to Echo360.
Echo360 Accessibility
How does Echo360 Support Accessibility (ADA Compliance)?
Echo360 has automatic speech recognition (ASR) for audio and video recordings. The transcript is ~90% accurate, a number of factors can affect the accuracy of your transcripts such as background noise, terminology within a discipline, the accent of the speaker, or the volume or placement of your audio. You can edit your transcript for accuracy directly in the browser with the built-in transcript editor. Students can read the transcript along with the video and the transcript is searchable.
Learn how to make Echo360 content ADA compliant and how to use the built-in transcript editor.
If you are reusing content, you need to have Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) turned on in your course. Once your videos have transcripts you do not need to request ASR, the transcripts remain on your video unless you delete them.
Echo360 Help Portal
Visit our Help Portal (by SVSU ITD Dept) to access help articles, pre-recorded webinars, learn what's new and more.