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Purpose
EchoVideo is SVSU’s supported tool for recording, sharing, and engaging students with video in Canvas. It supports student engagement, learning retention, and accessibility for in-person, hybrid, and online classes. This page provides guidance and resources to help you use lecture capture effectively in your courses.
Features
- Record classroom and personal lectures
- Upload media made in another platform
- Share videos in Canvas
- Engage students with interactive slides, polls, or discussion.
Accessibility in EchoVideo
The Department of Justice (DOJ) extended ADA WCAG requirements to April 26, 2027, there is more time to get your media accessible. EchoVideo has automatic speech recognition and various built-in accessible features supporting digital accessibility requirements such as live and closed captions, a searchable transcript, chapters, an accessibility widget for adjusting viewing options, and more.
Accurate video closed captions are required for ADA Title II compliance. EchoVideo automatically creates transcripts for all recordings. Faculty (or others you have given permission to help you edit) must review and correct transcripts for accuracy. The correctness of your media depends on various elements, quality of the recording, speaker characteristics, and subject vocabulary.
If you have media without a transcript saved in Canvas Files, view the guides below:
Exporting and Uploading Content to EchoVideo
If your media is already stored in EchoVideo, view the guides below:
Making Media Accessible
EchoVideo is available for all academic classes, and integrates with Teams and OneDrive. If you are new to using this tool view the Getting Started section below on how you can create and share content.
Getting Started
EchoVideo AI
Guidelines and Help
Get Inspired from Other Universities
EchoVideo Student Help
Recording Content and Engagement
What can I record with EchoVideo?
(record videos to increase student learning)
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Engagement Tools for Instructors
(view student participation and gradebook syncing)
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Active Learning for Students
(student access in Canvas)
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- Class or personal lectures prior to class.
- Assignment instructions
- An exam review
- Feedback for an entire class or for individual students.
- Weekly expectations in an Announcement.
- Capture lessons in our Lightboard studio
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- Use Discussion, Q&A, add polls, and more in all classes including Live Stream.
- View, manage, and edit published media.
- View student engagement, participation, confusion, and more.
- Add interactive polls and media slides such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. EchoVideo: Add an Interactive Presentation.
- View student Analytics and gain insight on participation and learning.
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- Join a Live Stream class and use the Classroom tools.
- View videos and presentations within an EchoVideo Classroom.
- Take Notes, ask Questions, create Bookmarks, use Confusion Flags, and more.
- Participate in Discussion and respond to polls within a presentation.
- Take Notes as they are watching, creates a study guide that they can review later.
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EchoVideo Instructor Help Resources
The topics below are broken down into categories, click the expandable panel(s) below to learn more.
Record on your Computer or on a Lightboard
| Lightboard Recording
- Lightboard Studio: Create asynchronous lectures or lessons on a glass LED Lightboard or a Windows computer using EchoVideo lecture capture tool. Allows you record written content as you speak and face the camera. The light illuminates the drawn content (diagram). The video resides on the EchoVideo server which allows you to easily edit and share in Canvas.
| Recording on a Personal Computer
If you are not recording in a classroom, you can capture and record videos on your computer in two different ways from your office, home, or any location.
Universal Capture (Personal) app
This is software installed on your computer and works on both Windows and MacOS computers (university or personal). Identical to what you would see in a classroom podium. Universal Capture (Personal) records 2 video inputs and audio (option to record system audio), with capabilities to pre-record videos or Live Stream a class. If you need to record videos without internet, use the offline option, the app will not publish any recordings until you switch to working online. All recordings will publish to your personal media Library, stored in the cloud.
Browser Capture
This is a web app that allows you to record your videos with an Internet connection and works on any computer, there is no software to install. Browser Capture doesn't offer Live Stream or the ability to record system audio. If you record with your web cam you can choose a preloaded virtual background. Browser Capture works best on the latest version of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or FireFox.
Lecture Capture Classroom - Scheduled or Adhoc
| How do I schedule a Lecture Capture (or series of Classes)?
Submit a ticket via our course request form. For scheduled classes, Live Stream or adhoc recordings. Scheduled classes will start and stop at the designated times. Ad-hoc classroom recording is something that you are controlling when the class starts recordings and stops. View Classrooms with EchoVideo
Scheduled or adhoc class recordings will be available ~1-2 hrs after class, this depends on the length of the class and where your recording is at in the queue with others. Once, processed the recording(s) will be seen in your Library. Your EchoVideo course will automatically list all scheduled recording including those with Live Stream allowing students to attend class virtually. The instructor can choose to delay the availability dates should they need to for editing or other reasons. All published recordings will be available for students to access for the entire semester.
Your EchoVideo course(s) can be accessed through Canvas via the EchoVideo tab in your Canvas menu or from echo360.org (login with your SVSU email address and password, it is not synced with your SVSU password).
Resources
| Live Streaming
Its easy and recommended to Live Stream your classes for flexibility for your students. You can request Live Stream for your scheduled classes or can start them on your own from a Classroom or from your computer. EchoVideo tracks ALL usage (video views) hourly regardless of how it was viewed or captured.
To Live Stream a ad-hoc recording in a Classroom, make sure you click the Live Streaming check box. To automatically have Live Stream enabled with your classes, be sure to let us know when you fill out the course request form.
Important Notes about Live Streaming Classes
- Control the availability of your scheduled classes with Live Stream. Select the box on the course request form to to delay the recordings.
- Control the availability of your classes for scheduled or adhoc recordings, choose date-based availability.
| Live Stream in a Classroom
Upload Media to an EchoVideo Library
You can upload content created in another tool or platform and store it in your EchoVideo Library and post to Canvas. There is is a 20GB file size limit. The file you upload must be a Supported Content Format or it will fail to upload. Note: If you use Teams or have media stored on your OneDrive you can set up automatic syncing to your Library.
Manage and Edit EchoVideo Media
| Managing Your Library Media
All content recorded with EchoVideo capture tools or those that have been uploaded or synced from Teams or OneDrive can be managed and edited before sharing with students. Create a Collection and share with others then set permissions on what you are allowing members to do with your media. Set up notifications for things that are important to you like capture processing and engagement, they are seen via the bell icon. Visit your Account Settings page. The resources below include instructions for managing and editing your media.
Library Media
Using the Media Editor
Sharing Media with Others and Using Collections in EchoVideo
Sharing Media with Others
Media you own in your Library can be shared with other EchoVideo users. When you share media with others the media appears in their Library, your name shows on the media as you are still the owner. See what actions are available when media is shared with you.
Using Collections in EchoVideo
Collections are used outside of a Canvas and accessed in a EchoVideo Library. Owners or those with add/upload permission can add any media to a collection. Owners can set permissions for each added member from pre-set roles to custom roles. Collections can be created by users with an Instructor or TA role in EchoVideo.
Automatic Speech Recognition and Closed Captions (CC)
Transcripts and captions are not the same. Transcripts are processed on all audio or video media when captured or uploaded to EchoVideo (since Fall 2023), videos longer than 4 hours will not be transcribed. Because the Automatic Speech Recognition (provided by EchoVideo) is machine generated it is ~90% accurate. Inaccuracies can occur with background noise, speaking too fast, a thick accent, and vocabulary in your teaching discipline.
Captioning audio and video content Guidelines. If you are reusing content, it is essential that you edit your transcript for accuracy in the event you have a student with visual or audio challenges. There is a transcript editor available inside of your Library. Once your transcript is edited, it must be 99% accurate, before you can apply Closed Captions (CC).
Transcriptions and Applying CC
Embedding Videos in Canvas (recommended for Modules)
Quickly reuse, record new, or upload videos right in Canvas's Rich Text Editor does not require you to have a course as long as you have an Echo360 user account you can embed your videos in Canvas. All embedded videos will import successfully to other Canvas courses.
Benefits of embedding media in Canvas
- Recommended for Asynchronous Classes: Quickest and easiest method for posting videos.
- Access the easy embed button: Look for the electric plug icon in the toolbar.
- Features: You can embed audio, video, or interactive media into Canvas content types (e.g., Announcement, Assignment, Discussion, Page, Quizzes, or Syllabus). Easily embed existing media individually or create a Playlist.
- Expiration: Students can always access embedded media as long as your course or content type is published.
- Student access: Computer or mobile device (Android or iOS).
- Supported Browsers: Lastest version of Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge, or the Canvas student app.
- Gradebook: Coming soon in Winter 2025
Using the Easy Embed Tool via the Rich Content Editor (RCE)
Publishing Media to a EchoVideo Course
Requires faculty to request a new course/section each semester. Provides a shortcut access to your Library, Courses, Collections, and the Create button.
When you fill our our course request form an admin creates your course(s) which is most common for scheduled classes/Live Stream, creating ad-hoc classroom or publishing personal recordings. A EchoVideo course provides a virtual classroom and tools that instructors, teaching assistants, and students can utilize before, during, or after class.
| Course Features
Some quick reminders on having a Echo360 course are below:
- Recommended for Synchronous and Asynchronous Classes: Allows students to access classes in real-time or after class.
- Access via the EchoVideo tab: Located in the Canvas menu.
- Features: The virtual classroom allows students to attend class in real-time. Instructors have the capability to provide a PowerPoint or other supplemental material to a class. Instructors can view student participation, set engagement metrics for your course, and more.
- Expiration: Students can access published content in a from the start and end date of the current semester only.
- Student access: Computer only
- Supported Browsers: Lastest version of Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge
- Gradebook: You can create an Assignment and push points to the Canvas gradebook.
Explore this article: EchoVideo: Adding an EchoVideo Link to a Canvas Course – Support (echo360.com)
| Classroom Features for Students
- Classes: Allow students to rewatch what was taught during an in-person class or an online class.
- Q&A: Allows students to post and respond to discussions related to the class.
- Notes: Allows students to take notes while watching which at time stamped.
- Study Guide: Automatically created when students take Notes or create bookmarks.
- Presentation: Allows students to follow along with a PowerPoint presentation at their pace.
- Polls: Allows students to answer polls you have added to a PowerPoint presentation or to a video.
| Help articles
Engage Students with Polls, Q&A, and Track Usage Analytics
| Enhance Student Learning and Participation
There are various tools available to increase learning retention, participation, and analyze student performance.
Adding Polls
Instructors can use polls to check for student understanding and increase their participation in class topics. There are 5 different poll questions to choose from - Multiple choice, Short answer, Image poll, Ordered list, and Numerical.
- Add embedded polling slides to a video gate student learning, students can only answer the poll once. Can embed to the Rich Text Editor or publish to an EchoVideo course.
- Add embedded polling to presentations and get feedback during class or a Live Stream. Students can answer the poll until you close it. Used within an EchoVideo course.
Using Disussion and Q&A
| Student Analytics
No matter how you publish your content EchoVideo provides usage Analytics, this is different from Canvas Analytics. There are 2 ways to access student engagement Analytics in Canvas. Data includes all student names and their participation.
Course/Section Analytics - Features
On the course home page, click Analytics tab. View Analytics (aggregated data) by class and/or students, additionally, monitor student participation, identify the least engaged students, view confusion flags, and more. Set weighting metrics for your classes, and push points to the Canvas gradebook.
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Classes: Overall student participation and engagement in each class.
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Students: Shows participation and engagement data for each student across all classes published in the course.
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Weighting: Choose from preset metric weighting or custom the metrics for what is important to you, the metrics set correlate with what you set for engagement.
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Engagement: You will see the list of students with the least participation and a list of confused flag locations that students marked, clicking a confusion flag will open the class. Another way you can see where there could be content that students find confusing is by viewing the hotspots overlaid on the video in the class.
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LMS Gradebook: Decide what metric you want to export to the Canvas Gradebook, there are four different metrics you can export. Note: You must have already created an Assignment link inside of Canvas.
Hotspots/Heatmap in a Classroom
Both students and instructors can turn on or off the “hotspots” in a video or heatmap, when enabled a graphical overlay appears of where what segments of the media has been watched the most by users.
Media Analytics for all Classroom or Embedded media (granular data)
In the Canvas menu, you can view media Analytics (embedded media via the Rich Text Editor and/or published media to a EchoVideo course) in one consolidated location, click the EchoVideo Course Analytics tab. The Views tab includes all playable media. The Polls tab includes polling response information for presentations or interactive media.
Integrations with EchoVideo
Connect Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Zoom to EchoVideo
Save time and extra clicks. Enable or subscribe OneDrive folders or Teams recordings to your Library. Automatically import and publish videos made to your Library. You don't have to be using Teams to set up a OneDrive subscription. Additionally, if you use Teams you can add the Echo360 app for a one stop access to your content. If you have Zoom (pro Account) your recordings will automatically publish to your Library. View our knowledge base articles below:
EchoVideo - Student Support Guides
Viewing Media and Student Engagement Tools
Students will have access to media inside of Canvas. There are a few ways for students to access lecture recordings or presentations based on how it was shared to Canvas. Note: A supported browser like Chrome, Edge, or Firefox must be used to view content on a computer. If students say they cannot view your videos, have them clear the cache and cookies in their browser, or try an alternative browser. Explore our EchoVideo Student Guide.
View Media in an EchoVideo Course
Provides all media in a class list and includes several engagement tools to use during or after class. EchoVideo allows various ways to engage students and help increase their learning. Tools like Discussion, Q&A, and Polls, are used to engage students during class or after class. Benefits for an EchoVideo course include:
- Students can watch a missed lecture(s).
- Students can take Notes, ask Questions, and review a class or lesson recording at their own pace.
- Students can participate in Discussion and respond to polling questions.
- Students that take Notes will automatically have a study guide.
Student Help Guides for an EchoVideo Course
The engagement tools are available for all classes including Live Streamed classes. Students can:
View Embedded Media in Canvas
Note: Students have access to embedded videos as long as the Canvas course and content or Module is published.
EchoVideo provides students access to watch recordings directly in Canvas Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, and Quizzes which can be in a Canvas module.
The embedded video player provides a Discussion tool for Q&A to engage in conversation, students can ask questions. Embedded videos can be accessed on a computer with a supported browser (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox) while logged into Canvas or a via the Canvas student app (Android or iOS).
Student Help Guides for Embedded Videos
EchoVideo Instructor FAQs
How can I Post Videos in Canvas?
There are two methods for sharing your class material with students in Canvas. EchoVideo gathers user Analytics and you can push student participation to the gradebook in Canvas.
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Embedding media in Canvas
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Mainly used for asynchronous classes. Simply look for the plug icon in the toolbar. Embed Videos into a Page, Discussion, Assignment (for graded submissions), Quizzes, etc. then add to a Module. Provides a discussion panel, allows for public or anonymous Q&A which encourages student participation. You can set up automatic syncing of grades to Canvas.
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EchoVideo course
- Commonly used for synchronous classes. Request - Lecture Capture (EchoVideo). Allows you to post scheduled or adhoc recordings (classroom/personal), offers Live Stream, provides Active Learning Tools and options for adding interactive presentations (media/polling slides). You can manually sync grades to Canvas.
Can I reuse EchoVideo content from a previous course?
Yes, to reuse old content from a previous course, there are a few ways:
- From a EchoVideo Course: Request ITS to clone/copy previous course media. This requires a new course for the current semester.
- Embed your videos in Canvas and share them via Modules: No ITS assistance needed. Embedded videos import to other Canvas courses.
Can I track student video views with EchoVideo?
Yes, EchoVideo gathers all usage Analytics so you can monitor student participation and provides built-in engagement tools that both the instructor and students can use before, during, and after class.
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