Prerequisites for using the Echo360 Embed button:
1) A Sakai Administrator must have installed and enabled the Echo360 Embed button for your Sakai instance.
2) The public links option must be turned on, so that you have the authority to generate a public link for embedding.
If a Sakai Admin has enabled it for your institution, Echo360 provides a content embed button (also called an "easy embed button") that appears in the toolbar of a content window, shown in the below figure.
This button provides the ability to:
- Embed a video from your Echo360 My Content library directly into the Sakai content window.
- Enter a URL link for a video in your Echo360 My Content library into the Sakai content window.
- Upload a video then embed it (or provide a URL link) as a single process.
- Create Media by launching Universal Capture, creating a capture, then embedding it as a single process.
The same button provides access to all three of these features. This button should appear in the toolbar for all content windows in Sakai. (e.g., Announcements, Assignments, etc).
Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and Students can select any video already resident in their library (My Content) or they can upload a video to embed or link. Sakai Administrators who are also Echo360 Administrators can select any capture in the system they have access to (or upload a video).
LMS-Embedded videos provide view data such as view counts and heatmap data, as shown in the Analytics tab of the media details page of the video. Furthermore, as long as the user is logged into the LMS, the views can be attributed to unique viewers and as such are counted as Unique Views in the analytics data provided.
The procedures below add an Announcement into a Sakai course site. You can add any element you like to hold the video, as long as the element contains a content window into which the video can be embedded. NOTE that the instructions below for working in the Sakai interface are provided only as a guide. If you need further assistance, please contact your help desk or Sakai administrator.
Embedding an Existing Echo360 Video into a Content Window
The steps below are for selecting a video already resident in Echo360 for embedding into the content window. You must OWN the video you want to embed (it appears in the My Content tab of your Echo360 Home page) or you must be an Echo360 administrator with access to some set of videos in the system. If you need to add the video to Echo360 first, see the instructions later on this page.
To embed an existing Echo360 video into a content window
- Log in to Sakai.
- Open the location where you want to post the video
The below figure shows a Sakai Site with the Announcements page open.
- Click Add.
- In the new item screen enter a name or title for the thing you are posting.
- From the content window toolbar, click the Echo360 embed button as identified in the below figure.
A dialog box appears with the Choose From My Home tab active, listing the videos you own, or for admins, the videos you have access to.
If you need to upload a video to embed, click the Upload Existing Media tab, and refer to the instructions later on this page.
- If necessary, use the Search Content text box and/or Filters options to find the video you want to embed into the window. Click Reset to clear any search/filters as needed.
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Select the video you want to embed. The row expands to show additional embedding options, as shown in the below figure.
If you plan to post a URL link to the video instead of embedding the video directly into the content page, see Posting a Video Link in an LMS content window instructions later on this page.
- From the Select size drop-down list, select the size you want for the embedded video. There are three size options.
- If appropriate, enable the option to Autoplay the video (it will play as soon as a user opens the page you are embedding it into).
- If you enable Autoplay, Automute is automatically enabled, to accommodate browsers that no longer allow autoplay with sound. You CAN enable Automute separately without Autoplay.
- If appropriate, set a Start At time. If set, the video will begin playing at that timestamp, although viewers will be able to rewind/fast-forward the player to view any segment of the embedded video.
- When finished, click INSERT. The content area will show an "IFRAME" notification to indicate there is an embedded item there.
- Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Post.
Once the item is added, students can open the page and view the embedded video. If you selected Autoplay or Start At configurations for the video, those are enacted for the user upon viewing.
Uploading a Video to Embed into a Content Window
The steps below are for uploading a video to Echo360 then embedding the new upload into the content window. Most of the procedural steps are identical to embedding an existing Echo360 video, with the exception of being able to upload the video first, then selecting it from your existing content list.
To upload and then embed an Echo360 video into a content window
- Log in to Sakai.
- Open the location where you want to post the video
The below figure shows a Sakai Site with the Announcements page open.
- Click Add.
- In the new item screen enter a Name for the thing you are posting.
- From the content window toolbar, click the Echo360 embed button as identified in the below figure.
A dialog box appears with the Choose From My Home tab active, listing the videos you own, or for admins, the videos you have access to. - From the media selection dialog box that appears, select the Upload Existing Media tab, as shown in the below figure.
- Click Select Media.
The dialog box changes to allow you to upload from your local machine (this is the default).
- To select to upload from a shared drive location (such as Dropbox or Google Drive), click the appropriate icon from the list on the left side of the dialog box.
- Follow the options to find and select the video to upload to Echo360 for embedding into your LMS content window.
- Click Upload.
Once the file is uploaded, you are returned to the media list in the Choose from My Home tab, with the newly uploaded video selected by default, as shown in the below figure.
NOTICE that the video may not have a preview thumbnail; this is because the video is still being processed by Echo360. How long this takes is partially dependent on the size of the video.
If you plan to post a URL link to the video instead of embedding the video directly into the content page, see Posting a Video Link in an LMS content window instructions later on this page. - From the Select size drop-down list, select the size you want for the embedded video.
- After selecting a size, you have the option to Autoplay the video (it will play as soon as a user opens the page you are embedding it into).
- If you enable Autoplay, Automute is automatically enabled, to accommodate browsers that no longer allow autoplay with sound. You CAN enable Automute separately without Autoplay.
- If appropriate, set a Start At time. If set, the video will begin playing at that timestamp, although viewers will be able to rewind/fast-forward the player to view any segment of the embedded video.
- When finished, click INSERT.
- Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Post.
The Preview and the published version of the newly uploaded video may show that the video is currently processing, as shown in the below figure. Once processing complete, the embedded video will appear. If you selected Autoplay or Start At configurations for the video, those will be enacted for the viewer on playback.
Launching Universal Capture to Create Media to Embed
One option from the Embed Media dialog box is to launch Universal Capture and create a new capture, then select to embed the new video directly into the Moodle content window. If Universal Capture is already installed on the computer, it will automatically open to the Preview screen. If Universal Capture is not installed or detected on the computer, you are given the option to install it (for students, UC downloads must be enabled), then return to the Embed Media window to launch the application.
To create media to embed into a content window
- Log in to Sakai.
- Open the location where you want to post the video
The below figure shows a Sakai Site with the Announcements page open.
- Click Add.
- In the new item screen enter a Name for the thing you are posting.
- From the content window toolbar, click the Echo360 embed button as identified in the below figure.
A dialog box appears with the Choose From My Home tab active, listing the videos you own, or for admins, the videos you have access to. - From the media selection dialog box that appears, select the Create Media tab, as shown in the below figure.
- Click Launch Universal Capture.
If Universal Capture is installed on the computer, a window opens, allowing you to select your inputs and start recording whenever you are ready.
If Universal Capture is not installed or detected on the computer, you are given the option to install it, then returned to the Embed Media window to launch the application. - When you are finished recording, click Finish.
Once the file is uploaded, you are returned to the media list in the Choose from My Home tab, with the newly uploaded video selected by default, as shown in the below figure.
NOTICE that the video may not have a preview thumbnail; this is because the video is still being processed by Echo360. How long this takes is partially dependent on the size of the video.
If you plan to post a URL link to the video instead of embedding the video directly into the content page, see Posting a Video Link in an LMS content window instructions later on this page. - From the Select size drop-down list, select the size you want for the embedded video.
- After selecting a size, you have the option to Autoplay the video (it will play as soon as a user opens the page you are embedding it into).
- If you enable Autoplay, Automute is automatically enabled, to accommodate browsers that no longer allow autoplay with sound. You CAN enable Automute separately without Autoplay.
- If appropriate, set a Start At time. If set, the video will begin playing at that timestamp, although viewers will be able to rewind/fast-forward the player to view any segment of the embedded video.
- When finished, click INSERT.
- Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Post.
The Preview and the published version of the newly uploaded video may show that the video is currently processing, as shown in the below figure. Once processing complete, the embedded video will appear. If you selected Autoplay or Start At configurations for the video, those will be enacted for the viewer on playback.
Posting a Video Link into a Content Window
The below procedure inserts a URL link for the video into the content window instead of embedding the video. A URL Link (also referred to as a Public Link or a Video Link) opens the video in a player outside of the LMS page where it resides (often in a new browser tab).
Most of the procedural steps are identical to embedding an existing Echo360 video, with the exception of selecting the Link option instead of the available embedding options (Size, Autoplay, Start At).
LMS-Embedded videos provide view data such as view counts and heatmap data, as shown in the Analytics tab of the media details page of the video. Furthermore, as long as the user is logged into the LMS, the views can be attributed to unique viewers and as such are counted as Unique Views in the analytics data provided.
To insert a URL link to an Echo360 video into a content window
- Log in to Sakai.
- Open the location where you want to post the video
The below figure shows a Sakai Site with the Announcements page open.
- Click Add.
- In the new item screen enter a Name for the thing you are posting.
- From the content window toolbar, click the Echo360 embed button as identified in the below figure.
A dialog box appears with the Choose From My Home tab active, listing the videos you own, or for admins, the videos you have access to.
If you need to upload a video to embed, click the Upload Existing Media tab, and refer to the instructions later on this page.
- If necessary, use the Search Content text box and/or Filters options to find the video you want to embed into the window. Click Reset to clear any search/filters as needed.
- Select the video you want to embed. The row expands to show additional embedding options.
- Enable the Link toggle, located below the Size drop-down list, as shown in the below figure.
Notice that the embed options are grayed out once the Link toggle is enabled.
- Click INSERT.
The content window shows the name of the file as the link text as shown in the below figure.
- Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Post.
The URL Video link is entered into the content window. The link posted uses the Video title as the text for the link; it does not post the full URL.
Once the item is published, users can click the video link, and playback will open in a new browser tab or window.