Captions and screen-sharing ability in Canvas' Media Recordings

[lisa-karakas]

Hi - I'm an English Professor at Berkeley College.  

I was wondering if there are any plans to incorporate captioning and screen-sharing capabilities in Canvas' Record Media feature. 

Doing so would increase accessibility because captions would be available.

I record weekly welcome videos and other course content for each of my Canvas courses and need to use outside programs such as Flip or Zoom in order to get captions and to be able to screen share.  

If Canvas could incorporate those features into its Record Media function, it would make life a lot easier for many of us, including the students, who are often required to record and upload videos that require screen-sharing.

Are there any plans to have these features included in future Canvas updates?

Thank you!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello @lisa-karakas ...

I can possibly help with part of your question.  The ability to add captions to Canvas' media recordings should already be available to you.  Check out this Guide to see if this will help:

How do I add captions to new or uploaded videos in... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

As for screen sharing, I'm not sure if there are any plans for Instructure to implement something like that into Canvas.  I know there are other third-party video conferencing tools that can do this (Zoom and Microsoft Teams come to mind), and those virtual meetings can be recorded and then uploaded to Canvas...assuming that the file size meets the requirements outlined in the light-blue box at the top of this Guide:

How do I upload and embed a media file from my com... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I hope this will be of some help to you.  Let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello @lisa-karakas ...

I can possibly help with part of your question.  The ability to add captions to Canvas' media recordings should already be available to you.  Check out this Guide to see if this will help:

How do I add captions to new or uploaded videos in... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

As for screen sharing, I'm not sure if there are any plans for Instructure to implement something like that into Canvas.  I know there are other third-party video conferencing tools that can do this (Zoom and Microsoft Teams come to mind), and those virtual meetings can be recorded and then uploaded to Canvas...assuming that the file size meets the requirements outlined in the light-blue box at the top of this Guide:

How do I upload and embed a media file from my com... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I hope this will be of some help to you.  Let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!

[lisa-karakas]

Wow -- thanks so much for this information!  It's so helpful.  👍👍

[SusanNiemeyer]

Hi @lisa-karakas 

Does Berkeley College make Canvas Studio available for instructors and students? If so, that's the program to use. The auto-captions are generally quite good, and you'll only need to make a few modifications. Plus, you can store the videos in the Canvas Studio Library. You can also easily download them and store them on your own YouTube channel.

I only use the "Record Media" tool in Canvas to record short video comments for individual students. Those comments don't require captions. Otherwise, it's not a robust enough tool to use for other purposes.

[lisa-karakas]

Thanks for getting back to me!

Unfortunately, Berkeley doesn't offer Canvas Studio to its instructors.

I wish it did!

[DrNufer]

Studio is a great platform.  You can use a free screen recorder at https://screencast-o-matic.com/.  It uses the same engine as Studio (or rather, the other way around - Student leverages the screencast-o-matic platform).  

[JenMurphyA · Accepted solution]

Hi, @lisa-karakas! If you're using Chrome or Edge, you can now create recordings that include screen sharing as comments in the Canvas SpeedGrader. Captions are automatically added as well. Although not ideal, you could consider creating a recording as a comment in SpeedGrader, downloading it from your User Files>My Files>Uploaded Media, and then attaching it in a message to students. How do I record a webcam video, screen capture, or audio recording as a feedback comment in SpeedGra... 

[MattLisle]

This doesn't appear to be working for me. I can see the "New: Record videos and screen capture with auto captioning" message in SpeedGrader, next to the media comment controls. However, when I record a video, it doesn't automatically add any captions... even after waiting for a day or two. Is this working for anyone else?

[JenMurphyA]

I don't think it is working for me either, @MattLisle . I'll see what I can find out...

[JenMurphyA]

@MattLisle Apparently this is being looked into as a known issue, so there may be a solution or more information at some point. 

[MattLisle]

Thanks for your reply @JenMurphyA .

FYI, this thread was recently marked as solved, but it's still not working for me. I just tested in Chrome Version 135.0.7049.85, and Speedgrader media comments are still not auto-creating captions. 

[JenMurphyA]

I'm sorry, @MattLisle - you're right. It still isn't working. 

[lisa-karakas]

Wow -- this is great to know!  Mille grazie!