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Using Panopto with Blackboard

NOTE: Before you can use Panopto and Blackboard together, your Blackboard course must be linked to Panopto. This process is called provisioning, and the steps are detailed in Getting Started with Panopto.

Now that Panopto is provisioned for your Blackboard course, it's time to start using the tools together. The following overview from Panopto support is a great way to learn the basics of recording, uploading, sharing, and editing. Please note that the folder in Blackboard in their demonstration is called Panopto Video. At JHU, the corresponding folder is typically called Panopto Recordings (though you can name it whatever you like).

If you don't have time to watch the video above, here is some detail on the most frequently asked questions about using Panopto with Blackboard.

FAQ Topics:

Show Link of Panopto Recordings from Blackboard MenuDo I need to show the Panopto Recordings link for my students to see the videos?

Each course (Homewood) has a link called Panopto Recordings. This link is hidden by default. the Panopto Recordings link corresponds to the folder on Panopto that is associated with your course. In this Panopto folder, students enrolled in the course have rights to view everything, and faculty/TAs in the course have rights to view/edit/delete all the recordings. If you want students to see all the videos in your Panopto folder at once, then simply "show link" for the Panopto Recordings menu item.

Can I link to individual videos in other parts of my course?

Instead of showing the Panopto Recordings menu link (above), leave it hidden, which it is by default. Then, choose a method from those listed below to add individual links in your course.

First, go into any content area (like Course Content). Then, decide whether you would like a normal, text-based link or an embed.

To create a text-based link, choose click on the Tools menu and choose Panopto Video Link:

Panopto Video Link from Blackboard Menu

From the dropdown menu, select the source course (usually the course you're working in) and choose the video.

You can give the link a custom name and description or accept the default. Then, press submit and OK on the next screen. The link is created in the content area and looks like this:

Example of link setup using Panopto video Link

This type of simple text link will open in a new window and the student will have the entire Panopto viewer experience.

Some faculty prefer to embed Panopto videos within a page so that students don't have to leave the Blackboard page. This is also possible with Panopto. Start in any content area and choose Build Content>Panopto Video Embed:

Panopto Video Embed Menu item in Blackboard

Next, make sure you are in the right folder on the drop-down menu. Then, simply select the video you wish to embed and press Insert Video. The video is embedded in the content area and looks like this:

Example of embedded Panopto video in Blackboard

The student can play this video directly on the page. You can rename and add a description using the embeded video's drop down meun at the top. The student can click on the diagonal arrow to pop the video out into a new window for the full Panopto viewer experience. Or, they can click on the dashed square icon in the lower right to make it full screen. The embedded player has most of the features of the full Panopto viewer, but because the viewing size is smaller, the menu overlays can crowd the player. This Panopto help page describes the full features of the embedded viewer.

Links or embeds can be in any content area, or any folder within a content area.

There is another, less common way to link to Panopto videos in a Blackboard course. This method presumes you are working within an Item (or any other Blackboard feature with the editor) in Blackboard. You can choose Panopto Video any time you see the Mashups menu:

Panopto Mashups Menu Item

This essentially takes you to the saem embed screen above, and lets you embed a Panopto video in a Blackboard Item, Discussion Board Post, etc.

It is also possible to manually add links or embed code anywhere HTML is supported. This approach is not recommended for beginners, but all the information you need to link or embed videos manually is available in the settings of each video or folder.

Can I group multiple videos together to keep the Blackboard page from becoming too long?

Yes! Panopto supports a feature called Playlists. First, take a look at Panopto's instructions for creating a playlist. You can skip step4 (Sharing) because you'll be creating this playlist inside your course's Panopto folder, so the permissions will already be set.

After you've created the playlist and verified that it works, you can embed the playlist using the embedding instructions above.

Can I add a quiz to my video?

Yes! Panopto supports adding quizzes using the editor. Panopto quizzes are not as versatile or full-featured as Blackboard quizzes and should be used more as knowledge checks or to break up longer videos. The typical behavior of a video with an embedded quiz is for the video to play, then stop at the time where the quiz is inserted, make the viewer answer the quiz, and then allow them to procees viewing the rest of the video.

To get started, learn how to insert a quiz with the Panopto editor. After you have added a quiz to your video, you can consider whether you want the quiz results to automatically flow to the Blackboard Grade Center. This is a more advanced topic and panopto@jhu.edu should be contacted for help.

Can the students upload videos to Panopto?

By default, students only have viewing rights to the Panopto folder for your class. If you would like students to be able to upload content, please see our page devoted to this topic: Using Panopto for Student Recordings.

Can I edit my video after recording?

Yes! Panopto's editor is browser-based (nothing to download) and available to anyone with rights to create videos. The Panopto editor is not as full featured as offline editors, but it's easy to learn and use. While it is possible to add material using the editor, or stitch together some videos, it is best to think of the Panopto editor as subtractive rather than additive. Recording in Panopto is a largely linear process - you begin recording, cover all your material, and stop recording. If you make mistakes during a Panopto recording, it is often most efficient to simply pause and start speaking again before the mistake. Then, using the editor, simply cut out the mistake. By far, the most common use of the Panopto editor is to trim the beginning and end of recordings. The editor has a lot of features, which are well documented:

All Panopto support documentation on editor features

All Panopto support how-to videos on editor features

Does Panopto support closed captions?

Yes! Machine-generated captions are included in our Panopto contract. It is also possible to order human-generated captions for a fee. To apply the machine-generated captions to your video, follow this set of instructions. If you are confident that you want machine-generated captions applied to all the videos in your Panopto folder, this can be setup to happen automatically. Contact panopto@jhu.edu . This feature is all-or-nothing and can cause synch issues if you edit before the captions have been fully applied.

If you have a student with a captioning accomodation, coordinate with Student Disability Services (AS/EN) to arrange for human captioning for your course.

Can I tell if my students are watching the videos?

Panopto keeps extremely deatiled viewing statistics on every recording. Because students are logged into Blackboard when they access the videos, Panopto statistics can be used to examine overall class viewing trends or individual viewing history.

To access statistics at the folder level, click on the Panopto Recordings in your course menu and look for this icon:

Panopto Folder Statistics Icon

To access statistics for individual videos, hover over the video and look for this icon:

Panopto Video Statistics Icon

For more information: Overview of Statistics; Statistics by User

What if I need to copy my course?

Blackboard course copy and Panopto is a somewhat complex topic. Blackboard and Panopto are integrated, but they don't run on the same servers. If you do a normal course copy in Blackboard, the Panopto videos actually stay in the source course, and Panopto grants the new course access to them. For instance, let's say you have a course Art History 101 Fall 2019 with 10 Panopto videos. You copy this course in Blackboard to Art History 101 Fall 2020. The Fall 2020 course will have it's own Panopto folder, which will be empty. But the students in Fall 2020 will have viewing rights to the videos in Fall 2019. This way, if you had Panopto links inside the content areas in you course, you won't have to change anything and the links should still work. But, you could also add new videos into Fall 2020 that only the Fall 2020 students are able to see. If you copy courses over and over, year to year, this can actually get quite confusing. Depending on your scenarios, it can sometimes be cleaner to just move the videos into the new course when you copy it. If you don't recycle videos (some classes only capture lectures) then this is less of an issue. If you're not sure what's going on with course copy or need help, contact panopto@jhu.edu.

NOTE: Don't see your question answered here? Contact panopto@jhu.edu for more information.

Next Steps

If you want to skip right to recording your first video, you can reference this guide:  instructions on making your first recording.