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Resources for Faculty and Teaching

An overview of library resources and services available in support of online course delivery.

What is Canvas Studio?

  • "Canvas Studio is a communication tool that allows instructors and students to actively collaborate through video and audio media.”
     
  • Studio’s tool suite includes three ways to expand course engagement:
  1. Asset management
  2. Integration into Canvas tools
  3. Analytics tracking when and how much course media students access.
  • Course media available via the files tool, media upload tool, linked from outside sources, or recorded using the native Canvas tools or third party tools are not the same as Studio media. Studio media is uploadedlinked, or recorded (by screen capture or using a webcam) into My Library.
     
    • Please note, media uploaded using regular Canvas course tools are not available in Studio.
    • Students are also able to use these tools in Canvas groups.
  • Instructure support pages:
  1. Instructure’s introduction to Canvas Studio.
  2. Canvas Studio Support Documentation.

Accessing Canvas Studio

There are three ways to access Canvas Studio media and tools:

  1. Via the Canvas Global Navigation Menu
    • This path sends you directly to My Library, which allows you to manage media and collections.
    1. Canvas global navigation menu screen capture
       
  2. Via the Studio menu link in any course navigation menu - Studio will typically be near the bottom of the menu 

    • This path sends you to media currently associated with the course. To add more media, use the Add Media features on the top right. This will add media to both your course AND your My Library collection.
      Course navigation link screen capture
       

  3. Via the Studio tool in the rich content editor

    • This is the path for adding media to Canvas tools.

      Selecting the Canvas Studio app icon will open your Canvas Studio library. Typically, this icon will appear by selecting the (1) Canvas app dropdown menu, then selecting the (3) Canvas studio icon. 

Canvas rich content editor screen capture

If the Studio icon does not appear, select (2) the View All link, which opens a search menu for all available apps. Enter 'Studio' into the search form, which will sort the list down to Canvas Studio. Then click on the Canvas Studio icon to select the tool. After this, the Studio tool should appear in the tool dropdown without requiring a search.
All apps search form screen capture

Using Canvas Studio Tools in Canvas Courses

Asset Management and Editing

Studio's tool suite revolves around uploadedlinked, or recorded (screen capture or using a webcam) video and audio files. All of a user's Studio media files will appear in their My Library view, including specific media collections.

Media files can be loaded directly into My Library, but can also be uploaded into the Studio collection in a Canvas course. Media uploaded into a Canvas course will also appear in media loader's My Library collection. In some cases, media files may multiply when Studio tool use creates new iterations.

Media Storage Allowance

  • Faculty are provided 1 GB of storage in My Library.
  • Student uploads do not count against faculty storage allotments. 

Add Media Files to Studio

Using Studio begins with adding media to your library. Audio and video files can be uploaded into your Canvas library:

Instructors can also link media from YouTube and Vimeo.

And record directly into Studio:

(Additional support available through Studio Basics)

 Media Collections

Once uploaded, media can be sorted into collections which can then be shared:

(Additional support available through Studio Collections)

Editing Media

Canvas Studio also provides simple editing tools for cutting and trimming media.

Embedding Studio Media in a Canvas Course

Before looking at Studio tools, let's review how to add Studio Media in Canvas courses. First, know that course media available via the files tool, media upload tool, linked from outside sources, or recorded using the native Canvas tools or third party tools are not the same as Studio media. 

Embedding Studio media into a Canvas course is done using the Studio app through the Rich Content Editor.

Rich content editor screen capture.

After selecting the Canvas Studio app, a pop-up window will present the media and collections in your My Library. To select the media you wish to embed, mover the cursor over the media so the select button appears.

Screen capture of Studio select button

A new pop-up window will offer options, including:

  • Display media tabs: see below for information about media tabs and what they include.
  • Display download option: provides a download icon allowing visitors to download the piece of media.

Screen capture of Studio standard embed options.


For further information, please refer to the following links:

(Additional support available through Studio Media Management)

Studio Media Tabs

Media tabs are optional when embedding Studio media into Canvas courses. There are four tabs. The first two are visible to students.

Details

Presents the media title, description, and tags.

Comments

Offers an informal, time-based discussion about the media. Original comments overlays the media. Replies will not appear.

Screen capture of overlaid comment.

The other two tabs are not visible to students.

Insights

An analytics tool providing a few of media viewing, including which students have viewed the media, the number of views, and the duration. 

Scree capture of the Studio insights tab.

 

Captions

The caption tab allows the instructor to request the generation of captions using Studio's technology or upload a custom caption file.

  • Instructure claims 85% accuracy.
  • Twenty languages are available. 
  • Processing takes time, amount depends on length of media.

Screen capture of the captions tab.

Canvas Integrations

The most powerful Studio features extend media engagement through Canvas course tools. These tools are only available through you My Library collection.

Quizzes allows instructors to embed quantitative assessment items into media timelines, including:

  • Multiple choice
  • True/False
  • Multiple answer

 

  • Studio Quizzes are NOT developed through the Canvas quiz tool.
  • Please be aware we have encountered an issue with some browsers failing to properly submit quiz attempts. We are in conversation with Instructure about this issue.
  • Create a Video Quiz
  • View Quiz Results
    (Additional support available through Studio Quizzing)

Media annotations allow instructors to embed notes in media timelines.

Media can also be embedded into Canvas discussion boards.

Student Media Viewing Analytics

The third feature of Canvas Studio provides instructors the ability to view student engagement. Studio’s analytics provide analysis of media access on a per-user (student) basis, including:

  • Which media students are viewing, including the entire length or which portions have been viewed.
    • How much time was spent viewing media.
    • Dates and times spent viewing media.