Content Access Stats and Videos

There are three ways to post videos in the content area of Desire2Learn, and the method you choose affects whether the amount of time students spend on the video is recorded:

1. External link - This is an easy way to link to videos online, especially those that are on servers that are not delivered securely. Whether a student clicks on the link is recorded, but the amount of time they spend is not recorded. It does not matter whether the external link is set to open in a new browser window.
2. File with a quicklink - This allows the instructor to provide context for the video before the student clicks on it to watch. It also can be set to open in a new browser window, which saves students from having to deal with the security warning for videos that are not delivered securely. The amount of time that students spend watching the video (as long as they do not navigate away from the original content file) is recorded.
3. Video embedded within a file - For videos delivered securely, this is a nice option. It allows the instructor to type instructional context around the video window and students can watch the video while still within the Desire2Learn course offering. The amount of time students spend watching the video is recorded.

The attached image shows the access stats for the same YouTube video shared with each of these views. 

Upload Videos to Google Drive and Embed in Desire2Learn

This is cross-posted on Greg's Google Blog

Video files can be uploaded to an instructor's Los Rios Google Drive and then embedded within a course offering on Desire2Learn. This video shows how to do this and includes an option to prohibit downloading by viewers.

Move Videos from the V Drive to Los Rios Google Apps

Videos on the CRC streaming media server do not automatically display within Desire2Learn. The videos are still there but there are currently issues over how mixed-content pages appear in the browser. “Mixed content” means some content is delivered via an encrypted connection (all of the D2L pages are encrypted) and some content is not delivered via an encrypted connection (none of the pages on the district’s streaming media server are encrypted). This is a problem because a bad guy could sniff the data submitted via an unencrypted form (like an account number or password). The browser manufacturers have therefore added a way to alert users that a page has mixed content.

Users can allow mixed content to appear. The problem that changed recently is that Chrome and Firefox stick a tiny shield in the navigation bar that a user would have to click on to allow the mixed content. Internet Explorer shows a popup warning and is therefore easier to see. Safari does not have this issue.

Of course it is a bad habit for users to allow mixed content, so the best solution is to use a streaming media server that delivers content via an encrypted connection. Fortunately we have one in Los Rios Gmail and Google Apps. For instructors who have been using the CRC streaming media server, the best practice is to upload your videos to your Los Rios Google Drive and re-share them via the embed code you can copy there and paste into a Desire2Learn content topic.

I have made a video showing how to do this:

Find Captioned Videos

To help ensure that your instructional material is accessible to students with disabilities, there are a couple of tricks you can use to find videos that have already been captioned.

Content Quicklinks to YouTube

Content topics that are quicklinks to YouTube videos do not work properly if the link is set to open in the same browser window. So there are two ways to use YouTube videos as content in your course offering. First copy the URL for the page from YouTube. Then do one of the following:

• Create a content topic (quicklink) and click in the box to open the link in a new window

• Create a content topic (new file) and click on the Insert Stuff button to embed the video on the page

The Insert Stuff button can be used to embed the video with YouTube's embed code.

Problem with QuickLinks to an RTSP server in the CRC computer lab

Problem

A user is using Internet Explorer in the CRC computer lab and clicks on a content topic (quicklink) that points to CRC’s streaming media server (the URL begins with rtsp://). The user gets the standard warning regarding secure and insecure content on a page, clicks through the warning, and the page remains blank. This happens in both Vista and Windows XP (both using Internet Explorer). No other browsers or operating systems are available in the CRC computer lab. Quicklinks to http:// sites work fine, and quicklinks to rtsp:// sites work well if the quicklink is inside a topic (create new file).

Cause

It looks like there is some security issue between Desire2Learn and Internet Explorer regarding how to handle this type of link. The URL for a content topic (quicklink) includes the OU and a “tid” number, which looks like a unique identifier for the topic. This is not a problem when the quicklink is inside a content topic (new file), as it is standard html using an <a> tag.

Solutions

The immediate workaround is to click on the quicklink as normal and then view the source of the blank page. This includes the URL for the video file, and the user can copy the URL, open RealPlayer, and then go to that location using RealPlayer’s open location command. This is clunky but gets students immediate access to the video content.

An instructor’s action that helps is to remove all content topics (quicklink) that point to rtsp:// URLs and replace them with content topics (new file) that include a quicklink to the rtsp:// URL. This removes an option that some instructors are used to that is easy to create and replaces it with an option that, while easy to create, does require the students to make an extra click to get to the video content.

A better solution is to figure out if there is a different way to figure out the setup for the CRC computer lab so that content topics (quicklink) that point to an rtsp:// URL work as expected.

From EduStream to Desire2Learn

EduStream is a resource for CRC faculty who want to share video with their students. Videos there can only be played if referred by a Los Rios web server (like Desire2Learn), which means that a student cannot pass a link to a video on to someone not enrolled in a class. Because of the way EduStream's pages are set up, the only way to share a video via Desire2Learn is to use the New Topic (New File) option with an embedded quicklink with the link forced to open in a new browser window. [VIDEO DEMO]

For some of us that means changing the method we use to provide access to EduStream videos. Thank you Christina Ocrant for creating a desktop video with instructions on how to convert an extant New Topic (Quicklink) to a New Topic (New File) with an embedded quicklink to the same video:
http://web.crc.losrios.edu/video/edustream/

Embed SWF Videos

If you are working with small video files (<30MB) that have an .swf extension, the best way to use them is to embed them within a web page inside Desire2Learn. However you create the web page (a new news item, a quiz question or answer, or a new content topic - new file), use the Insert Stuff button on the advanced formatting toolbar to embed the video. In addition to providing the correct embed code automatically so that the video plays without any scripting errors, this also allows you to type instructional context for students to read before they watch the video.

Ted videos

Videos from Ted.com can be posted inside your course offering in one of two ways: as a quicklink or embedded.

• To link a Ted.com video as a quicklink, copy the URL of the Ted.com page that has the video. In Desire2Learn, add a quicklink and select the URL category. Paste the link copied from Ted.com into the "Url" field on the Link Details section of the Insert a Quicklink dialog box. Click Insert (if necessary) and then Save.
• To embed a Ted.com video, click in the "Embed this video" field and copy the code there. In Desire2Learn, click on the Insert Stuff button on the Advanced formatting toolbar of a text box. Then click the Enter Embed Code button on the Select Media dialog box. Paste the embed code in the "Embed Code" box and click Next. Click Insert and then Save.