What is My Media?

My Media is a tool in Canvas that allows you to save audio and video, host those media items securely on Kaltura’s online streaming platform, and use them in your Canvas courses. You can access My Media by clicking Account and then the My Media link.

In the next section of this guide, we’ll show how you can create videos for use in Canvas. Some of these methods will automatically add your newly created videos to your My Media, while others require you to upload your video to My Media separately.

All of these directions apply to both audio and video files. To keep these directions as simple as possible, the directions below refer specifically to videos.

Technology Requirements

We recommend using a desktop or laptop computer to manage your audio and video in My Media.

For your browser, please use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox when working in Canvas. Safari on MacOS can cause errors when using My Media and submitting assignments.

How do I create video for my courses?

There are many ways you can create video for use in Canvas. To decide what approach is best for the video you need to create, first determine how long the video will be and if it’s homework for a graded assignment. Start by creating an outline or script for your video—you can use it to estimate how long your video will be once complete.

Very Short Videos (less than five minutes):

For very short videos, like when providing assignment feedback in Canvas, the Kaltura Webcam Recorder is quick, free, built into Canvas, and doesn’t require you to install anything on your computer. Items you create with the Kaltura Webcam Recorder are automatically added to your My Media.

Short Videos (less than twenty minutes):

If you need to create a short screen recording or webcam video, try Kaltura Capture. Kaltura Capture is a free screen recording software that can automatically upload recordings to My Media.

Chromebook Users: You won’t be able to install Kaltura Capture on your Chromebook. We recommend using the built-in Chromebook Screen Recording function instead.

Long Videos:

If you need to create a longer video, we recommend using whatever tool you’re most comfortable with, as long as it has adequate storage space for saving very large files. Kaltura Capture is not designed for projects that are longer than thirty minutes, so please utilize one of the suggestions below instead. Good options include:

• Smartphone: Android and Apple mobile devices often include a high quality camera and built in functions for easily recording video. Create a video on your device, move a copy to the computer you use to complete your classwork, and then add it to your My Media. This workflow also gives you the flexibility to use a video editing program for more complex projects.
• Powerpoint with Voiceover: Record your screen in PowerPoint with voiceover narration and then save your screen recording as a video file.
• Zoom Recording: Open your Zoom Personal Meeting Room, share your screen, and then start recording. Unmute your microphone to record your voiceover.

How do I upload my videos to My Media?

Once you’ve created your video, you should add it to your My Media in Canvas so that you can use it in your courses. There are no storage limits in My Media, so you can add as many videos as you need, for all of your courses in Canvas.

Kaltura Webcam Recorder and Kaltura Capture Videos

When you use the Kaltura Webcam Recorder to create a short video, it will be saved directly to Kaltura.

If you use Kaltura Capture to create your video, Kaltura Capture should upload to your My Media automatically. If the original upload was interrupted, this guide explains how need to re-upload a Kaltura Capture recording.

Uploading Other Videos

If you used a different method to create your video, you’ll need to add it to your My Media account in Canvas before you can use it. You can do this by either (1) opening My Media in Canvas or by (2) using the Rich Text editor in Canvas.

Once uploaded via either method, you can manage the new item from within My Media.

Option #1: Upload via My Media

1. Log into Canvas.
2. Click the Account button and then the My Media link.
3. On the My Media page, click the Add New button, and then select Media Upload.
4. On the Upload Media page, click Choose a file to upload, and then select the video file on your device.

Your video file may take some time to upload, and upload time will depend on bandwidth and file size. Once the upload has completed:

1. Fill out your video details in the “Name” and “Description” fields.
2. Enter a useful tag in the “Tags” field.
   You don’t need to enter a tag in order to save your video, but tags will help you search and organize your My Media items. For example, if you’re creating a video for an Introduction to Biology course, enter a tag like BIOL101.
3. Click the Save button.

Option #2: Upload via the Canvas Rich Text Editor

On any Canvas page, assignment, or discussion where you can enter and edit text:

1. Click Edit or Reply. This will open the Canvas Rich Text Editor.
2. Click the Apps button. (It looks like an electric plug icon.)
3. Click My Media if it’s shown in the popup menu.
   If it’s not listed, select View All to open the “All Apps” popup window, and then select My Media.)
4. On the My Media page, click the Add New button, and then select Media Upload.

Your video file may take some time to upload, and upload time will depend on bandwidth and file size. Once the upload has completed:

1. Fill out your video details in the “Name” and “Description” fields.
2. Enter a useful tag in the “Tags” field.
   You don’t need to enter a tag in order to save your video, but tags will help you search and organize your My Media items. For example, if you’re creating a video for an Introduction to Biology course, enter a tag like BIOL101.
3. Click the Save button.

Now that you’ve added your video to My Media, you can embed it in Canvas pages, use Kaltura’s editing features to trim the video, and view analytics about your video. Kaltura will automatically caption your video, and you can edit the automatic captions as needed.

How do I submit My Media items to my Canvas assignments and discussions?

Once you’ve added an audio or video file to your My Media, you can use it in your Canvas assignments. You can also follow these steps to add a My Media item to a discussion post.

Both of the options listed below require using the Canvas Rich Text Editor. If your instructor configured your assignment to accept a file upload instead of entering text, and you created your video using Kaltura Capture or the Kaltura Webcam Recorder, you can download a copy of your My Media item so you can submit it in Canvas.

Option #1: Embed Using the Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE) Apps Button

While entering text using the Rich Text Editor:

1. Click the Apps button. (It looks like an electric plug icon.)
2. Click My Media if it’s shown in the popup menu. (If it’s not listed, select View All to open the “All Apps” popup window, and then select My Media.) This will open your My Media page as a pop-up.
3. Choose the My Media item you’d like to add in Canvas.
4. Click the </> Embed button to insert the video.
   This will use the default embed settings. If you’d like to add an audio-only player, include a transcript, or select a specific start and end time, click the Gear button instead to choose advanced video embed options.
5. Add any additional text or video as needed.
6. Click Save or Post Reply to finish editing.

Option #2: Embed Using HTML Embed Code

While the </> Embed button option will work for most people in most scenarios, you can also embed My Media items manually using an HTML embed code. Only use this option if the Canvas RCE option isn't sufficient.

To embed using HTML code, start by choosing an item in My Media, and then copy that item’s embed code using the My Media Share button. You can then use that code to quickly embed your My Media item in Canvas using the Canvas Rich Text Editor.

1. Log into Canvas.
2. Click the Account button and then the My Media link.
3. Choose the My Media item you’d like to add in Canvas and click the item’s title. This will open your My Media item’s “Details” page.
4. Scroll down until you can see the “Details,” “Attachments”, and “Share” tabs below your video.
5. Click the Share tab.

You now have the option to choose what video player you would like to use and adjust the size of the video player. Leave the “Player Skin” and “Player Size” settings as is if you want to use the default settings.

1. Confirm the text in the “Embed” box is selected.
2. Copy the selected text by right clicking it and selecting Copy. (You can also use keyboard shortcuts to copy it.)

Now go to the Canvas page where you would like to use this video and start editing to open the Rich Text Editor.

1. Click Insert and then Embed in the dropdown menu.
2. Click the empty box below “Embed Code”.
3. Paste the embed code you copied earlier.
4. Click the Submit button.
5. After your video appears in the Rich Text Editor, click Save or Post Reply to finish editing.

Need Help?

To learn more about using My Media in Canvas, or using audio and video in your assignments, visit the links below:

• Canvas - Kaltura - How to Download Your My Media Items
• Kaltura - Recording Video with Kaltura Capture
• Kaltura - Recording Video with Webcam Recorder
• Kaltura - Inserting Videos in Canvas
• Kaltura - How Do I Upload a Video through My Media to a Canvas Assignment?
• Kaltura - How to use the Media Gallery in Canvas Courses