Kaltura

Kaltura is a tool that you can use to record, edit, store, and share audio and video. It’s fully integrated with Canvas and supported by Miami University. In your Canvas courses, Kaltura will appear as My Media.

In addition, you can increase interactivity and engagement with your course materials by enabling other Kaltura features like Video Quizzes.


What can I do with Kaltura?

Lecture Capture

Record yourself delivering lectures, giving feedback, or sharing updates.

Screen Recording

Create tutorials, narrate presentations, or record a tour of your course.

Video Hosting

Upload video files and link to YouTube videos in your Kaltura account.

Captioning

Generate (and edit) automatic captions and transcripts for your videos.


Where do I access Kaltura?

Kaltura is integrated with Canvas; it’s available under the My Media link in your course navigation menu.

Screenshot showing Add New button on the My Media page
Screenshot showing “Add New” button on the My Media page in Canvas

How do I use Kaltura?

Kaltura has three main components that you can use to add audio and video to your Canvas course:

  • My Media allows you to access, add, edit, and share media in your Kaltura account. If you’ve already created video or audio files for your students, you can upload them to My Media for easier sharing within your courses.
  • Media Gallery allows you to organize all of the media for a single course in one place. You’ll see “Media Gallery” as a separate link in your course navigation menu.
  • Personal Capture is Kaltura’s desktop recorder. It allows you to record new audio and video files from your computer and/or capture documents or websites open on your desktop. Kaltura offers a Personal Capture Walkthrough with an overview of features.
  • Review the recording and editing with Kaltura in Canvas How-To Guide
How do I upload a video to Kaltura (My Media)?

In Canvas, you can access Kaltura through the “My Media” link in your course navigation menu. If you have a video file saved on your computer, you can upload it to Kaltura, then share it with a Canvas course.

  1. Click the My Media link in the course navigation menu. It will be the sixth link from the bottom (unless you have edited this menu). Your Kaltura account will be displayed within Canvas as the “My Media” page.
  2. Click the Add New button at the top-right side of the page, then select the Media Upload option on its drop-down menu. The Upload Media page will be displayed.
  3. Add your media by dragging and dropping the file within the dotted box on the page or by clicking the +Choose a file to upload button and selecting the file on your computer. Your video will begin uploading.
  4. Go to the place in your course where you want to add your video. This can include an announcement, the description text box for a discussion or assignment, or a page that you create within a module.
  5. Click the plug icon in the Rich Content Editor’s menu, then select Embed Kaltura Media from its options. A pop-up window with a list of the media in your Kaltura My Media account will open.
  6. Click the Select button to the right of the video you want to add. The window will close, and the video will appear within the text box.
  7. Click the blue Save button at the bottom of the page, or if you’re creating a new announcement, discussion, etc. that you’re ready to share with students, click the gray Save & Publish button.
How do I use Kaltura Personal Capture to record video?

Before Recording

Go to My Media in your course navigation. You will also want to check your microphone and camera in Settings before getting started. If you are using an external camera, make sure it is attached before going into Settings.

Recording Your Video

Click Add New and then select Personal Capture from the drop down list.

The first time you select the Personal Capture option, you will be prompted to download the app. Refer to the Kaltura Personal Capture User Manual for more information.

When the recorder pops up, click on the the tool combination you want to use – Screen, Camera, Audio… or all three! Here you can change your camera and audio source. (See detailed information on use of each of these tools by going to Kaltura Personal Capture Overview.) You can also choose to record your full screen or select an area to record.

When ready, click the Record button (the big red circle) and a countdown timer will begin.

As you begin recording, you will see a tools menu appear in the lower right corner. It includes buttons to stop, pause, and cancel the recording, as well as a timer, microphone, and pencil. To use the whiteboard tool, click the pencil.

When you are finished recording, click the square-shaped stop button on the toolbar.

Depending on the length of the recording, your video may take a few minutes to process. Once processed, the video editor will open.

The video editor tools are located on the left side of the screen. The editor tools allow you to trim, chop, add titles and credits to your recording. Please refer to the Kaltura instructions for detailed editing tips.

Type a title for your recording and include a brief description of the information contained in the video for future reference. Include your course number (e.g. ABC123) without spaces in the Tags box.

Once you have completed any edits, click the Save & Upload button in the lower right corner.

Your recording will appear in My Media. If you need to return later to complete more edits, click Save to save your video to the Kaltura library.

How do I embed Kaltura media in my Canvas course?

My Media should automatically be enabled in every Canvas course; if it’s not, you’ll need to enable Kaltura in your Canvas course by going to the Navigation tab in Settings and moving My Media to the upper section.

Once Kaltura is enabled in your course, you can embed media from Kaltura on any page in Canvas, whether it’s an Assignment, Quiz, or Page.

How do I edit Kaltura’s automatic captions?

Kaltura offers a feature that will add automated captions to your video (typically within a few hours of the video being uploaded). However, the automated captions are not always 100 percent accurate, so if you have a student with accommodations from Student Disability Services, you will need to manually correct the errors.

  1. Click the video title in My Media.
  2. Click the Actions button and choose Edit from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click the Edit Captions button to open the caption editing screen.
  4. Move your mouse to each text box, locate any errors, and correct them. Finally, be sure to click the Save button in the top right corner when you’re finished making edits.
  5. Return to the Captions settings and click the Show on Player button to enable captions to appear on the video player. Without this last step, edited captions will not appear on the video.

Where can I learn more about Kaltura?

Kaltura provides a wealth of online information that you can consult if you want to learn more about its features. You can also contact Miami Online for further assistance.

Video Tutorials

Visit the Kaltura Learning site to view a series of short videos on its features.

Accessibility

Review the Accessibility at Kaltura page to learn about its accessibility features.

Text Tutorials

Visit the Kaltura Knowledge site to browse a comprehensive list of how-to articles.

Privacy

Review Kaltura’s Privacy Policy page to learn how it manages its users’ data.