Contributed by Sam Houston - Learning Technology Administrator
If you will be having students submit videos as graded assignments, we recommend having them first upload their videos to their Echo360 libraries, then submit a link to their video assignment in Blackboard, instead of directly uploading those videos into your courses. Having students upload links instead of video files keeps your course file size small, so that your course continues to get backed up.
As reported in our March 29, 2021 newsletter, your students can upload their own video projects into Echo360 and then submit a hyperlink to their video in an assignment dropbox, discussion, or other Blackboard tools for review and grading.
Even if you don't use Echo360 to create and store videos, you may still enable students to access Echo360 in your course for these types of activities. Simply add an Echo360 link to your Course Menu and let them know that it's there for them to use for video submissions. Adding this link to your course menu also enables your students to create their own Echo360 accounts.
A "how-to" document for students has been created to assist with adding saved mp4 files to an Echo360 library, so feel free to share this with your students.
Since students can also have licensed Zoom accounts, they can create recordings for assignments using Zoom that can be automatically uploaded into their Echo360 libraries. Students who are unsure about the type of Zoom account they have will need to email the Support Center to request a Zoom licensed account. Once a student has a licensed Zoom account, they should be able to record their videos to the cloud by following these steps:
- Log in to https://uhcl.zoom.us/ with your UHCL credentials.
- Click "Meetings" in the menu on the left.
- Click Schedule a meeting.
- When choosing the settings for the Zoom meeting(s), make sure to select the option to record to the cloud. By doing so, any Zoom meetings you record to the cloud will automatically be uploaded into the Echo360 library.
- Once the Zoom recordings have been uploaded to the Echo360 library, follow the instructions in the "how-to" document starting with step 7. (Click on the thumbnail for the video that was uploaded) to submit the recording in Blackboard.
For more information about recording and saving a presentation in Zoom, visit the new Zoom Learning Center to enroll in and complete the short course, Record Your Meeting or Webinar. When prompted to enter your email and password, use your UHCL computer account credentials.
For information about the Echo360-related steps, refer to our support document, Submitting Video Assignments in Blackboard Via Echo360.
If your students find that they are unable to record to the cloud or if they have any questions, please have them contact the Support Center (supportcenter@uhcl.edu).
