EchoVideo: Embedding Media into Moodle

The look and feel of the Player is changing! Upcoming changes are identified in this article by providing screenshots labeled "Old UI" and "New UI".

Prerequisites for using the EchoVideo Embed button:
1) A Moodle Administrator must have installed and enabled the EchoVideo Embed button for your Moodle instance.
​2) For Students to embed media, the Student Library MAY need to be turned on for your institution. OR Students can embed media from any Collection where they have the Post permission.

If a Moodle Admin has enabled it for your institution, EchoVideo provides a media embed button (also called an "easy embed button") that appears in the toolbar of Moodle content windows. One is identified in the below figure. This button opens the EchoVideo Embed media dialog box.

The EchoVideo Embed Media dialog box provides the ability to:

• Embed media from EchoVideo directly into your Moodle course as described on this page
• Upload a media file then embed it as a single process
• Create new media with Universal Capture then embed it a single process
• Post a link to the media (instead of embedding it) into Moodle
• Create a playlist and embed it directly into Moodle

You can access the Embed media dialog box from any content window where Moodle provides the EchoVideo embed button (e.g., adding Pages, Discussions, Assignments, etc).

LMS-Embedded media provide view data such as view counts and heatmap data, along with individual user viewing information, all of which is displayed in the Analytics tab of the media details page.

The steps below are for selecting media already resident in EchoVideo. The Embed Media dialog box lists all EchoVideo media you own as well as any audio, video, or interactive media in any Collection where you have the Post permission. If you need to upload or create the media first and need instructions, use the links above for more information.

The procedures below add a Page into a Topic segment of a Moodle course. You can add any element you like to hold the media into any type of course segment (i.e., you use Weekly format instead of Topic format for your courses), as long as the element contains a content window into which the media can be embedded.

NOTE: If you receive an error on embedding that states "Can't find data record in database", contact your Moodle Administrator. This often indicates that the EchoVideo Filter needs to be moved higher in the filter list (priority).

To embed existing EchoVideo media into a content window

1. Log in to Moodle.
2. Open the Course in Moodle where you want to post the media.
3. If necessary, click the Settings icon for the course and Turn Editing On.
   
4. Find the Topic into which you want to add the page to display the video, and click Add an activity or resource.
   
5. Select the item to add. The figure below shows a Page being added to the course Topic.
   
6. Give the item a Name that identifies either the video you are posting or the purpose for posting it (extra credit, ancillary research, look at this cute puppy, etc.).
7. Scroll down to the Content section of the page.
   
8. Directly above the main portion of the content window, click the EchoVideo icon, as identified in the above figure.
   

   A dialog box appears with a content selection screen, presenting the options available to you. Click the Launch Media Picker option to choose from your existing content and see the EchoVideo audio, video, or interactive media you own, as well as media in any Collection where you have the Post permission. If you need to upload media to embed, click the Upload Content option, and refer to the instructions in the link if necessary. 

   

9. If necessary, use the Search text box and/or Filters options to find the media you want to embed into the window.
10. Select the media you want to embed and click Next.
    

    The dialog box changes to show the selected media as well as playback configuration options, all of which are described below the figure.
    If you want to post a link to the media instead of embedding it directly into the page, enable the Link toggle and if necessary see Posting a Link to EchoVideo Media in your LMS/VLE Course.
    If you want to embed multiple items together as a Playlist, see EchoVideo: Creating Playlists in your LMS / VLE Course.

    
11. From the Player Style drop-down list, select the style you want to be applied to the player.
    

    The Player Style drop-down only appears if your institution has created custom player styles to choose from. If you have selection options, pick the one for your department or organization (or the default) that you want applied to the playback of this media.
    Selecting a style may automatically select Size, Autoplay, and Automute options for you; these can still be changed.

12. From the Size drop-down list, select the size for the media playback. It is 640x420 by default.
    
13. If appropriate, enable the option to Autoplay the video (it will play as soon as a user opens the page you are embedding it into).
14. If you enable Autoplay, Automute is automatically enabled, to accommodate browsers that no longer allow autoplay with sound. You CAN enable Automute separately without Autoplay.
15. If appropriate, set a Start At time. If set, the video will begin playing at that timestamp, although viewers will be able to rewind/fast-forward the player to view any segment of the embedded video.
    This option is NOT available for interactive media.
16. If desired, disable the Discussion option to prevent EchoVideo Q&A functionality for your embedded content.
17. When finished, click Embed.
    

    The preview area shows the title of the media as a link, as shown below.

    
18. Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Save and return to course or Save and display as appropriate.

Once the item is added, students can open the page and view the embedded media. If you selected Autoplay or Start At configurations for the video, those are enacted for the user upon viewing.