EchoVideo: Embedding Content into Blackboard Learn or Original View Courses

BUILDING BLOCK END-OF-LIFE ANNOUNCEMENT

As of 30 Dec 2024, the Anthology (Blackboard) Building Block will officially reach its end of life for use with EchoVideo.

Prior to the end-of-life date of December 30th, 2024, all Building Block content must be converted to LTI 1.1 Deep Links. For more information from Anthology, please see Convert Building Block Content to LTI.
For more information from us, please see Building Block to LTI Migration Overview and Converting Blackboard Building Block Content to LTI 1.1 Deep Links.
NOTE that while migrating to LTI 1.3 may appear to be an option within Blackboard, it has not been fully tested by us. We are only supporting migrating to LTI 1.1.

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".

To use the Embed EchoVideo Library option, a Blackboard Administrator must have added a deep link tool for Blackboard. 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 Blackboard Admin has installed it for your institution and enabled it for courses, EchoVideo provides an EchoVideo Library option in the Add Content tool list. EchoVideo sometimes also refers to this as an "easy embed" option. This is available for Learn or Original View courses only. If you are using an Ultra-enabled course, see Embedding EchoVideo Media in an Ultra-enabled Course for instructions.

The EchoVideo Embed Media dialog box provides the ability to:

• Embed media from EchoVideo directly into your Blackboard 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 in a single process
• Capture a recording using a supported browser
• Post a link to the media (instead of embedding it) into Blackboard
• Create a playlist and embed it directly into Blackboard

You can access the Embed media dialog box from any content window where Blackboard provides an Add Content tool list, as shown in the figure below.

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 and 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.

To embed existing EchoVideo media

1. Log in to Blackboard.
2. Open the Course in Blackboard or another location where you want to post the media.
3. If necessary, click the Mode icon for the course and Turn Editing On (in the top right corner of the page).
4. Find the type of content item you want and create it. The figure below shows an Item being added to the Course Content page.
   
5. In the Create screen that appears, enter a Name that describes the media you are adding.
6. In the Toolbar for the Content area of the window, click the Add Content button as identified in the figure below. If you do not SEE this button, click the button with three dots to expand the content window toolbar.
   
7. From the Add Content tool list, select EchoVideo Video Library as shown in the figure earlier on this page.
   

   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.
   
   

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

   The dialog box changes to show the selected media and playback configuration options, described below.
   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.

   
10. 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.

11. From the Select size drop-down list, select the size for the media playback. It is 640x420 by default.
12. 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).
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. If desired, disable the Discussion option to prevent EchoVideo Q&A functionality for your embedded content.
16. When finished, click Embed.
17. When finished, click INSERT. A preview of the inserted media appears inside the content area.
18. Complete whatever remaining fields are on the Page you are adding, then click Submit.

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 media, those are enacted for the user upon viewing.