Restricting access to recordings

This guide explains how to limit recordings to specific groups of students. However, we advise that recordings be made available to all students on the course to ensure inclusiveness.   

For information about why recording is beneficial and circumstances in which you might not record, refer to the guidance on recording.

Limiting access to resources in Moodle and Panopto could potentially breach the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 and the Equality Act 2010 which requires public bodies to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and other conduct prohibited by the Act
• advance equality of opportunity for individuals with protected characteristics and those without
• foster good relationships between those with protected characteristics and those without by addressing prejudice and encouraging understanding among diverse groups.

If you still feel the need to restrict access to lecture recordings, follow the steps below. 

This is a manual process involving multiple steps that must be applied to each recording individually.
 

How to restrict access to recordings

You must restrict access within both Panopto and Moodle.  When a Moodle course is provisioned, all enrolled users can access videos uploaded to the course parent folder through the Panopto block. Videos added to a subfolder are not available via the block.

The workflow is as follows:

Set up a session with restricted access in Panopto.
Disable discussions on recordings to ensure user privacy.
Add the session(s) to the subfolder.
Provide restricted access to the session from Moodle.

Set up a session with restricted access in Panopto 

1. Sign in to Moodle and access the course.

2. Select the 'Course Settings' link in the Panopto block to access the parent course folder, and select 'Create' and 'New Folder'.

   This will become a subfolder within the parent course folder. By default, the subfolder will inherit the parent folder permissions which can be changed at the sub-folder level.

   img_16_-_new_folder.png

   
3. Complete the form and uncheck the 'Inherit permissions from the parent folder'.   
   img_2_-_inherit_permissions.png

   
4. Select 'Create Folder' to confirm your choices. This will open the 'Share' settings window for the subfolder you just created. 
    
5.  In the 'Share' settings under 'People and groups' type in the student(s) details. You can search for students using their CRSid, name, or university email address as long as they are enrolled in a Moodle course and the course is provisioned with Panopto. The system will search and provide you with a list of names.  Select the users you would like to give access to.

   Ensure the 'Viewer' role is selected for the students you add to the subfolder.  

   Check or uncheck the 'Send an email to notify people' as desired and add a message if you wish to.

   Please note that if a link is sent to the student/s, they will need to sign in to Moodle before using the link to gain access. 

   img_4_-_uis_student2.5.png

   

    

6. Close the window and the changes will be saved automatically.

Disable discussions on recordings to ensure user privacy

Depending on the nature of the access restriction, you may need to disable discussions to ensure user privacy, for example, if the restriction is for students with a Student Support Document (SSD).

Leaving discussion comments enabled allows a student to comment on the recording, displaying their name to other students with access to the restricted folder. 

To ensure user privacy you must disable the discussion settings at the folder or session level.

Folder level

• Navigate to the course or parent folder or the sub-folder
• Select the settings cog from the top right-hand corner of the screen 
  
  settings_cog.png

  
• Select the 'Settings' tab
• Select the checkbox "Disable comments on all sessions in this folder
   

discussion_1.png

• Close the folder settings window to save the changes

 Session level 

• Navigate to the course parent or the sub-folder
• Hover over the session you wish to disable the discussion for
• Select the settings cog from the top right-hand corner of the screen 
  
  session_settings_cog.png

  
• In the 'Overview' tab, under 'Discussion' untick the option 'Allow viewers to post comments'

discussion_2.png

• Close the folder settings window to save the changes

Add the session to the subfolder 

You can add sessions to a restricted subfolder by choosing one of the following options:

1. Schedule the sessions directly into the restricted subfolder - saving you the need to move them afterwards from the parent folder to the restricted subfolder.

Using this method, only SSD students with access to the subfolder will be able to view the sessions and the links to the sessions will not be automatically available to all students.

If the sessions are scheduled centrally by Student Registry, please ensure that you provide the correct restricted subfolder name when completing the scheduling request form.

Or

2. Moving the sessions into the subfolder - If the sessions have been scheduled to record into a course Parent folder, you will need to move the required sessions from the course parent folder into the restricted subfolder.

When the course Parent folder is selected as the destination folder for completed sessions, all students will be able to access them through the links that are automatically provided in the Panopto block until you move the sessions into the restricted subfolder.

Provide restricted access to the session from Moodle 

1. In the associated Moodle course, create a new group for the students who require access to the recordings and add the identified students. You can find instructions on how to create groups in Moodle.  

   Please note if you do not create a group in Moodle first, the 'restrict access by Group' option will not be available to you.  
    

2.  Add a new page on your Moodle course to contain the restricted recordings. You can read instructions on how to create a new page on Moodle.

   Please note you can add other resources or activities in Moodle that will allow you to add restrictions. 
    

3. Within the page content section of the editor, you can either add a link to the Panopto session or embed it in the page using the Panopto icon. 
   
   img_9_-_atto_panopto_icon.png

   

    

4.    In the page settings under 'Restrict access', select 'Add restriction'.
   
   img_15_-_add_restrictions.png

   

    

5. Select 'Group'.
   
   img_11_-_restrict_group_1.png

   

    

6. Select the group you created from the 'Group' dropdown list.
   
   img_11_-_add_group_2.png

   

   Ensure that you have checked the eye icon so that the link to the page is only visible to students in the group. 

   img_14-_add_group_eye.png

   
7. Select 'Add restriction' to save and return to the course.

   The restricted page, containing the links or embedded recordings, will appear with a note stating that it is restricted to the specified group. If the eye icon was selected upon adding the restriction, it will only be visible to those users with access. 

   img_13_-_recordings_for_group_c.png

   

If you require further assistance, please contact the team at lecturecapturehelp@uis.cam.ac.uk.