- Add the Panopto block and connect your course
- Change the settings of the Panopto folder
- Panopto block contents
- Change which roles can create and publish recordings
Add the Panopto block and connect your course to Panopto
Adding the Panopto block will create the Panopto folder and link to the Moodle course. After this, all of your course participants will be able to view the published recordings.
1. Within Moodle, go to the course where you want to add the Panopto block.
2. Switch on the course 'Edit Mode' from the top right-hand corner of the screen so the button turns from grey to blue.
If you cannot see the 'Add a block', open the block drawer using the 'blue arrow' beneath the 'Edit mode'.
You will find the 'Add a block' on the top of the block drawer.
3. Select the 'Add a block', a dropdown list of blocks will appear, and select 'Panopto' from the list.
A new Panopto block will be added to the course.
If you do not see Panopto, either:
- your course may not be in a category that is authorised to use Panopto
- you do not have the correct role to add this block to the course
Please contact the Moodle Helpdesk for further assistance.
4. Select 'Provision Course' from the block.
Your course will now be provisioned with a link to Panopto. A folder with the same name as the course (in the format ‘short name: full name’) will be created in the Panopto system.
Once course members visit the course in Moodle, their role in the course will be mapped to the Panopto roles of Creator, Publisher or Viewer. These initial mappings will be displayed to the Moodle Coordinator when they provision the course.
5. Select 'Back to course' to return to the course. The newly provisioned block has new details, including a link to 'Course Settings', which takes administrators and teachers directly to the parent course folder in Panopto.
You will see the Links section where you can download a copy of the Panopto desktop recorder software for Windows and IOS devices - see the guide on how to Install or update the Panopto desktop recorder.
You can reposition the Panopto block by selecting and dragging the 'Move' icon.
Reviewing and changing the settings of the Panopto folder
The ‘Availability’ setting tells you when recordings are made available to students in the course. The default setting is currently to publish recordings immediately.
When users make recordings on their own devices, the recording software does not allow them to review or edit their work. Recordings must be uploaded to a Panopto folder, such as the creator’s ‘My Folder’, or to a course folder before they can be reviewed and edited.
You need to have a controlled release procedure for handling raw recordings from upload through to content ready to be shared with students.
1. Go to the course where you are a Moodle Coordinator, Teacher, or Non-enrolling Teacher and where a Panopto block has been added and the course provisioned.
2. Select 'Course Settings' in the Panopto block.
3. This will open Panopto in a new window. The details for the folder will appear and content in the folder will appear just behind.
4. The setting 'Allow viewers to make notes public' is ticked by default. This setting does not make anything visible to the public. It does allow students, who may make their own notes in Panopto when viewing a recording, to share their notes with all the other course members via Panopto.
5. The setting 'Notify viewers via email and Microsoft Teams (if connected) when new videos are ready' is turned off by default. Personal notifications in Panopto are also turned off by default. If you need to notify course participants about changes to content, it is recommended that you use the Announcements forum in the Moodle course.
6. Disable comments on all sessions in this folder is disabled as a default
Enable public comments by default on all videos in this folder is enabled.
Public means all users with access to the videos rather than ‘public’ in a more general way.
7. Downloads can be set at the folder level or at the individual session (video) level. By default, they are set to :
- Folder level download setting: Use site default (Admins, videographers and creator only)
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Session level download default setting: Use folder setting (Admins, videographers and creators only)
By default is set by the Panopto system administrators (UIS), videographers and creators to download the recording as a video podcast (.mp4) or as an audio podcast (.mp4) file.
The alternative settings for both the folder and session levels are:
- No one: The download button will not appear in the Panopto viewer.
- Admins only: Only site-wide Administrators can download the video.
- Authenticated users with Access: Only users who have access to the video and are authenticated into Panopto will see the download button in the session viewer.
- All users with access: Everyone who has access to the video, even if they are not logged in, will be able to see the download button in the session viewer.
If you wish to enable the downloads for your students, you can select 'Authenticated users with Access' which will add a download button on the viewer. This can be set at the folder level (it will be enabled for all videos within the folder) or at the session level (enabled for individual videos). The students will be able to see the download button in the top right-hand corner of the Panoto viewer
8. Smart Chapters creates a table of contents using character recognition from the screen rather than from uploaded presentations.
The default setting is 'Use site default (Automatically add to my videos)' which can be changed to 'Disabled' or 'Available on demand',.
9. Availability determines how recordings within the folder are released and the duration of their availability.
Sessions become available has:
- When approved by a publisher - this will generate an email notification for all users with the Publisher role in the Panopto folder when a new recording is uploaded.
Any Publisher can then visit the folder and approve the recording for release. This method can generate many emails, but it does ensure that all releases are approved by a trusted user.
- Immediately - this is the default and means that the minute any recording is placed in the folder, it will become available to all course members.
This may be unnecessary if creators upload their raw recordings directly into the folder. If all creators upload their recordings to their personal ‘My Folder’ space and only move them to the course folder when they are ready for release, this setting might be appropriate. However, any raw content accidentally added to the course folder would be released immediately, so creators need to feel confident before using this setting.
- Never (unless set on the session) - this setting would require each recording to be manually released.
- Starting on - this defines one date and time when all recordings in the folder will be released.
'Sessions remain available' has:
- Forever - this is the default.
- Until - this defines the date and time when access will be withdrawn.
Individual recordings can have specific dates and times set for availability, but this involves editing settings at the recording level. When users are unenrolled from a Moodle course, they will automatically have their access to the Panopto folder withdrawn.
Panopto block contents
All videos and audio files uploaded to Panopto and stored in the Panopto folder connected to the course will be displayed in the Panopto block.
What a given user sees in the block will depend on their role. Those with only viewing permissions will only see published content listed. Those who can create and publish content will see links for all recordings. It is not possible to determine from the display in the block, which recordings are published, and which are not.
The status of recordings can only be viewed and altered by following the links to Panopto.
All course users can select the links listed under the 'Live Sessions' or 'Completed Recordings' to view the sessions or recordings. All users will be taken to the Panopto system and the video or audio file will be played.
If many videos are available within a folder, you can change the number of videos you would like to see displayed per page, this ranges from 10, 25, 50,150, and a maximum of 250.
Videos beyond the selected number per page will be available on the next pages which can be found in the bottom right-hand corner of the course folder screen; you can select the page or use the arrows to move between pages to find the relevant video.
It is possible in the Panopto folder to create sub-folders. Whilst this may seem like a good approach to organising content, any recordings stored in subfolders on the Panopto system will not display automatically in the Panopto block. To make the videos stored in sub-folders available to viewers, the best way will be to link or embed them within the course sections in Moodle.
Change which roles can create and publish recordings
If the Panopto folder uses the availability setting when approved by a publisher, the moment a recording is added to the folder, all Publishers (by default the Moodle roles of Coordinator, Teacher and Non-enrolling Teacher) will receive an email.
This can generate a large volume of emails and some courses might wish to re-consider which Moodle roles are given the Publisher role.
It is possible to change which Moodle roles are given this role:
1. Switch on the course 'Edit Mode' from the top right-hand corner of the screen so the button turns from grey to blue.
2. Select 'Actions' in the Panopto block and select 'Configure Panopto block' from the dropdown list.
3. The settings will be shown.
4. Select 'Change Panopto Role Mappings' to expand the options.
5. Select which roles to give 'Creator' and 'Publisher' access.
Creator access: A user can upload new videos into the Panopto parent folder. If recordings are set to become available immediately, they will be published right away and the links to the videos will be available in the Panopto block. If recordings require the approval of a Publisher, an email will be sent to Publishers and will become available once approved. If recordings are uploaded into subfolders, the links to the recordings will not display automatically in the Panopto block. To make the videos stored in sub-folders available to viewers, the best way will be to link or embed them within the course sections in Moodle.
Publisher access: If recordings require the approval of a Publisher, an email will be sent to Publishers and will become available once they are approved in Panopto.
6. Use your computer’s keystrokes (for example Ctrl + Left Click in Windows) to select multiple roles.
7. Select Save changes.
8. Select the Actions cogwheel in the Panopto block to select the menu and select 'Configure Panopto block'.
9. Select 'Sync' this course to Panopto to re-sync the users and their new permissions in Panopto based on their roles in Moodle. Re-syncing a course will delete any manually added users to the Panopto folder. We recommend that you check and
take note of all manually added users before you re-sync a course. Once synced, you can manually add the users back onto the course folder.
10. Select Back to config (at the bottom of the page) to return to the configuration screen.
11. Select Save and return to Course to save the changes.
Please note: Users whose roles have been changed will have to visit Moodle (just visit the course, no actions are required) in order to trigger their update in Panopto.