Echo360 - Introduction [CLEANED]

Echo360 is a platform used at NIDA to hold video content used to teach courses.

This content is then linked to from Canvas (aka ‘NIDA Learn’), which is NIDA’s learning management system.
Echo360 replaces Canvas' built-in video app called Studio.

Some advantages of using Echo360 over Studio are that it provides more features than Studio, allows video to be centrally viewed and managed, and has a much more active development path.

Echo360 is commonly referred to within NIDA as just ‘Echo’.

Apart from videos, Echo can also hold audio files, pdfs and PowerPoint files to help collect together teaching content on a given topic. However, since video is the main format for content in Echo, almost all references in the descriptions and workflows below will refer to this Echo content as ‘video’.

METHODS OF ADDING CONTENT TO ECHO

Echo provides three methods to allow content to be uploaded and made available:

For content tied to a specific Canvas course

1. A ‘Course->Section->Class’ method involves using hierarchy is set up in Echo that mirrors a similar structure in Canvas. This hierarchy in Echo performs two main functions at NIDA:

• Migration: Content from Canvas' built-in Studio video application was migrated into this hierarchy as part of decommissioning Studio at the end of 2022. This content could not be migrated into Echo in any other way.

• Classroom capture: NIDA AV staff set up schedules for the recording of classroom activity (and also livestreamed content if needed) and this content is then automatically added into folders in this structure. Instructors can then link to this captured content from the relevant course in Canvas if desired

2. A ‘Collection’ method allows each student and instructor to optionally share videos from their own personal Echo video space. If a user decides to share their content, they can do this by sharing an individual video, or collecting videos together into a Collection and then sharing the Collection with others.

3. A ‘Student Submission’ method allows students upload video to Echo as part of their assessment submissions for a given Canvas course. This video can then be watched inside Canvas by instructors.

Because of limitations in the ‘Course->Section->Class’ method, most instructor use of Echo will be using the 'Collection' method. However it should be remembered that content related to a given course in Canvas could be distributed among any or all of the above methods.

Additionally, since the ‘Collection’ method involves contributions from the individual Echo video libraries of a number of users, content for a given Canvas course could be spread among multiple current or past instructors.

For content not tied to any specific Canvas course

3. The ‘Collection’ method can also be used to share Echo content informally. This can be for reasons not tied to the delivery of a specific course in Canvas.

The following diagram summarises how content is added to Canvas via Echo for the three methods (click diagram to zoom):

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OVERALL APPROACH TO USING ECHO WITH CANVAS

Given that there are multiple methods of adding content to Echo, there needs to be some standardisation of approach to ensure that Echo content can be found in a predictable way. The following guidelines have thus been developed to help guide use of Echo with Canvas.

1. Due to the limitations of the Course-Section-Class method, staff should use the ‘Collection’ method for any Echo content that needs to remain linked to the delivery of a particular NIDA course.

This applies to any new Echo content added to Canvas during and after 2023. This is because Echo content prior to January 2023 has been migrated from Studio into Echo, and any Studio links in Canvas have been replaced with Echo links for this time period.

(Additionally, any videos that were in a user’s private Studio area in Canvas should now be in this user’s personal Echo library. Any collections of videos in a user’s private Studio area have not been reproduced in Echo. If you would like your Studio collections set up in the same way in Echo, please contact Andrew.)

A separate collection will be set up for each delivery of a Canvas course. This formal collection will have the same name as the related Canvas course. Instructors should then ensure that any video used in that delivery has been added both to this specific collection and linked to from the relevant Canvas course.

This has the following benefits

• the collection stores most if not all the Echo content related to the Canvas course, regardless of the current status of the instructors teaching it; this content can be in active use in Canvas or not

• the links in the Canvas course ensure that students are able to access and interact with the relevant Echo content.

Other collections can be created that are different to the formal collection used to represent the delivery of the specific Canvas course. These additional collections can be for casual sharing of content, and can be useful for example to collect together materials on a topic of interest or as part of planning for a future course.

These additional collections should only be used for content that if lost would not affect the delivery of the Canvas course.

2. the ‘Course-Section-Class’ method is used as

• the means to access content migrated from Studio (ie prior to the start of 2023)

• a backup store of classroom capture and livestream content only. The principal method of accessing these captures is via the copy of each capture which will automatically be available in the Echo library of one staff member involved with the delivery of the relevant Canvas course. This staff member can then share the capture / link to the capture in Canvas as needed..

Any link created in Canvas to classes in the Course-Section-Class hierarchy is likely to break when the Canvas course the link is in is rolled over for the next delivery. For this reason, links in Canvas to classroom capture and livestream content should be done from the personal Echo library of the staff member mentioned above and added to the relevant Canvas course’s formal collection.

To help find content in the ‘Course-Section-Class’ hierarchy, the following diagram illustrates the levels in Echo’s ‘Course-Section-Class’ method and how they match equivalent levels in Canvas (click diagram to zoom):

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3. The student submission method can be used whenever instructors would like students to upload assessment submissions in the form of video. Assessments can be set up to make video just one of the formats that the submission can be made in.

The student submission method allows video submissions to Echo to be tied to the Canvas course for which the submission was made, again allowing related video content to be kept together.

A NOTE RE INTERACTION WITH ECHO CONTENT

Echo allows for more than just consuming content - staff and students can interact with this content to help learning and teaching. Interaction with Echo content can happen both in Canvas and in Echo. Here are a couple of examples of how interaction can happen in each platform:

• Students can contribute Echo content to a Canvas course which can then be used as a conversation starting point. This is possible in Canvas by uploading an Echo video within a Discussion post.

• Instructors can contribute Echo content to a Canvas course. Students then view this content and can interact with it in Echo, for example by typing in questions, comments or personal notes, answering prepared polls, or bookmarking sections they found problematic or would like to revisit.)

STANDARD WORKFLOWS FOR USING ECHO WITH CANVAS

A number of standard workflows have been devised to ensure that video content at NIDA is stored and presented in a predictable way in both Echo and Canvas.

1. WORKFLOW GROUPS

These workflows fall into five Groups. The Groups holding the most used workflows are bolded:

More detail on the workflows in these Groups is provided in the sequence diagram and the four link tables below. Use the links in the tables to access the individual workflows.

The workflows expected to be most used are highlighted in the diagram and shown in red in the link tables. Each workflow is given a code, e.g. A.2. is the second workflow in Group A.

2. SEQUENCE DIAGRAM (click diagram to zoom)

3. LINK TABLES

[THESE TABLES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS VERSION OF THE PAGE]

4. WORKFLOW NOTES

The following notes should be read in conjunction with the workflows. Each workflow links to these notes where necessary.

Group A: Staff need to upload video content to Echo

General notes applying to all Group A workflows

• In addition to videos, you can upload presentation files (such as PowerPoint) and pdfs to Echo360. However uploading anything but video and audio files is currently not possible unless using the Course-Section-Class method. Thus, since video is the main type of content used in Echo and use of the Course-Section-Class method will be minimal, these workflows tend to refer to this content as just ‘video’

• Whenever you upload content to Echo, it’s added to your personal Echo library:

  • This library content is available off the ‘Library’ tab after clicking on the ‘My Echo360 Library’ link in the blue menu shown to the left of any Canvas course

  • You can use one of the three methods to share this content

    • as a student you can use the student submission method to upload your video content as part of an assessment submission

    • as an instructor, you can use either the course-section-class or collection method to allow others to access this content. Or you can simply keep your content to yourself in your library.

  • You can view and manage your Echo library from within Canvas.

  • Zoom recordings and classroom captures organized by the AV department should also appear in your Echo library.

• There are three places you can link to Echo videos from within a Canvas course page:

  • the text editor

  • the Modules screen, and

  • the course’s blue navigation menu.

    Of these, linking via the the text editor is recommended. Using the Modules screen or navigation menu is not preferred because both require using the Course-Section-Class method. Links created in Canvas to classes in the Course-Section-Class hierarchy are likely to break when the related Canvas course is rolled over.

Group B: Staff need to set up Canvas so that students can submit video to Echo for their assignments

General notes applying to all Group B workflows

Video assignments follow the same three-step sequence as for any other assignment, ie setup, submission and grading.

The Echo-preferred workflow uses the ‘Online + Website URL’ option in Canvas
An alternative version using the ‘Online + File upload’ is also possible.

The above workflows are shown as Option A and Option B in these guides.

Group C: Staff need to link to Echo video content from Canvas

General notes applying to all Group C workflows

• These workflows cover creating a simple link to an Echo video as well as embedding an Echo video in Canvas

• With these workflows you can link to both uploaded videos and videos recorded via Echo (ie webcam sessions) because once uploaded to Echo, Echo treats them the same.

• You can link in Canvas to a video that’s in your personal Echo360 library, either

  • as an individual video that you added or that someone shared with you, or

  • in a collection you created, or that another user made you a member of.

• However when linking to a video in Canvas, you can’t search for videos by the collection they’re in, since collections are not shown when linking.

  • So in order to link to a video in a collection, view the collection to find the video’s title. Then search for that title

  • Echo allows you to search for parts of a video title but will not search on punctuation and spaces

Group D: Managing content, and sharing videos individually or via collection

General notes applying to all Group D workflows

A. Introduction to collections
(This introduction is most applicable to workflow D.2. Adding a video to an Echo collection)

• Collections are a way to group videos together in Echo360

• Collections can have none, one or many videos

• Video management

  • Videos added to a collection are not copied into that collection. Instead they are added as a link. For this reason, if a user adds a video from their personal Echo360 library into a collection and then deletes that video from their library, the video also disappears from the collection. This also means that if this video is linked to from Canvas, access to the video via this Canvas link will no longer work

  • All the videos in a collection can be copied. This creates a separate softcopy file for each video in the collection: https://learn.echo360.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055448052

  • For the above two reasons, staff can request NIDA’s Echo admins to make a copy of collection media whenever desired as a precaution against loss

  • the formal collections related to each offering of a Canvas course will be duplicated before each new offering of a Canvas course. For example, the collection related to Canvas course ‘2021 ACT7101A’ will be duplicated and named ‘2022 ACT7101A'. If a video (link) in one of these collections is deleted, the link is not deleted in the other collection
    
    

B. Introduction to video membership

(This introduction is most applicable to workflow D.3. Sharing your Echo collection)

• Ownership of video collections

  • Currently all users - including students - are allowed to create collections and each collection remains private to the user who created it until that user chooses to share the collection with others.

  • You are thus able to access Echo360 content in any collection that you have created or to which you have been made a member

  • As the owner (or ‘manager’) of a collection you control who has access to your collection and what they can do with it. You can make someone else a manager of your collection but once you do, you can’t undo this by yourself since managers can not remove or demote other managers. If you want to remove a collection manager, ask one of NIDA’s Echo360 admins for help

  • Collections have an option that allows whoever clicks on a link to be made a member of that collection

  • The following practice is recommended for managing course-based Echo collections: A single person is designated as the manager for all course-based Echo collections for a given degree/school. This person would likely be the course coordinator or similar. This person creates all course-based Echo collections for the degree/school so that by default they are given the role of Collection Manager. All people who are then added as members of this collection are added in a Contributor role only in order to prevent them accidentally deleting videos from this collection. If a video really needs to be deleted from the collection, then staff ask the Collection Manager to do this for them. Or the Collection Manager does this as a standard part of managing these course-based collections.

• Ownership of individual videos

  • If you upload a video to Echo, you are automatically made the owner of that video and can thus manage it including copying, editing, downloading and deleting it.

  • However the following actions on your video require the help of one of NIDA’s Echo admins (eg Josh, Ben, Andrew and some IT staff):

    • if you would like to give ownership of your video to someone else

    • if you would like to create a public link to your video, ie so it can be viewed outside NIDA. (You can still share your video with people inside NIDA.)

Group E: Deleting Echo content

General notes applying to all Group E workflows

• When using the course-section-class method, content should not be deleted from Echo sections or classes in Canvas courses that have already been delivered to students. Instead the link to this content can be deleted in Canvas for the next delivery of the Canvas course

• When using the collection method, content in a user’s personal Echo library can be deleted by the user as desired. However

  • it might not be possible for users to delete Echo content shared with others via collections depending on how the collections have been set up or shared; NIDA’s Echo admins can help in this case

  • if you delete a video in your personal library that has been added to a collection, it's also removed from that collection. This may affect others if you have shared this collection with them

• When using the student submission method, video submissions by students should not be deleted from Echo unless the student has uploaded the wrong submission prior to grading/instructor feedback. Students should be able to remove these submissions themselves; if not, NIDA’s Echo admins can help