How-to heiCAST and Moodle: First Steps
heiCAST is a service for comprehensive management of digital video content and video streaming at Heidelberg University. It can be used to provide recorded audiovisual teaching content in Moodle, among other things, and is based on the software Opencast.
In addition to this How-to, there is a video tutorial in the Moodle course “Anleitung & Tipps Online Lehre” (DE), which clearly demonstrates how to make video content available in a Moodle course. (Only accessible to teaching staff)
Table of Contents:
- Add a Moodle course to heiCAST
- Upload videos via Moodle to a course
- Record a video with Opencast Studio
- Create an Opencast series in a course
- Import videos from another course
Add a Moodle course to heiCAST
1. Activate editing in your course by clicking on the command "Activate editing".
2. Open the menu bar on the top left of the window and click on “Add block” at the very bottom.
3. In the dialog box that opens, there will be an alphabetical list of options. Scroll down the list until you get to “Opencast Videos” and click on it.
UPLOAD VIDEOS VIA MOODLE TO A COURSE
1. The new block “Opencast Videos” can be found either to the right of the topic/week sections or at the bottom of your course if the window has not been maximized. Click “Add video”.
2. Give the video a name and select the video you want to upload via drag and drop. You can upload a video in which you show presentation slides or other images from your display with a voiceover. You can also upload 2 videos: one which contains your presentation/display and another which contains an audio and/or video recording. These videos will be played at the same time.
3. Wait until the file has been uploaded. A loading bar will display its progress. Then click on "Save changes".
4. Once your video has been successfully uploaded, you will see a confirmation highlighted in green.
5. Go back to the block "Opencast Videos”. There you will see that your video upload is pending, as indicated by an orange clock icon.
6. As soon as your video becomes available, a green checkmark will appear next to the video. This may take a few minutes. If your video is not immediately visible, please refresh your browser window to update the processing status.
7. To make the video available in a course, click on the arrow symbol in the column "Publish".
8. Give the module a title, select the desired section from the drop-down menu and click on “Add module and return to overview” or "Add module and return to course".
9. Alternatively, you can add an Opencast activity within a week/topic section of your course.
10. In the following dialog box, select "Video (Opencast)”. Scroll down until you see the Opencast symbol or use the search function to cut down the possible selection options. Click “Add” to continue.
11. Give the module a title and copy the Opencast ID, which can be found in the recording details in heiCAST. Click “Save” to continue.
12. We do not recommend embedding videos using the Activity "text field". If the video is defective, participants may not be able to log in to the course. Additionally, if multiple videos are added with this method, it can overload older computers, as all the videos will load at the same time.
RECORD A VIDEO WITH OPENCAST STUDIO
1. Click “Record video” in the Opencast block or in the overview.
2. Opencast Studio will open in a new window in your browser. Here you can choose which source you would like to use for your recording: your display, your camera or both.
3. Your browser may prompt you to grant permissions for Opencast on your browser. Selected the desired source from the drop-down menu and click "Allow".
4. When you have selected the desired window or screen, click "Next".
5. In the next step, you can choose whether you would like to record with or without an audio track. Click one of the two command options: “Microphone” or "Without audio".
6. Your browser may ask you again if you want to grant permissions for Opencast. If so, click "Allow".
7. If your microphone has been recognized by Opencast, you will see a wavy line in the left command button. Click “Next” to continue.
8. Now you should be able to see the screen area you selected to be recorded, your camera or both. Click on the red button to start the recording.
9. The recording is now in progress. You can pause (black button) or end (red button) the recording when you are finished.
10. If you are satisfied with your recording, click "Next". If you would like to re-record your video, click "Discard and record again".
11. Fill out the fields “Title” and “Presenter” and then click "Upload to Opencast".
12. If you see the dialog "Connection to Opencast is not fully established: uploading is disabled. Please configure the connection in the settings (you won't lose your recording): This just means that you are not correctly signed in to Opencast. The following step will tell you how to sign in.
13. Open https://heicast.uni-heidelberg.de in a new browser window and log in with your Moodle ID.
14. If it worked, you should see the confirmation “Done!” at the top of the screen.
15. Your video should now appear in the overview. Now you need to assign the video to a series. To do this, click on the three blue bars on the right under "Actions".
16. Select the series number corresponding to your course from the “Series” drop-down menu.
17. Your video should now be available. Go back to the Moodle page of your course and click on "To Overview".
18. This is where you can make the newly added video visible to the course participants, so that they can watch the video in the course!
CREATE AN OPENCAST SERIES IN A COURSE
1. If you want to add videos directly to your course via Opencast, you must first create a “Series” to which videos can be assigned. To do this, click “To Overview” in the Opencast block in your course.
2. Click "Manage series” to create a series for the course.
3. Click "Create new series".
4. Give your series a title or select the automatically generated title and then click "Create new series".
IMPORT VIDEOS FROM ANOTHER COURSE
1. Open the overview through the command button in the Opencast block in your course.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Import videos".
3. The listing only includes courses in which you are enrolled. Select the course to which you want to add the video.
4. Double-check your selection in this step. When the correct course/series has been selected, click "Import videos and go back to overview". The videos should now be available in your course!
