Environment
Annoto
MiVideo
Canvas
Issue
Quickly turn passive course videos into engaging and interactive experiences for students using Annoto!
Resolution
Instructors: Annoto is now available in all UM Ann Arbor Canvas courses!
What is Annoto
- Annoto is an add-on to MiVideo in Canvas that allows students to collaborate within the video or audio player.
- Annoto extends the MiVideo player with a collaboration widget and interactive timeline.
- The Annoto widget contains several Spaces that provide a unique way to interact with the video including the ability to add timestamped comments, write personal notes, and communicate with others in the course.
- A student's user Space is a place to see personal stats and export personal notes.
- Instructors can configure preferences and view analytics and interactions from the Annoto dashboard.
Watch Annoto's YouTube video to learn more
Annoto Analytics and Insights
- Annoto analytics are similar to but separate from MiVideo analytics.
- Annoto has robust analytics and instructor dashboard for managing course engagement.
- Quickly view the percentage of participation for:
- Engaged users
- Users who wrote at least one comment or reply
- Users who wrote at least one personal note
- Detailed analytics per video and per user are also captured.
- See the Annoto Analytics Dashboard Guide for more information.
Annoto Features
Watch a short video from our playlist to learn about a specific Annoto feature.
Getting Started with Annoto in MiVideo Playlist
Annoto Use Case
Pamela Bogart, an instructor with the English Language Institute (ELI), speaks about her experience using Annoto to engage students in conversations and provide instructor feedback (from the MiVideo 2022 Summit).
Annoto: A Language Learning Use Case at ELI
Ready to Get Started?
Choose How You Want To Use Annoto
Teachers, TAs, and designers can enable Annoto for all videos in the course or for specific videos from the Annoto Dashboard.
Use Annoto in all or most videos in a course
Best for courses that want to engage students in active conversation for all videos in Media Gallery and embedded in course content. Annoto can be disabled for specific media that is not appropriate for the tool (e.g. interactive video quizzes and media embedded in Canvas quizzes or other assignments/content).
- Navigate to the Annoto Dashboard in the course:
- From the Media Gallery
- Media Gallery > Channel Actions in the upper right > Annoto Dashboard
- From the left course navigation
- Settings > Navigation > enable Annoto Dashboard. Note: this only has to be done once to have the navigation link appear in the course.
- Click the Annoto Dashboard link in the left course navigation
- From the Annoto Dashboard click the Preferences icon in the upper right
- From the Features tab, either select a use case (which is a ready-made set of preferences) from the Preset drop down, or create your own custom preferences by enabling only the features you want to use
- Optional: see the next section for steps to to disable preferences on specific videos.
Use Annoto in a few videos in a course
Best for engaging in specific conversations with students. This method is not recommended for use with video submission assignments where you want to use the tool to give feedback to each student.
- Navigate to the Annoto Dashboard in the course:
- From the Media Gallery
- Media Gallery > Channel Actions in the upper right > Annoto Dashboard
- From the left course navigation
- Settings > Navigation > enable Annoto Dashboard. Note: this only has to be done once to have the navigation link appear in the course.
- Click the Annoto Dashboard link in the left course navigation
- Click on the name of the video from the Course Videos section
- Important: If you don't see the video in this list the video may have been published in the course prior to enabling Annoto (this can occur when importing a previous course with embedded videos). The video has to load in the player once before it will show up on the Annoto Dashboard. Navigate to the page where the video is embedded. There is no need to play the video, it just has to load in the player. The process is similar if the video is published in the Media Gallery. Navigate to the Media Gallery and click on the video to load it in the player.
- Click the Video Preferences icon in the upper right
- Enable or disable features as necessary
Embed a Video or Playlist with Annoto in Canvas
Embed a video or Media Gallery playlist into Canvas content. The Annoto widget will display next to the MiVideo player depending on the position (default top right) and load state (default open) selected in the Annoto Dashboard > Preferences > User Experience tab.
Note: in a playlist, comments added to the Annoto widget are associated with the current playing video.
- In the Text Editor, select the MiVideo icon in the second row of toolbar buttons. If you do not see the MiVideo icon, click the triple dots icon.
- The default library shown is My Media. Select the tab along the top to select a different library or Media Gallery Playlists.
- Select the settings ("gear") icon next to the video or playlist to embed
- For an individual video, select a Max Embed Size of 900 x 506 or larger, or select the "Annoto In-Video Discussion" player from the Choose Player dropdown menu
- Click the Embed button
FAQs
- Are video comments supported?
Yes! Click to add a comment, then click the little camera icon to record up to 3 minutes. Recordings will also be added to the user’s My Media library in Canvas.
- Can I put links in comments?
Absolutely!
- Are the class comments downloadable?
Class comments are not exportable for privacy reasons. All users can export their personal Annoto notes as a Word document or CSV file. Instructors can view comments and data from Media Gallery > Channel Actions in the upper right > Annoto Dashboard.
- Why is the Interactions Space disabled?
Interactions features are disabled until grade pass back to the Canvas Gradebook is fully functional (coming soon). Join our Annoto Pilot Users MCommunity group to receive the latest news.
- Is Annoto a pilot?
Annoto has been approved for a two year pilot until the end of Winter term 2025.
- What happens after the pilot ends?
Videos will not be lost at the end of the pilot, but comments and Annoto analytics will no longer be accessible unless the service is licensed.
- Is Annoto available for use outside of MiVideo in Canvas?
There are lots of ways to use Annoto. Please contact the ITS-MiVideo team to discuss your use case.
Annoto Guides
Additional Information
For additional questions, please contact the ITS Service Center