Panopto Project Updates

September 2023

Panopto launches across the University

Panopto has replaced the University’s Stream Lecture Capture service from today (Friday, 1 September) and will give staff delivering lectures the ability to record longer sessions, with better quality resolution and the chance to monitor student engagement in their recordings.

What do I need to know about the launch of Panopto?

At the end of timetabled teaching on 1 September the ability to record or upload content to Stream will be disabled. This will not affect video playback of content already in Stream.

From this point onwards, all content that would have been recorded using Stream Capture should now be recorded using Panopto. Recording is easy to do, but colleagues will need some familiarity with the system before using in teaching settings, you can find out more here. Content erroneously recorded on Stream Capture will be stored on the computer it was recorded on and will need to be manually uploaded to the correct place in Panopto.

All content recorded on Stream Capture over the summer months will now be migrated over to Panopto. All existing links to Stream videos will remain live and accessible throughout the migration process.

A redirect from Stream will become live once all stream.liv.ac.uk content (including all content recorded over the summer) has been migrated to Panopto. This is likely to take place the second week in October however, further communications will confirm this closer to the date.

What do I need to do to prepare for Panopto?

As previously advised where staff are deploying videos created previously in Stream, some checks are needed to minimise disruption. Colleagues may be required to do the following:

1.) The Panopto conversion process has started and so Stream content will gradually appear in- course and personal Panopto folders over the next few weeks. Please check that expected recording are available via the course “Panopto Recordings” link in the menu on the left of the Canvas course.

2.) Where stream.liv.ac.uk content has been placed into personal Panopto folders, we would ask that you batch move the content to the correct Panopto course folder, this will ensure that videos are available to students via Canvas and eliminate any access issues or requests associated with it being in your personal Panopto folder.

In addition, content used on websites or for marketing or outreach which are viewed by external audiences should have the share permissions amended by a Panopto Departmental Administrator .

The batch move and permission amendment process should ideally be completed by Mid-October to minimise disruption.

3.) IT Services have developed and implemented a redirect service, linking all existing stream.liv.ac.uk links to the equivalent content within Panopto.

This removes the immediate need to replace embedded stream content ahead of the start of the 2023/24 academic year, it should be noted that this will only be a temporary solution, and embedded content should still be replaced with Panopto embeds as courses/materials and websites are updated.

Training and support

The Panopto guidance/support and training schedule is available on the Canvas ‘help for staff’ course. This is where you can also find details of dates and times for the webinars and face-to-face drop-in training sessions, as well as how to book these events.

In addition to staff support and training, the Project Team have also developed resources to support students as they return or start at the University. These resources are available on the Canvas ‘help for students’ course. We would encourage all colleagues delivering student welcome events to direct students to these resources.

Following the launch of Panopto should you require help/support please raise a call via the Self Service Portal, send an email to servicedesk@liverpool.ac.uk or call internal: 44567 or external: 0151 7944567.

Members of the project stakeholder group will be attending Education Committees during semester 1 to provide project updates. Additionally, all project updates and FAQs are available on the project website.

The project team would like to thank colleagues for their support and patience whilst the content migration takes place. For any further questions or queries, please contact: lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk. 

 

August 2023 

Between now and September The University is continuing to roll out its new Lecture Capture Service – Panopto, with areas which run teaching sessions over the summer months due to come online first.

Colleagues recording their teaching over the summer months now have the choice to either use Panopto or continue to use the outgoing platform, Stream. All existing links to Stream videos will remain live and accessible throughout the migration process.

What do I need to do to prepare for Panopto?

To prepare for and to minimise disruption whilst content migration takes place, Colleagues with course content may be required to do the following:

  1. Where stream.liv.ac.uk content has either been recorded as a lecture via the timetable, or uploaded to Stream and linked with a course (therefore causing it to appear within the course Stream lectures menu of the course), these videos will be placed into the corresponding course Panopto folder. These Panopto folders have been linked to the correct Canvas course. On completion of the migration process these videos will be available to staff and students via the course Panopto Recordings linked in the menu on the left of the Canvas course. On completion of the migration process in early September 2023, please check that expected recordings are available.
  2. Where stream.liv.ac.uk content has not been directly associated with a course this content will be placed into the personal Panopto folder of the colleague that created it. Where this happens, we would ask that you batch move the content to the correct Panopto course folder, which will ensure that videos are available to students via Canvas and eliminate any access issues/requests associated with it being in your personal Panopto folder. Stream videos will be available in Panopto from early September. The batch move process should ideally be completed by mid-October to minimise disruption.
  3. IT Services has developed and implemented a redirect service, linking all existing stream.liv.ac.uk links to the equivalent content within Panopto. So, no matter whether a stream.liv.ac.uk link is clicked on a website or from within Canvas, the user will be redirected to the same content within Panopto. Please note: In order for this to work correctly, please also see point 2 above.

This removes the immediate need to replace embedded stream content ahead of the start of the 2023/24 academic year. It should be noted that this will only be a temporary solution, and embedded content should still be replaced with Panopto embeds as courses/materials and websites are updated.

The redirect will be become live once all stream.liv.ac.uk content (including all content recorded over the summer) has been migrated to Panopto. The implementation of the redirect this is likely to take place the second week in October however, further communications confirming exact details will be sent closer to the date. Unfortunately, we are not able to migrate usage data from stream.liv.ac.uk to Panopto as such colleagues who monitor and record the viewer data for their videos should prepare to record this data ahead of the redirect solution live date. Once the redirect is in place viewer data will then be available via Panopto analytics. 

In addition, content used on websites or for marketing/outreach which are viewed by external audiences should have the share permissions amended by a Panopto Departmental Administrator.

The project team are available to answer any staff queries emailed to: lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk.

Training

The Panopto guidance/support and training schedule is available on the Canvas help for staff course where you can also find details of dates and times for webinars and face-to-face drop-in training sessions, and details on how to book these onto these events.

In addition to staff support and training we have also developed resources to support students as they start at/return to the University. These resources are available on the Canvas help for students course. Colleagues delivering student welcome/induction events should direct students to these resources.

Project Update and timescales

Panopto is scheduled to launch on the 1st September at which point any further lecture capture via stream.liv.ac.uk will be prevented and you will need to use Panopto for lecture capture and all other video creation.

Following the launch of Panopto on the 1st September should you require help/support please raise a call via the Self Service Portal, send an email to servicedesk@liverpool.ac.uk or call internal: 44567 or external: 0151 7944567.

Members of the project stakeholder group will be attending Education Committees during semester 1 to provide project updates. Additionally, all project updates and FAQs are available on the project website.

The project team would like to thank colleagues for their support and patience whilst the content migration takes place.

For any further questions or queries, please contact: lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk.

June 2023 

Between now and September the University is rolling out its new Lecture Capture service – Panopto, beginning with areas which run teaching sessions over the summer months.

Colleagues recording their teaching over the summer months now have the choice to either use Panopto or continue to use the outgoing platform, Stream. All existing links to Stream videos will remain live and accessible throughout the migration process.

What do I need to do to prepare for Panopto?

To prepare for this and to minimise disruption whilst content migration takes place, colleagues with course content may be required to do the following:

  1. Where stream.liv.ac.uk content has either been recorded as a lecture via the timetable, or uploaded Stream and associated with a course, these videos will be placed into the corresponding course Panopto folder. These Panopto folders have been linked to the correct Canvas course. On completion of the migration process these videos will be available to staff and students via the course "Panopto Recordings" link in the menu on the left of the Canvas course.

  2. Where stream.liv.ac.uk content has not been directly associated with a course this content will be placed into the personal Panopto folder of the colleague that created it. Where course content is placed into a personal Panopto folder we would ask that you batch move the content to the correct Panopto course folder, if you need it to be available to students via Canvas.

  3.  During your Canvas course rollover and update process for the 2023/24 academic year, you will be required to manually replace all stream.liv.ac.uk embed links with the corresponding content embedded from Panopto, where you want videos from previous years to be used in Canvas in the new academic session.

    Please note: If you have (or know of) websites that utilise stream.liv.ac.uk embed links these will also need to be replaced with embed links to the same content within Panopto.

The project team are available to answer any staff queries on lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk.

Project Update and timescales

The Lecture Capture Project Team have also provided the following updates on the roll out:

Content migration

The upload of all phase 1 stream.liv.ac.uk content including caption files to the Panopto cloud storage area is now complete. Panopto are now working to ensure all video files are working correctly before then starting the process of moving them all into the correct Panopto folders. This main first phase of the migration is expected to be complete by early September 2023, in time for the start of the 2023/24 academic session.

Once Panopto has been launched and all content recorded over the summer has also been migrated, IT Services will be turning off stream.liv.ac.uk. This is scheduled for late October 2023.

Implementation

The Panopto software has been pushed out to all teaching space PCs and the process of configuration by our AV team continues.

Whilst IT Services continue to configure and finalise Panopto for use across the University, the project team encourage colleagues to download and familiarise yourselves with Panopto and the recording process as well as booking yourselves onto additional training/support sessions. Guidance on everything from how to download Panopto to booking onto a training session can be found on the Canvas ‘help for staff’ course.

Training

The Panopto guidance/support and training schedule (including a recording of Digital Education Network (DEN) event that took place on 25th May is available on the Canvas help for staff course. This is where you can also find details of dates and times for the webinars and drop-in training sessions, as well as how to book these events.

Further information

Members of the project stakeholder group will be attending Education Committees to provide project updates. Additionally, all project updates and FAQs are available on the project website.

The project team would like to thank colleagues for their support and patience whilst the content migration takes place. For any further questions or queries, please contact: lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk.

May 2023 

Content migration

As the University moves into exam season and formal teaching for the 2022/23 academic year come to an end the process of migrating all Lecture Capture and video content stored on stream.liv.ac.uk (up to this point) to Panopto starts. This main first phase of the migration is expected to be complete by early September 2023, in time for the start of the 2023/24 academic session.

Colleagues recording their teaching over the summer months now have the choice to either use Panopto or continue to use Stream. All existing links to Stream videos will remain live and accessible throughout.

Implementation

Panopto has been successfully integrated with University authentication services and Canvas. Colleagues can now use their University credentials to access Panopto directly, where if you use a non-managed PC or Mac you can download the Panopto desktop application. Mac users please note: Panopto are releasing version 13.0.0 of their desktop application on 20th July 2023, this version of the software will require at least macOS 11 to run.

In addition, the Panopto desktop software is also available for download via the MWS's Install University Apps within the ‘Teaching’ category. The Panopto software has also been pushed out to all teaching space PCs and is in the process of being configured by our AV team.

The integration between Canvas and Panopto is also complete and colleagues may have noticed a new ‘Panopto recordings’ menu option appear in the course menu on the left. The close integration between Panopto and Canvas allows lecture capture to be launched from within a Canvas course. This new menu item also allows students to view their course video content from within Canvas courses.

If you select this option you will notice that its currently empty however, towards the end of the content migration process you will start to see this area become populated with your course recordings. This will be the method students use to access recording for previous study years.

Whilst we continue to configure and finalise Panopto for use across the University, the project team encourage colleagues to download and familiarise yourselves with Panopto and the recording process as well as booking yourselves onto additional training/support sessions.

Training

To kick-off the Panopto training schedule the project team are working with the Centre for Innovation in Education (CIE) colleagues during their Digital Education Network (DEN) event on the 25th May from 12-1pm and will be running through all you need to know about Panopto, from its set-up and use through to editing as well as answering your questions. Colleagues can book your place for this event here.

The Canvas help for staff course has been updated with instructional videos and guides to support colleagues in setting up and using Panopto. This is where you can also find details of webinars and drop-in training dates, as well as how to book these events.

Further information

The project team are available to answer any staff queries on lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk.

 

April 2023 

The University’s Stream Lecture Capture service is being upgraded to a leading platform within the Higher Education sector called Panopto.

The new service facility is being rolled out across the institution between now and September, beginning with areas which run teaching sessions over the summer months.

All Stream content will shortly be migrated onto Panopto which will take place in two phases:

  1. At the end of formal teaching for the 2022/23 academic year (end May 2023) all content stored on stream.liv.ac.uk (to that point) will be migrated to Panopto. Colleagues teaching over the summer months will have the choice to either use Panopto or continue to use Stream. All existing links to stream.liv.ac.uk videos will remain live and accessible throughout.

  2. Once Panopto officially launches across the University (September 2023), all further Stream Lecture Capture functionality and content will be disabled and all content recorded over the summer months will also be migrated to Panopto.

Panopto is currently being integrated with University authentication services and Canvas. Once complete, desktop software will be added into all teaching spaces. The close integration between Panopto and Canvas allows lecture capture to be launched from within a Canvas course allowing students to view them from within their Canvas courses.

The new system includes:

  • Seamless integration with Canvas
  • Ability to record for longer durations at higher resolutions
  • Ability to live webcast lectures
  • A Panopto desktop recorder application available for both PC and Mac users
  • Improved use of other peripherals like large lectern visualizers
  • Easy to use video editing software
  • An app for mobile devices
  • User analytics
  • Quizzes which can be embedded within videos
  • Departmental-focused access to video collections

Training including webinars, drop-in sessions and an online area with instructional videos and guides will be made available to staff in late May 2023 and progress will continue to be shared as the project progresses.  

 

March 2023 

The University’s Stream Lecture Capture service is set to be upgraded following a comprehensive review and procurement process.

The new system, which will be introduced from September 2023, is a leading platform within the Higher Education sector called Panopto.

Stream Lecture Capture was introduced at the University in 2013 and has since been used to record and share more than 85,000 hours of teaching with our University Community. As the system is approaching the end of its working life a project was initiated by IT Services to procure a replacement.

Panopto has been used successfully within the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry since 2020 providing the facility to manage large volumes of multimedia content, create personalised and active learning opportunities as well as monitor engagement.

Other facilities within the new system include:

  • Video editing software
  • Integration with other essential university systems including Canvas, Zoom and Teams
  • An app for mobile devices
  • Cloud storage for operational resilience
  • User analytics
  • Quizzes which can be embedded within videos
  • Departmental-focused access to video collections

The new service facility will be rolled out across the institution between April and September, beginning with areas which run teaching sessions over the summer months. Staff will be contacted directly by the project team to provide access to training including webinars, drop-in sessions and an online area with instructional videos and guides.

The project group will also be working closely with schools and departments to identify all content that will be migrated over to Panopto and all existing links to Stream videos will remain live and accessible throughout.

Further information will be shared throughout the implementation process. 

Staff queries can be directed to lecturecaptureproject@liverpool.ac.uk