The author wishes to thank ATS instructional designer Joe Olivier for helpful suggestions and advice in the writing of this article. He also wishes to thank Instructional Technology Assistant Kinley LaBerge for assistance with screenshots.
Earlier this year, Canvas added new functionality to media comments within SpeedGrader. Using this new functionality has multiple benefits. Not only can you create media comments swiftly and easily – in some cases, more quickly than traditional text comments – but past research on media comments suggests that they can build a greater sense of community and teaching presence in your course. Newly added captioning functionality in media comments also enhances their accessibility for all students, including those with disabilities.
Important Note: At this time, the recorder described below is available only in Chrome and Edge and is not supported in Firefox or Safari.
To begin recording a media comment in SpeedGrader, click the video camera icon. If this is the first time you are recording a media comment, you will be prompted to give Canvas access to your microphone and camera.
A dialog box will then appear displaying the camera view. The controls for this dialog box allow you to choose a different camera or microphone if you wish. You can also disable the camera if you wish to record an audio-only comment.
You will also see an option for Screen Capture. If you enable this option, Canvas will allow you to choose which screens and/or browser tabs you wish to capture. You can use this option to highlight or otherwise mark up a student submission while describing your actions, creating an effective multimedia experience that will help your students to better absorb the content of your feedback.
When you are ready to record, simply click Start Recording. Recording will begin after a three-second countdown. You can then Pause or Finish the recording.
Once you have finished the recording, you can Save it or Start Over. If you save the comment, it is recommended that you give it a descriptive name (the default name is simply the date and time of recording).
Whether your comment is video+audio or audio only, SpeedGrader will now automatically caption your recording. Captions benefit not only deaf and hard of hearing students, but also students whose first language is not English, students in a noisy environment or one that does not permit turning on audio, and so forth.
Captions may not appear immediately after recording and can take some time to process. Once they are ready, anyone who plays the media comment will see an option to toggle the captions on or off.
To find out more about these SpeedGrader features, please see the Canvas Release Notes. If you have any questions about these or other features within Canvas, please feel free to contact us, stop by our office hours, or book a consultation with an instructional designer.
(Cover Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
