Update: Authenticate your Canvas Studio account in PlayPosit
Kaltura is no longer available for use with PlayPosit, and all bulbs based on Kaltura videos have been migrated to Canvas studio. Make sure to authenticate your Canvas Studio account in PlayPosit and double-check that your content is playing correctly. Learn more about the Kaltura retirement timeline.
What is PlayPosit?
PlayPosit is an interactive video tool that allows instructors to layer your own custom lesson (quiz questions, text prompts, images, etc.) over video content. Using video from YouTube, Canvas Studio or other sources, instructors can add images, text, or a variety of quiz questions, share the lesson with their students for completion, and then monitor student activity and engagement through the analytics collected by the platform. PlayPosit also allows instructors to incorporate feedback and can be an excellent platform for formative assessment.
Who should use PlayPosit?
PlayPosit allows you to create interactive videos. These can be helpful if you want to:
- Add a layer of engagement to out-of-class video assignments
- Flip your classroom
- Test students’ comprehension of video material using quiz questions embedded in the video
- Ensure your students watch video assignments in their entirety
PlayPosit Use Cases
David Paradis, a faculty member in the History department, used PlayPosit in his online and face-to-face courses, using both Canvas and D2L. David used in-video quizzing to present lecture materials asynchronously before class to better understand what concepts the students find confusing and to create more time within the class for students to engage in active learning. David pre-recorded his lectures as screencasts; layered reflective pause, text response, and multiple-choice questions upon the video lectures for the student to complete; and students watched the video lectures and completed the in-video quizzes before the class. Students discussed the content in small groups in class as well as through online discussions.
Chris Koehler used PlayPosit in Desire2Learn for his ASEN 1969: Pathway to Space course, made up of roughly 170 students. PlayPosit allowed him to remove lectures from the in-class experience and allow for more active learning activities. The main content for this course was presented by 28 experts in their fields. These experts recorded topical video lectures, called "Video Capsules", with predominantly multiple choice and text response question types layered upon the lectures. Before each class period, students were responsible for watching the guest lecturers' video capsules and completing the in-video quizzes. After class, all in-video quiz responses were graded and the score were passed back to D2L Grade Items.
Cheryl Pinzone's EBIO 1210-300E: General Biology 1 course was taught through Continuing Education. Cheryl used videos with captions to present content. Then layered questions upon videos to reinforce main concepts and as a check in to see if the students understood each lesson. She used the analytics captured through the PlayPosit interface to see which concepts the students were struggling with, developed asynchronous discussion forums based on concepts that needed review, and then held synchronous Zoom meetings to discuss points of confusion among her students.
Features
- Canvas Studio videos can be used as a source for bulbs, check out the Canvas Studio tutorial on PlayPosit.
- Canvas Studio and captioning in PlayPosit: The Canvas Studio integration in PlayPosit does not currently support displaying captions from Canvas Studio videos (unlike Kaltura, which displayed them automatically). The best option for making captions available in PlayPosit is to download the caption file from Studio and then upload it to PlayPosit. Details can be found in the Captions for Canvas Studio tutorial.
- Interactions: New options for interactions, and modular format to easily swap one question type for another.
- Adjustable Speed: Speed up to watch videos faster, or slow down to focus on more complex content.
- Searchable Transcripts: Users can easily search, navigate and export PlayPosit video transcripts.
- Analytics: Monitor each bulb to see how many learners have watched a video, see completion status and performance.
- Download Materials: Users can download notes and/or slides to reference while not watching the video.
- Video hosting options: Users can host video on Canvas Studio, Vimeo or Youtube.
Get started - Faculty & staff
In order to create interactive videos, you will need to start with a video source. Videos can be hosted on Canvas Studio, YouTube or Vimeo. For information on how to upload your videos to these services, please visit their respective tutorials:
Once you've uploaded a video, access PlayPosit for the first time via Canvas. Follow steps 1–5 of our tutorial for Integrating PlayPosit with Canvas. Don't worry if you don't have a bulb ready to build – all you need to do at this point is link your Canvas account to PlayPosit.
Once in PlayPosit via Canvas, you will be able to use PlayPosit's design and moderation features. For an overview of how PlayPosit works, check out the Navigating PlayPosit page in the PlayPosit Knowledge Base. Please note: Administrator functions are only available if you're a designated PlayPosit campus administrator, and the ability to upload videos directly to PlayPosit is not enabled.
Now you're ready to build your first interactive video, or "bulb." PlayPosit has a good tutorial for using the PlayPosit designer, and Building a Bulb. You can also view their excellent two-part video tutorial on building a bulb.
Once you have finished making your bulb and want to review the process of assigning it in Canvas, you can review PlayPosit's Canvas for 3.0 tutorial. This includes sections on assigning graded and non-graded bulbs, monitoring student progress, copying a class, syncing scores with Canvas, managing multiple sections, and more. Additionally, there is a video overview of the PlayPosit gradebook available.
Get started - Students
OIT recommends visiting the Student Experience page in the PlayPosit Knowledge Base. It covers details specific to accessing and completing bulbs, using notes and the text editor, and reviewing the bulb interactions after they are complete.
Having difficulty playing a bulb? Check out Troubleshooting Bulb Playback, which offers suggestions for various issues that may come up. Following the troubleshooting steps should clear up most problems, but if you continue to have issues, contact OIT for assistance.
Cost
CU Boulder has a campus wide license of PlayPosit. PlayPosit is a common-good service for the campus, which means there is no direct cost to an individual or department.
Support
Support for PlayPosit is provided by the vendor. Send questions or concerns to cuboulder@playposit.org. You can also review tutorials/guides in PlayPosit's Knowledge Base. Live chat is available within PlayPosit between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. MT.
PlayPosit Accessibility
CU Boulder is committed to providing help information and assistance with campus services for all users, including those with accessibility concerns. PlayPosit accessibility considerations, information for content creators, alternatives/workarounds, and more can be found on the PlayPosit Accessibility page.
Resources
Student Data & OIT Services
The University of Colorado uses a variety of data types to facilitate the academic experience and advance student success. To promote good digital citizenship, CU Boulder has created a resource for our student and faculty communities to better understand how student data is used within OIT's services and tools.
