What is ReView ?
ReView is a Teesside University’s Educational Activity Capture service. This easy-to-use video recording platform powered by Panopto can be used for lecture capture, personal capture/screencasting and streaming video content. In Blackboard Ultra ReView recordings can combine audio, video, PowerPoint slides and screen capture in a format that can then be accessed by students at any time using a computer, tablet or mobile device.
This guide will explain everything you need know to get started using ReView.
What can I Use ReView for?
The ReView service is backed by a powerful, yet versatile video recording platform, Panopto, that can be used to create many different video resources for teaching and learning. Here are a few of the most common ways in which you can use the ReView service at Teesside University.
- Lecture Capture – Use ReView to record your lectures and allow students to refer back to them at a later date.
- Personal Capture / Presentation – Record your own videos from within Blackboard Ultra.
- Existing Video Content – As well as recording lectures and personal captures, you can upload any existing videos that you use as part of your teaching and embed them within your Blackboard modules.
Using ReView for Lecture Capture
ReView gives you the ability to record your lectures, seminars and tutorials. During a lecture, the recorder will capture the audio from the boundary microphone and synchronise it automatically with whatever is displayed on the computer screen, typically a PowerPoint presentation. Once the recording is completed, it will be automatically uploaded to the relevant Blackboard module for your students to view. The process is outlined below.
Using ReView to record a video in Blackboard Ultra
Follow these steps for recording a presentation within your module using the Panopto recorder application. These steps are the same for recording your lectures.
- Open Blackboard Ultra
- In your module, click on Module Tools under the Details & Actions panel. If it’s not listed, click on Browse all module tools, and you should be able to access it from there.
- From the side panel, click on ReView Video Library.
- Click on the Create button at the top of the page. From here, you can select the appropriate option:
Panopto for Windows will allow you to record a session using the Panopto recorder software.
(Panopto Capture allows you to record using your browser). - On selecting Panopto for Windows this will prompt a pop-up to launch the recorder. Click Open Panopto button. Depending on the browser click Launch Application / Allow on pop-up window that follow this.
- Name the session.
- Select the appropriate Primary Sources. For Video select a web camera from the drop down menu and for Audio select a microphone input and adjust the volume slider if required.
In GPT rooms and lecture theatres for Audio select the boundary microphone Microphone (USB audio CODEC) and adjust the volume slider if required.
Note: Ensure that you plug in the input devices (i.e. web camera/microphone) before launching the recorder. - Set Quality to High. Select Capture Computer Audio if you choose to record any audio that plays on your computer.
- Once you have selected your video and audio inputs, select the relevant Secondary Sources. To record your slide presentation, tick Capture PowerPoint and if you wish to record any screen activity on your primary monitor, tick Capture Main Screen. The software will automatically detect any additional screen for example, a second monitor. You may also choose to capture additional video/web camera feed by clicking Add Another Video Source.
- Start the recording click Open Presentation. Browse for your file and click Open. This will prompt a message to start the recording automatically. Click Yes, and this will launch your PowerPoint to presentation mode and start the recording for you. You can talk over and advance your slides as you normally would.
- When finished click the Pause or Stop button. This will prompt a Recording Complete window. You can choose to Upload or if you would like re-record the session click Delete and record again.
- You can now embed the video in your module (detailed below).
Upload Media to ReView
As well as lecture capture/personal capture, an alternative use of ReView is to upload existing media content to share with your students. ReView supports a wide range of audio and video formats including AVI, MP4, MPG, WMV, MOV, QT, ASF, 3GP, WMA and MP3. You can also upload video files from Collaborate and Microsoft Stream to generate editable captions in ReView.
- In your module, under the Details & Actions panel in the Module Tools area click the link View module & institutional tools .
- From the side panel, click on ReView Video Library.
- Click on the Create button at the top of the page. From here, you can click Upload media.
- Follow the instructions on the next screen to add your recordings.
- Once the upload in complete, close the window. The video will continue to process and publish.
Embed your video into the Module Content area
Once you have created or uploaded a video, it will sit in your ReView Video Library. You now need to make it visible to students. NB the videos are not private, even though there’s no direct link in the module. If a student is using the Panopto app, they will have access to the videos.