Publishing Unitube videos on a Moodle course

Suomeksi: HY-Unitube-videoiden linkitys Moodleen - På svenska: Publicera en video från HU-UniTube på din Moodle-kurs

Publishing Unitube videos on a Moodle course

A Unitube video can be: a) public to all b) displayed only in Moodle on specific courses. In order to show Unitube videos in Moodle, you need the External tool to connect Moodle and Flamma.

What to do in UniTube Uploader

In Flamma, UniTube Uploader is under Tools. See more information about UniTube Uploader and a guide for uploading videos here.

a) A Public video

1. Define the viewing rights for your video in UniTube Uploader by choosing “Public”.
2. In the Uploader, copy the address of the video (“Video link”).
3. In Moodle, link the video to the course area e.g. by clicking “Add an activity or resource > URL or adding an embedded video to Moodle, just like embedding a YouTube video, see: Linking YouTube videos to Moodle (in Finnish): HY-YouTube-videoiden linkitys Moodleen.

b) When you publish your videos only in Moodle:

1. Define the viewing rights for your video in UniTube Uploader by choosing “Moodle”.
2. Into the field “Moodle course number” insert the id number from the address bar of your Moodle area’s front page. In the figure below, the id number is 20938 and it has been picked from the address moodle.helsinki.fi/course/view.php?id=20938. You can share videos on several Moodle areas; you will just have to insert the id number for each course into the field.
3. Copy the video id or the series id in UniTube; you will need it to publish the video in Moodle.

What to do in Moodle

There are many ways to display Unitube videos in Moodle: When you display a single Unitube video on its own page, see #Linking a single UniTube video. When you publish an entire series on one page, see #Linking a UniTube series. When you publish videos from more than one UniTube series and/or from UniTube and YouTube, see #Several UniTube videos, one External tool.

Linking a single UniTube video

Link the UniTube video to Moodle:

1) Turn editing on on your Moodle course area.

2) Choose “Add an activity or resource”.

3) Choose External tool > Add.

4) Insert the Activity name, e.g. “Watch a video about X”.

5) Choose Preconfigured tool > Unitube, single video from a series.

6) Click “Show more...”

7) Into the Custom parameters field, insert:

• Text id=
• Then in UniTube Uploader, copy the video id (not the id of the whole series), and paste it to the Custom parameters field next to id=

By default, the video is embedded to Moodle. If for some reason you want the video to be displayed in a new window, choose “Launch container” > “New window.”

8) Save.

If you use the Moodle gradebook, hide the External tool in the Gradebook setup (tab Setup and Gradebook setup > click Edit beside the activity: Hide.)

Linking a UniTube series

When you want to publish an entire series of Unitube videos on one page in Moodle, follow these instructions:

Link the UniTube series to Moodle: 1) Turn editing on on your Moodle course area.

2) Choose “Add an activity or resource”.

3) Choose External tool > Add.

4) Insert the Activity name, e.g. “Watch the UniTube videos of the course”.

5) Choose Preconfigured tool > Unitube, all videos from a series.

6) Click “Show more...”

7) Into the Custom parameters field, insert:

• Text series=
• Next to series=, copy and paste the series id from UniTube Uploader.

By default, the video is embedded to Moodle. If for some reason you want the video to be displayed in a new window, choose “Launch container” > “New window.”

8) Save.

If you use the Moodle gradebook, hide the External tool in the Gradebook setup (tab Setup and Gradebook setup > click Edit beside the activity: Hide).

Several UniTube videos, one External tool

If on one Page, you want to publish both YouTube and UniTube videos, or embed UniTube videos in text box, or publish videos from several different series from the UniTube Uploader, you will need Moodle’s latest activity, the External tool which activates the connection between Flamma and Moodle and a Page or Pages to publish the videos on. You can add videos to the description field of other resources and activities as well, e.g. in an Assignment or Forum, if watching a video is required. The student must click the external tool in every Moodle session to watch the video.

See a videolla Unitube-videot lisätään Sivulle (in Finnish).

The instructions of the video can also be read here: First, define the viewing rights for the video in UniTube Uploader, see #What to do in UniTube Uploader. Adding an external tool:

1. Turn editing on on your Moodle course.
2. Choose “Add an activity or resource”.
3. Choose External tool > Add.
4. Insert the Activity name, e.g. “Activating UniTube video” or “Click here if the video doesn’t work”.
5. Choose Preconfigured tool > Unitube activation.
6. Save.

Creating a page and linking videos:

1. Turn editing on on your Moodle course.
2. Choose “Add an activity or resource”.
3. Create a Page.
4. Give the Page a title, and in Flamma, copy the “Video link” and paste it to the Page content field in Moodle
5. Save.

If you use the Moodle gradebook, hide the External tool in the Gradebook setup (tab Setup and Gradebook setup > click Edit beside the activity: Hide).

Why isn’t my video working?

Sometimes waiting helps - then the external tool has the time to connect the information you have updated between Moodle and UniTube Uploader. If the UniTube video is still not showing, check the following:

• The visibility settings in UniTube Uploader:
  • Please note, that if you use videos on a new Moodle area and you have imported the videos from the old one, it is easy to forget to add the Moodle course numbers in Uploader. In Uploader, you must add the numbers of all the course areas you want to display the videos on. If the visibility is restricted to specific Moodle areas, check that:
    • Unitube Uploader has the course id of the correct course and
    • the viewing rights are set on “Moodle”. Remember to save!
  • If the video is public for all, please make sure that
    • the viewing rights are set on “Public”. Remember to save!
    • you have copied the video link of the correct video in the Uploader and pasted it to Moodle. The link must be exactly the same as the one in Uploader.
• The Customized parameters must be defined correctly in the external tool in Moodle:
  • When you use external tool
    • Unitube activation > leave the field empty.
    • Unitube, single video from a series > insert: id= and paste the Video id you copied in the Uploader.
    • Unitube, all videos from a series > insert: series= and paste the Series id you copied in the Uploader.
• Also make sure that you have not added irrelevant settings in the External tool settings, e.g. “Shared secret” field must be left empty.

What is UniTube?

Further information about UniTube lecture rooms, studios, Uploader and Arena (in Finnish).