Cobra Learning - Techsmith Knowmia

The college has a subscription to a web-based video recording software called Techsmith Knowmia.  This tool will allow you to create, edit, caption, and publish your videos with ease.

Table of Contents:

1. Access
   1. Access through Techsmith KnowmiaWebsite
   2. Access through Cobra
2. Using Techsmith Knowmia
   1. Quizzing
   2. Analytics
   3. Captioning
   4. Conversations
      1. Through Techsmith Knowmia website
      2. Through Cobra Learning
   5. Adding Media to Cobra
      1. Existing Activities
      2. Add a Link
      3. Embed Code
      4. Quicklink
   6. Uploading Media to Techsmith
3. Student View
4. Potential Issues

Access through Techsmith Knowmia Website

To access Techsmith Knowmia from the website, go to http://parkland.techsmithrelay.com and log in with your Parkland credentials.

NOTE: if you are already signed into your Parkland account, it may take you right into the site.

Once you have logged in, you’ll see your library first.  To create folders, click the Create button and then New Folder.  You can then upload media, import from YouTube, or connect to a mobile device.   You can also launch capture to start the recording process (as described above in the Cobra section).

Once you have your folder, you have the ability to delete it, move it, change the owner, rename it, share it, or create a subfolder.

 

If you click on the gear in the upper right corner, you have the ability to launch the classic recording or download the classic recorder.

NOTE: you’ll be prompted to download the classic recorder if you haven’t already installed it.

Download and install the classic recorder on your computer for easy access in the future.

NOTE: you can put this shortcut on your desktop and it will automatically launch the Classic Recorder for you.

Either click the desktop icon or click the Launch Classic Recorder from the website to access the recorder.

You’ll be able to log in quickly with single-sign-on, upload a video file, as well as set audio and video preferences.  You can select your display to record and enter a video title and description as well as set the location.  If you set the Captioning option to “generate captions”, it will do that automatically upon creation of the video.  When you’re ready, click the record button to be counted down to start.

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Access through Cobra

From within your Cobra course, go to a module in Content, click Existing Activities > Techsmith Knowmia.



This will activate the menu where you can access folders in My Library, search the current Parkland Techsmith library for videos, or link media to other Techsmith video or via YouTube.

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Using Techsmith Knowmia

When you activate the recorder, you’ll get a countdown from 3 to the start of recording.



Once you start recording, you’ll see the menu bar has the option to stop recording, pause recording as well as a timer to let you know how long you’ve been recording.



Once you are done and have clicked the stop button, you’ll get a video preview window that will allow you to view the entire video and then either cancel or upload.



Once you click upload, you’ll get a message that says your video is now ready to post.



When you go back to your Cobra course and click Existing Activity in the content module in which you want to load the video, then click Techsmith Knowmia and you’ll get an option of what video to upload. Under Media should be the video that you just created. You can click to Add Conversation, which allows users to make comments on the video at particular times in the video (time-synced) (See section on Conversations). Then you can click Add Media.



This will put the link to the video in your Cobra course.



When you click on the link, you can access the quizzing tool, analytics, and edit details (including renaming the video) from within Cobra as well.

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Quizzing

You can add quizzes to your video at varying points.  Click on quizzing and then Add Questions to enter the quizzing mode.


Start playing the video until you reach the point where you want to add a question. Then, click Add New Question.



You can choose among Multiple Choice, True/False, Fill in the Blank, or Free Response questions. Enter the question details, then enter the answer options (for MC, TF and FIB) and select the correct answer (for MC and TF). Free response is not graded. You can also add Feedback for correct and incorrect responses. Additionally, you can set actions for each to include continue (meaning they keep watching the video from this point), Jump to Time (you set the time in the video that you want them to review), or Go to URL (which will take them to the designated website).



Once you’re done creating your quiz, click the Save Quiz button at the top of the quiz editing page.   Then close the window. 

NOTE: the settings gear allows you to have nightly email reports sent to your email address (or not) and whether you want the viewer’s name and email included.

When you refresh your page and click Quizzing, you’ll now see options to view results, edit the quiz, or remove the quiz.

If you want the quiz results to be entered into the Cobra gradebook, go back to the video link in Cobra, scroll down to the Activity Details on the video page, and click the Add a Grade Item link.

Then click the + sign to create a new grade item.  (If you already have the grade item, then select it from the dropdown menu under Assessment).  Then click Save.

This will create your grade item for the video/quiz. 

NOTE: the example below shows TWO grade items.  The second grade item is the one that you would have created based on your assessment for the quizzes.  The first, which is the title of the video, is created automatically when a student watched the video.  It represents the percentage of the video that the student watches, out of 100%.  It is excluded from the final grade calculation, but shows in the gradebook. (see Analytics).   If you do NOT want this to occur, then you will need to send an email to cobralearning@parkland.edu asking us to exempt your course from the auto-grade creation for TechSmith and include your course(s) and section numbers. A fix for this is in the works, but for now you will need to request the exemption.

Once students have completed the quiz, you can review their results by summary, by student/viewer, and by question.  You can also download the quiz results as well.

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Analytics

The analytics tool will show you who has viewed the video and for how long. You can also download a CSV file that includes the analytics data as well.  And, as mentioned in the Quizzing section about grades, the percentage viewed will automatically be recorded in the gradebook, albeit excluded from the final grade calculation unless you request that your course(s) be exempted from this grade creation.

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Captioning

While most all of your interaction with the video creation, editing, quizzing, and analytics can be done from within Cobra, captioning currently must be done through the Parkland Techsmith Knowmia website. So, go to the site and log in using your Parkland credentials.  Locate your video in My Library and open it.



Then click on the Accessibility link in the menu.

In this section, you can add an Assignee (someone who can edit captions on your behalf), generate Captions, and manage Audio Descriptions. Select Add Caption Track to start the captioning process.



You can either allow TechSmith to generate the captions based on speech-to-text or you can manually type your own captions into the editor. (We recommend the speech-to-text). Then click Apply.



After you click apply, you will get a status update that the captions are being transcribed. You can move on to another project and wait for it to complete. You will get an email notification once it is done and you can return to this screen to edit your captions and/or publish them. Once they have been published, the status will appear as such. Until the status says "Published", your videos will NOT have captions for viewers.


After the captions have been processed, return to the Accessibility screen and see that they are ready for edit. Click the vertical ellipsis to the right, and select Edit. When you have finished editing (see notes below), you can click Publish.

There are some significant things to note in the Edit Captions mode.

1. There is an ADA alert that will guide you through the process to ensure that your captions are compliant. Click the button and it will show the areas of concern with an exclamation point. Click on that to be taken to the area where the captions need edited.  Once it is compliant, you will see a checkmark.

1. Click the play button to watch/listen to the video and track the captions.
2. When you find captions that need corrected, simply click into the box to pause the video and update the captions.  Then click the play button to continue.
3. In order for the captions to appear on your video, you MUST publish them. 

   NOTE: if you do not return to the screen to edit your captions and click the Publish button, your videos will not be compliant.

Once you click the Publish button, you will be prompted through a couple of messages:





After you click okay, return to your video and confirm that the CC button appears as an option for your viewers.

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Conversations

You’ll note in the website access that you have the Conversations option, which creates a “comment” section for the video that allows people to make posts at specific times in the video and create discussion about the topic.

There are two ways to add conversations to your video:

Techsmith Knowmia Website

Select the link Conversations, and then click Add Conversation and give it a title.  This will allow comments to be made on the video when it is linked in your course.  


Then users can click on the conversation title (Testing) to be taken to the conversations page. You’ll see the comments along the right side and if you click on one, it will take you to that point in the video. You can also access these comments on the timeline below the video as well.



From the video homepage, you can click on Conversations and see the number of commenters and comments. If you click on the ellipsis to the right of the conversation title, you’ll get options to get the link to the conversations page (that can be shared), rename the conversations, download the comments, clear the comments and delete the conversation.

Cobra Learning

To create conversations through Techsmith in Cobra, go to your course module, click Existing Activities, then TechSmith Relay.


Then whether you create your video from within Cobra or Add Media from your Relay library, you’ll have the option to check a box for Add Conversation.  Then click Add Media.  That will create the conversation option within your video in Cobra as well. 

NOTE: if you forget to click this when you Add Media, you’ll have to delete the link, and add it again to check the box.  Deleting will NOT affect your video, just the link within Cobra.

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Adding Media to Cobra Content

There are a few ways that you can get your video content added to Cobra.

Existing Activities

From your Content page, click Existing Activities, and then Techsmith Knowmia.  Under My Library, find the folder that contains your video and select Open Folder.



Find the video you want to add and click Add Media.  (Remember to check Add Conversations, if you want to allow commenting).  This will create a link to the video. 

NOTE: you can change the name and/or edit the description of the link, if you choose.

Add a Link

If you go to the Parkland Techsmith website and click on your video, you’ll see a “Share” link.  Click that and select Get a Link.


Then copy the link and return to Cobra. Go to Upload/Create on your Content page, click Create a Link, give the link a name and paste the copied link into the box. You can check “Open as an External Resource” if you choose. Then click Create.

Enter Embed Code

If you go to the Parkland Techsmith website and click on your video, you’ll see a “Share” link.  Click that and select Get Embed Code.


Then copy the code and return to Cobra. Go to Upload/Create on your Content page, click Create a File, give the file a name and then click the Insert Stuff button (first one) in the HTML toolbar. Click Enter Embed Code and paste your code into the box. Click Next and then Insert. Then click Save and Close.

Quicklink

From within an email or any area on Cobra that has the HTML editor, select the Insert Quicklink icon



Scroll down to the Third Party options and select Techsmith Knowmia.



Under My Library, find the folder that contains your video and select Open Folder. Find the video you want to add and click Add Media.



This will create a quicklink to the video within your email or content message.

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Uploading Media to Techsmith

If you have an old(er) MP4 movie file that you’d like to add quizzing and analytics to, you can launch the Classic Recorder from your desktop and select the Upload link.  You can also click the Create button at the TechSmith website (http://parkland.techsmithrelay.com) and click the Upload Media link as well.



Then select Add Media and search for/select the MP4 movie file(s) you want to upload and click Open.



Once your video is prepared for upload, click Upload All.



You’ll get a notice that your video has been uploaded and is being processed.



Once it is processed, you’ll get an email notification that it’s done.  Then you can log into Techsmith Knowmia to edit, caption, add quizzes, etc.  (See Using Techsmith Knowmia).

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Student View

When students click the link, the video will open for them to play.  They will have the ability to change the playback speed, show picture in picture, or go full screen.



When the student watches the video, it will prompt them to answer the quiz questions embedded. They have the option to replay the last section before they take the quiz.



When they click Take Quiz Now, it will show them the question and answer options.

After they have submitted it, it will give them their results along with the feedback that was entered by the instructor.



Clicking continue takes them on to the rest of the video.

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Potential Issues

Some issues that we have stumbled on early in our testing:

Transcripts

To download a transcript of the captions, you’ll need to be in the Edit Captions mode, then click the Export button in the upper right corner (next to Publish).  Select a file format (SubRip .srt) and click Export.  This will provide a time-stamped text file of the captions.  It’s not formatted in an easily readable way, but it can be edited, if you choose.

Chrome

If you have cookies disabled or blocked in Chrome, you may get the following message.



If you click Continue, it will show you the explanation along with directions for allowing Techsmith Knowmia to appear in Chrome for you.