2. Staff
3. Prepare for unexpected downtime of the learning technologies

Information on the current status of Panopto

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Panopto is a Blackboard plug-in – a piece of software that has been added into Blackboard to give additional functionality.

When you are working on Blackboard you can see the Aston Replay (Panopto) page in the left-hand menu and you can embed Panopto videos onto other pages in your module – these functions are also a part of the Panopto plug-in Blackboard.

Panopto videos are stored on the Panopto site, not in your module on Blackboard.

• • When you watch the thumbnail of an embedded video in Blackboard or on the Aston Replay page, the video is being streamed in from Panopto.
  • When you click on a video to edit it or to watch it in full-screen mode, you are moved from Blackboard to the Panopto site – look at the address of the webpage, it has changed from vle.aston to panopto.eu.

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Panopto disruption

Watching videos

Panopto videos are stored on the Panopto site.

So if Panopto experiences disruption but Blackboard does not, you and your student’s actions will not be able to watch the videos.

If the student attempts to watch a Panopto video on Blackboard, they are likely to see an error message as the video is not available to be streamed in from the Panopto website.

Download a Panopto video as a backup

You can download a Panopto video and store it on your computer or on Blackboard as a backup.

If, for example, you are planning a timed submission whereby students have to watch a video within a certain timeframe, you may want to download the video in advance to have it ready to avoid potential disruption to your exam.

Recording videos

If Panopto is unavailable you can continue to record videos provided you have installed Panopto onto your machine.

Panopto will automatically save your videos onto your computer if it is not able to reach the Panopto website. Panopto with then upload your video to Panopto (and therefore your module) once the disruption is over.

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Blackboard disruption

Watching videos

Although Panopto videos sit on the Panopto site, the videos are usually viewed via Blackboard.

So if Panopto is working but Blackboard is not, neither you nor your students will be able to get to them in Blackboard and so your students will not be able to watch the videos.

However, the videos can still be viewed if you bypass Blackboard.

Send out a link to an individual video to your students

Log into Panopto directly and see all the videos in a module.

Your Panpto login details are the same as your Blackboard log in.

To find your module videos on the Panopto website:

1. 1. 1. Click Browse in the left-hand menu.
      2. Type your module code into the text box and press Enter.
      3. Choose your module from the list – pay attention to the year, it is easy to choose the wrong one by mistake.
      4. You will now see a list of all the Panopto videos in the module.

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Be ready to communicate with your students in alternative ways

Prepare your communications with your students without using Blackboard.

You will be able to quickly send them a link to videos to keep them on track.