How can I get my recorded lectures to play in Canvas (they worked in BB)?

[sfriedeck]

We are transitioning from BB to Canvas.  My recorded lectures have been imported, but I cannot get them to play.  I used Hughes Presenter to narrate my powerpoints when recording my lectures.  The problem seems to be the "start.html" file, which I used in BB to link to each lecture.  I get an "Oops you’ve found a broken link!" message.  When I click on "index.html", which also worked in BB, I get a flash player message.  I have the latest flash player v.22. 

Can I convert an html file to a swf file to access the lectures?  Please help!

[kona]

 @sfriedeck , I'm not sure of the answer to this question, but I'm going to share it with a few other groups in the Community to see if they can help!

[sfriedeck]

Thank you!

[mjohnson3]

Hey Susan!

Do you have a sample of one of your lectures, I am sure if we tinker with it a bit, we should be able to make it work.  I have an instructor who uses the older version of impatica (he has recently switched over to the html 5 based option, thank goodness, but still wants to use some older lectures).  We were able to get that to work with a few html modifications by putting the presentation in a content page.  I will see if I can find that for you as well to see if it helps.

[mjohnson3]

I was just thinking, have you tried to embed the flash html link in a page using an iframe?  I just wonder if this will work. 

[bgibson]

An HTML file is a web page, while an SWF file is a Shockwave/Flash file.  The SWF file is probably the actual recorded Flash video and the HTML file probably has an embed code that points to the SWF file.

Were the presentations originally packaged up in maybe a Zip file?  If so, you might try importing each package into the Files area of your course and tell Canvas to "Unpack" the files you are Uploading.  That way, Canvas will keep track of all the files in the package and you will probably just need to find the starting file (maybe index.html).

The presentations probably require at least one HTML file, maybe a CSS file (for look-n-feel), maybe a few image files (JPG) and the SWF file which is the Flash file.  If you were unpacking them on your PC, one or more folders might be created and all necessary files stored in their correct locations.  *I think Jing saves it's screen captures as SWF files.

[bgibson]

If your presentations are just videos, you might also look into saving them as new mp4 videos with screen capture tools like Screencast-O-Matic or Snagit.  Whichever tool, would need to record System audio as the audio would be coming from your computer, and I think both require the purchased versions and not the free versions.  *And, there may be Copyright or Use policies that would prohibit recording the recording.  *Our school is blocking access to the Hughes Presenter site (???) so I couldn't get any other info on how the presentations are packaged.

[bgibson]

Boy, I haven't heard the name "Impatica" in years.  I may still have one of the notepads they gave out for advertising;-)

[mjohnson3]

I know!  When our instructor said he was still using it, I did a double take. 

[sfriedeck]

Hi Bill,

Thank you so much for the information! I have been in and out of town this month and have not been able to get back to this issue and won't be able to do so for another week (which is why I tried to work on this in June). I will try to re-record in ScreenCast-O-Matic, which I have used for other lectures in different courses, and follow your suggestions to see what works. I will work on this and let you know how things go.

Thanks again,

Sue Friedeck

[kenneth_rogers]

Hi there,  @sfriedeck !

I wanted to follow up on your question and see how things were going. Were you able to come to a solution? Or are you still seeking assistance? Because this question is from over one year ago, I'm going to go ahead and mark it as "Assumed Answered." Don't worry, this won't prevent people from continuing the dialogue in the event the discussion needs to continue

[sfriedeck]

No, this was never resolved to my satisfaction. I was told by Canvas (I don't remember by whom) that I could not have my lectures accessed in Canvas. I have had to set up my own website for my online students to access.

[kenneth_rogers]

I'm terribly sorry things worked out this way,  @sfriedeck . However, I'm glad you found a workaround so that your students still have access to your lectures.