Panopto - Video Content Management - Center for Teaching and Learning

During the past school year, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Audio Visual Services, and Information Technology worked together to review NMU’s options for hosting and streaming video internally. Use of video for academic purposes has expanded over the past several years, and video tools have evolved to meet these growing needs. We wanted to assess whether there was a way we could both streamline and improve the video streaming tools available to NMU faculty and staff. 

After researching and testing several options, we have selected a video content manager called Panopto. Panopto will replace both NMU Wildcast and Media Site Live.  

We are excited about the powerful and user-friendly features that Panopto provides, including integration with EduCat and Zoom and the ability to record both from AV classrooms and from user’s own laptops. Below, we’ve outlined some key points about the Panopto implementation. We will provide additional information throughout the summer and will soon launch a web page with information and resources for the Panopto rollout.

Launch Timeline

Panopto will be fully available and supported by August 10, prior to the beginning of the Fall semester. We will be “soft launching” it later this summer. If you are teaching this summer and interested in trying it out, please contact your CTL liaison. 

Migration of Existing Videos

There is currently an extensive library of videos stored on Wildcast and Media Site. Some are relatively new and/or still regularly viewed, while others are outdated and likely no longer needed.  We will be able to automatically migrate videos that are still in use. Owners of videos that do not meet the criteria for migration will have the opportunity to download and save their videos before Wildcast and Mediasite are taken offline. 

• Videos in Wildcast that were created on July 1, 2022 or later will be automatically migrated to Panopto. The migration will begin in July. 

  • If you have videos in Wildcast that you created in that timeframe but that you no longer need, it would be helpful for you to delete them from Wildcast now, so that we do not unnecessarily migrate them. 

  • If you have older videos that you still use, you will be able to request that they be migrated to Panopto. We will provide additional information on this process later this summer. 
     

• If you have Wildcast videos embedded or linked in your EduCat courses, the CTL and IT will update the references for videos that are migrated to Panopto so that the videos continue to be playable through EduCat. You should, as always, verify that your videos are playing as expected. 

Captioning

Panopto automatically generates captions for all videos added to the system. While we have been impressed with the accuracy of the auto-generated captions overall, they do require some proofreading and editing. Scientific and discipline-specific terminology, as well as proper nouns, especially need attention. Fortunately, Panopto also includes a user-friendly caption editor. Training and support resources for Panopto will include instructions for editing captions. A professional captioning service can still be used for courses that have students enrolled who need professional captions. 

Impact to Other Video Hosting Options

Only Wildcast and Media Site Live are being phased out. For most academic uses, we will encourage using Panopto rather than hosting videos on YouTube or Google Drive, but both of those tools will remain available. VoiceThread, which is used for multimedia threaded discussions, will also remain available. 

Wildcast Availability

• Wildcast will remain fully available through the end of Summer Session 2 on August 10.

• After August 10, you will no longer be able to upload videos to Wildcast, but will still be able to view and download previously uploaded videos.

• At the end of the fall semester, access to Wildcast will end.

   

Questions?

Please feel free to contact the CTL (ctl@nmu.edu) or AV (av@nmu.edu) if you have questions, and stay tuned for additional information.