1. Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications
  2. Institutional Communications
  3. Video
  4. Video Posting Considerations

Video Posting Considerations

Faculty, staff and students at NIU have several options and platforms to consider when working with creating and sharing video content. Deciding which option (or combination of options) is appropriate depends on your needs, audience and objectives. Summarized here are several of the available tools, features and resources for each as well as a selection of frequently asked questions.

Platforms

Kaltura is a comprehensive, robust, campus-wide media platform, available to all faculty, staff, and students at NIU. With Kaltura, users can upload, publish, share, and edit media, as well as create screen recordings, in-video quizzes, and other types of interactive learning experiences.

Features of Kaltura

  • Upload, store, and share your existing video content, created outside of Kaltura
  • Create and share quick webcam/microphone videos or screen recording videos by recording webcam, screen, and/or narration.
  • Integrate Kaltura videos for course content and student content creation with the Kaltura Blackboard tools
  • Automatic closed captioning, with simple caption editing and video transcripts.
  • Edit videos in Kaltura, create video quizzes, and branching video experiences.
  • Share, organize, and manage videos using MediaSpace, including inside and outside of NIU

Resources

Microsoft Stream is an enterprise video service focused on providing secure access to video content with other NIU users. Users can upload existing video content, create short screen recordings, and perform basic edits to videos. Microsoft Stream is also the automated destination for Teams meeting recordings.

Features of Microsoft Stream

  • Store and share Microsoft Teams meeting recordings.
  • Upload, store and share videos with specific people and groups within NIU.
  • Automatic closed captioning.
  • Simple video edits.

Resources

SharePoint and OneDrive are NIU’s enterprise cloud collaboration and storage tools, available to all users as part of the Microsoft suite of services. While OneDrive/SharePoint are not streaming media tools, they can be used to share access to a video file with other NIU or non-NIU users for collaboration purposes.

Video-related Features of OneDrive/SharePoint

  • Store existing video content prior to publishing to a streaming tool such as Kaltura or Stream.
  • If online playback is not essential, OneDrive/SharePoint can be used to share access to a video file (e.g. an MOV or MP4 file) with any user, NIU or non-NIU for reference, collaborative work or collective storage.

Resources

The Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications manages the official NIU YouTube account. YouTube is a very popular platform for our prospective student audience, and knowing our audience is key to the strategy of utilizing YouTube to market the university. We partner with colleges, departments and programs across the university to maintain and develop playlists that house their marketing video content. Our staff also add closed captions to all content added to the main NIU YouTube channel.

The result of partnering closely with colleges and departments to maintain their content, rather than having many disparate YouTube accounts that are updated infrequently, is a consistent increase in subscribers year over year. We do not recommend using personal YouTube accounts or creating new YouTube accounts on behalf of your department if your goal is to embed video content on niu.edu.

If you would like to partner with Institutional Communications on hosting your college or department’s video content for marketing purposes, or if you would like to discuss creating a new YouTube account on behalf of your department, contact video_services@niu.edu.

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I share my Teams/Collaborate/Zoom recording?

It is important to consider whether meeting recordings are necessary as well as whether meeting recordings need to be stored/widely distributed. Many meeting recordings are never viewed, particularly long recordings. It is also important to consider privacy issues when considering a sharing approach that makes the meeting available to those who were not in the meeting.

If a meeting needs to be shared, the approach depends on the videoconferencing tool:

  • Microsoft Teams: Teams recordings are stored by default in Microsoft Stream and can be shared directly from Stream with specific NIU users and groups.
  • Blackboard Collaborate: Collaborate recordings are stored in Collaborate’s cloud services and accessed via the Collaborate tools in the course. Meeting hosts can direct users to the recording area of Collaborate or create a public link for posting in the course or elsewhere.
  • Zoom: Zoom recordings are stored either locally or in the Zoom cloud based on the settings configured in the host’s Zoom settings. Local recordings that need to be shared can be uploaded to Kaltura to share using the instructions available online. Storing and sharing meeting recordings in the Zoom cloud is not recommended; the storage capacity is quite small and the security of the recording itself may not be secure.
I have created a series of videos that I would like to share with colleagues at other institutions so that they can review some of our most recent work. What platform or tool should I use?

If your goal is to share playable links or thumbnails with NIU or non-NIU users (but outside of Blackboard), you can use Kaltura via Mediaspace and share either unlisted links or publish to a channel or playlist. See more details on the NIU Kaltura website. If you believe that your work may have wide appeal for current and potential students, alumni and other interested users, publishing to a channel on the official NIU YouTube page may be most appropriate.

I have a video that I need to host somewhere so that I can share it on a departmental website. What platform or tool should I use?

Both YouTube and Kaltura support public embedded video playback. Check with your college or division communicator for a platform recommendation and if you’re unsure who they are, the web team can help you identify who to contact. Generally speaking, content for a prospective student audience should be housed on YouTube and content created for educational purposes or an internal/specific audience, should be housed on Kaltura.

Platform Comparison

Kaltura Stream Sharepoint/OneDrive YouTube
Streaming Video Support Yes Yes No, SharePoint/OneDrive currently does not support streaming video. Videos are either preloaded in the users’ browser or downloaded prior to viewing. Yes
Blackboard Integration Kaltura integrates with Blackboard using an LTI, allowing video linking and embedding, media galleries and graded video activities. Using Stream videos in Blackboard is possible, but it requires creating O365 or Teams groups or channels to ensure students have permissions to view the content. SharePoint content, including videos, can be linked in Blackboard. Note that videos will not stream, will instead download to the user’s browser before playing. Links and embeds for YouTube videos can be posted in Blackboard.  Permission settings in YouTube must be Public or Unlisted.
Unlisted/Public Sharing Yes, Kaltura enables unlisted and public sharing via Mediaspace. No SharePoint content, including videos, can be configured to allow access to anyone with a link. Yes, YouTube enables unlisted and public sharing.
Storage Limitations No limit. No limit. No limit. No limit.
Editing Functions Yes, Kaltura has an integrated video editor that allows cutting and cropping and other basic edits. Yes, Stream has an integrated video editor that allows cutting and cropping and other basic edits. No Yes, YouTube has an integrated video editor that allows cutting and cropping and other basic edits.
Closed Captioning Available Yes, Kaltura has automatic machine captioning. Kaltura also provides an interface for editing captions, uploading captions and transcripts, and providing captions in multiple languages. Yes, Stream has automatic machine captioning. Stream also provides an interface for editing captions. No Yes, YouTube has automatic machine captioning. YouTube also provides an interface for editing captions, uploading captions and transcripts, and providing captions in multiple languages.
Video Analytics Yes, Kaltura features extensive analytics, including user based data if videos are deployed in Blackboard. Not really. Stream records the number of video plays, but does not provide any further analytics or user data. No Yes, YouTube features extensive analytics, however does not provide user specific data.
Video Quizzes Yes, Kaltura videos can include video quizzes which can also be integrated into a gradebook in Blackboard. No No No
Webcam Recording Yes, users can create a webcam recording in Kaltura using the Express Capture feature. Only as a part of a screen recording session, limited to 15 minutes. No No
Screen Recording Yes, users can create a screen recording using Kaltura Capture. Recordings can include any of three inputs, audio, screens or cameras. Yes, users can create a screen recording using Stream, but recordings are limited to 15 minutes. Recordings can capture a single screen and a webcam if desired. No No
Collaborative editing and publishing Yes, “co-editors” and “co-publishers” in Kaltura can share editing and publishing permissions. Yes, videos in Stream can have multiple “owners.” No Yes, video/channel owners and managers can share editing and publishing permissions.
Mobile App Yes, Kaltura’s app KMSGo allows a simplified searching and viewing, and an interface for video creation and basic edits. No No Yes, YouTube's app provides simplified searching, viewing, and video upload tools.
Restrict Content to NIU faculty, staff, students Yes, Kaltura videos can be configured to require login with NIU credentials. Yes, Stream videos can only be viewed by users with NIU credentials. Yes, OneDrive content can be restricted to those with NIU credentials. No
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