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SEACOW Videos

SEACOW Videos

Videos produced and managed via SEACOW (Scheduling, Editing, and Captioning - Online Workflow) can be added to Myplace by using the SEACOW activity module.

The activity module will be automatically populated with video details such as title, presenter, and duration. The transcript will be available as a PDF, the link for download is located below the video player. You can add videos that are still in production as a placeholder, please see What the video confirmation with status means to learn more about the production workflow.

An example of a SEACOW video in Myplace. The page is titled with the course title. The title of the video and duration are shown before the video player and the presenter and PDF transcript after the video player.

 Instructions

To add a SEACOW module to a class:

  1. Go to the class site and turn on editing mode by pressing the “Turn editing on” button located after the user menu.

  2. Go to the section where you want to add the SEACOW module and select the large “Add an activity or resource“ button to bring up the Moodle Activity Chooser pop up.

  3. Select the “Seacow video” item. This is located under resources or can be found using the search bar.

  4. You can now add your video by either entering the video ID or browsing video by project.

Please keep reading for more detailed guidance.

How to select a video

If you know your video ID, you can just type it or paste it into the “Seacow Video ID” field. Or you can select “Don’t know the Video ID? Browse Videos“.

The Seacow video ID field is the first form field in the Adding a new Seacow video page. The field is located within the general section of the form. After the filed a button reads Don't know the Video ID, browse videos.

If you decide to browse the videos, you will be able to select or search for a project. Once the project is selected, you will be able to select and search for a video within the project.

You will only be able to see projects and videos that are available to you in SEACOW. Any restrictions are managed within the SEACOW platform. Myplace does not have any control over SEACOW permissions.

Under Browse Video there is a searchable select field to select a project and a project is already selected in this example. After the label please select a video another searchable select field shows all the videos that contain the match intro.

What the video confirmation with status means

Once a video is selected, Myplace will show a section with all the details for the videos. These include title, duration, presenter, and status. The sections are colour coded and show a status message based on production status of the video in SEACOW.

The production statuses of videos are:

  • Not yet approved (red)

  • Approved, transcript not yet ready (yellow)

  • Approved (green)

Only make available to students SEACOW activities containing videos that have the Approved (green) status.

Not yet approved (red)

The video is available in SEACOW and can be added to Myplace as a placeholder but it can not be made available to students. The video may still be in production or still waiting to be approved and the transcript is not yet available.

Under the General section, after the Seacow Video ID input field a red section reads Example video title, Presenter Dr Billy Smith, Status Not yet approved.

Approved, transcript not yet ready (yellow)

The video is available in SEACOW and can be added to Myplace as a placeholder. The content of the video has been finalised and approved however, the transcript is still being produced.

Under the General section, after the Seacow Video ID input field a yellow section reads Example video title, Presenter Dr Billy Smith, Duration 1 hour 0 minutes 16 seconds, Status Approved, transcript not yet ready.

Approved (green)

The video has been approved and the transcripts are available. The SEACOW activity can be opened to students.

Under the General section, after the Seacow Video ID input field a green section reads Example video title, Presenter Dr Billy Smith, Duration 0 hours 5 minutes 39 seconds, Status Approved.

How to update a video

Videos are updated in the SEACOW platform and it is not possible to make any changes within a Myplace SEACOW activity.

If changes are required to a video, the videography team who produced the video should be your first point of contact.  This means any updates can be managed properly, as sometimes videos are used across multiple courses.

If a video changes in SEACOW, you don’t need to do anything. The changes will be be reflected in Myplace automatically.

It can take about an hour for any changes to videos in SEACOW to be carried over to Myplace.

 

Manually update a video in Myplace

If you are unable to wait for the automatic syncing to take place, it is possible to force Myplace to update the details of a specific video instantly.

In order to manually update a video, please follow these steps:

  • Got to the SEACOW activity module that you want to update

  • Go to the administration menu for the module and select “Update from SEACOW“

  • The page will reload and, if the update was successful, you will see a confirmation message.

The Update from Seacow menu item is located under Administration, Seacow Module Administration.

Accessibility

Transcripts and close captions are mandatory for all SEACOW videos.

Always make sure that the videos have the Approved (green) status before opening the activity to the students.

Troubleshooting

My video changed in SEACOW but Myplace still shows the old version

It can take up to an hour for changes to be synced in Myplace. Please see How to update a video to learn more about how this works and how to manually sync changes from SEACOW.

Frequently asked questions

How do I access SEACOW?

SEACOW is a video production tool and access to the platform is restricted. If you are unsure of how to use SEACOW when creating a class, please contact your videography team or learning technologist.

How do I make a change to a video in SEACOW?

Please contact the videography team who produced the video so that any updates can be managed correctly (see How to update a video for more info).