August 28, 2024 3 minute read
It’s no secret that integrating video into course content drives engagement and helps students absorb and retain information in different ways than static text alone. It’s also no secret that we are dedicated to making Anthology® Blackboard the most efficient and effective LMS on the market today. So we’re excited to announce the upcoming release of Video Studio, a deeply integrated, lightweight video solution that helps instructors quickly and easily create accessible and engaging video content for their courses in Blackboard.
Video Studio offers easy-to-use video, audio, and screen-recording capabilities, as well as the ability to upload existing videos, and will be available in the September release of Blackboard. And current customers will have full access to Video Studio at no additional cost until June 30th, 2025.
Nathan Cobb, senior director of product management at Anthology, shared:
“We heard from instructors that creating video and audio content for their courses is an area where they’re spending a lot of time, so in the spirit of making course creation as easy as possible, we explored how we could create a seamless experience that allowed them to do this efficiently, and without having to leave the LMS.”
“We heard from instructors that creating video and audio content for their courses is an area where they’re spending a lot of time, so in the spirit of making course creation as easy as possible, we explored how we could create a seamless experience that allowed them to do this efficiently, and without having to leave the LMS.”
As is always the case, the Blackboard product development team worked with users to inform how we’d approach the creation of Video Studio, incorporating their ideas, feedback, and preferences to define the requirements of the solution.
Andrea Cardenas, a product manager who worked on the development of Video Studio, added:
“We held focus groups with customers to collect their ideas and better understand the functionality they really needed, their different use cases, pain points with other video creation platforms, and so on—and it became clear that usability was most important to them. [So] our central focus was on removing the barriers and complications that many instructors face when creating and adding video and audio content to their courses and making it as easy as possible for users of varying skill levels to create more engaging courses with the help of multimedia content.”
“We held focus groups with customers to collect their ideas and better understand the functionality they really needed, their different use cases, pain points with other video creation platforms, and so on—and it became clear that usability was most important to them. [So] our central focus was on removing the barriers and complications that many instructors face when creating and adding video and audio content to their courses and making it as easy as possible for users of varying skill levels to create more engaging courses with the help of multimedia content.”
With simplicity and ease-of-use as the north star for development, the product team partnered with our friends at AWS to provide services that would power the solution. Leveraging AWS Elemental MediaConvert to convert recorded content into multiple formats and resolutions, Video Studio files can be played back across all device types and on all screen sizes. And with ease-of-use extending to the student experience as well, Video Studio files include auto-generated captions, provided by Amazon Transcribe, to ensure accessibility for students with accommodation requirements, or for those times when they’re don’t have headphones, are studying in the library, are in transit, or their roommate is sleeping nearby.
For current customers using the Ultra interface, Video Studio will be available in the September release and remain free of charge through June 2025. We encourage those who are taking advantage of this offer to join our ongoing focus groups as we continue to build upon and refine this capability in partnership with users.
To learn more about Video Studio and other new capabilities in Blackboard, such as the AI Conversations tool, contact us to schedule a demo today.
Mindy Mekhail
Director, Product Marketing
Mindy Mekhail is the director of product marketing at Blackboard. Data-driven and customer-focused, she works across the company's full portfolio of solutions. Mindy has over a decade of experience working with and for higher education institutions in roles ranging from integrated marketing and brand strategy to media planning and business development. She is passionate about the transformative power of education and the role technology plays in providing access to educational opportunities, improving equity, and shaping the future of learning.
