GSA eLearning News

Zoom and Virtual Classroom (aka Collaborate Ultra) are both video conferencing tools that we have access to at GSA. This blog post will provide an overview of both tools, their main features and how they can support your Learning and Teaching. Most teaching staff will likely be using both these conferencing tools either as hosts or participants, so its good to get acquainted with the interfaces of both tools. Zoom is ideal for meetings, either one-to-one or with large groups. It has a 'work' focus, and facilitates discussions very well. Virtual Classroom on the other hand is ideal for teaching and learning situations. It has a Classroom focus that facilitates learning and is fully integrated into GSA's Canvas VLE. Installation differences Zoom can run either in a browser, or as a standalone software application on your computer, mobile or tablet. The browser version has limited features, so it is suggested to install the app. New security settings in Zoom re...

Accessibility regulations require that all video content published within Canvas contains subtitles, sometimes referred to as 'closed-captions' or 'captions'.  A transcript of any dialogue based audio should also be provided. This applies to podcasts and other audio based formats as well. Providing these additional accessible materials allows users to use screen readers and text-based search functions to easily locate specific information within a video or audio file, and also helps increase accessibility. At GSA, we recommend hosting any audio or video content on GSA's Planet eStream account. Planet eStream allows users to upload subtitle files to videos and upload transcripts to accompany videos. So how do I get subtitles on my video? Here are two suggested methods for generating captions for your audio and video. Option 1. Otter.ai  Otter.ai provides auto-transcription of audio and video files, and can create transcripts. A free accoun...