Table of Contents
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What is Videoant
Please watch this short video giving an overview of what videoant is and how it can be used.
Registering for Videoant (ant.umn.edu)
You have two options for registering for Videoant, either Facebook or Google.There’s a Twitter registration option, but only for existing accounts:
Creating a Videoant
Once you have registered, you should see the homescreen with any Videos you’ve created or with nothing if it’s your first time. You can use the tabs at the top to view videos you’ve created, videos others have shared with you or a combination of both (1)
If you want to create a new Videoant, you click New Ant (2)
Finding a YouTube video
You will see a box asking for the URL of a video file or YouTube video (1) It also gives you the option of browsing your own YouTube uploads (2) but you would need to be signed into your YouTube account to see these.
To find the URL of a YouTube video, go to YouTube and find the video that you want to add to Videoant. Click on it so it opens on the page. Then go to the address bar at the top and copy the web address for that video (1)
Then go back to Videoant and paste in that web address into the box (1) and click load (2)
Once you’ve done that, you’ll see the video on the left and instructions for how to create annotations on the right (1).
Annotating a video
Control the video by pressing the play button (1), when you reach a point in the video where you want to add a question or annotation, press the video icon (2)
A box will appear on the right. Add a title for the question/annotation (it could be just a number, or Question 1, or Comment about…) (1) and then the question/annotation (2). Then click Save (3)
You will now see two things. Under the video is a small black line on the timeline indicating where a comment or annotation is (1). You can click on that to jump back to that moment in the video.
On the right, you will now see your comment (2), plus the option to Respond (3) if you want to make a comment on your own question the option to either edit (pencil) or delete (trash) the comment (4)
You can now go through and add as many annotations/questions as you would like on the video. You don’t need to do them all at once, you can come back later and edit/add more annotations. When you come back to the website, hover your cursor over the video picture to bring up the grey/white menu (1) and then click the video icon (2) to start editing again.
Sharing a Videoant with students
To share a Videoant so that students/other people can either view, annotate or respond to annotations, click on the gear icon underneath the video (1)
Another box will appear. Click on the Share button (1)
The easiest way to share is by taking the share URL (1), copying it and either sending it to students by email or by adding to their VLE. Make sure that in the shared with settings, the dropdown menu is set to either annotate (if you want students to create their own annotations and responses) or to view if you only want them to view the annotations (2). Don’t choose private or students will be able to do neither. Once you’ve done that, click in the box that says Add Users (3) and that will open up more of the box.
At the bottom, you should now see the option to Share (1). Click that button, nothing will happen, it is just saving your settings.
Then go back up to where the Share URL is and highlight and copy it (1). This can now be sent to students via email or by posting on your VLE (e.g. Moodle/Blackboard).
When students click on the link, they will be sent to the video page but they will only be able to view at this stage. This is a little bit silly, but there you go.
What they need to do is go to the top right and click Sign In (1)
On the next page, they need to scroll down a bit so they see the box at the bottom below the Google/Facebook stuff (see pic below). They then need to add any email to box (1) tick the terms box (2) and then click Sign in as Guest (3). They will then be able to annotate video and respond to annotations, though do note that their email rather than their name appears!
