Setting up and managing course multimedia and video resources in Moodle involves a few steps. Here’s a guide to help you through the process:

1. Enable Multimedia Plugins

Before adding multimedia resources, ensure that Moodle has the necessary plugins enabled for handling multimedia content like audio, video, and images.

• Go to Site administration > Plugins > Manage activities.
• Ensure that plugins like Multimedia Plugins are enabled.

Moodle also supports embedding videos and images from external services like YouTube, Vimeo, etc. These features can typically be enabled through the Text editor (the Atto editor).

2. Adding Video Files to Moodle

You can upload video files to your Moodle course using several methods:

Method 1: Uploading Video Files Directly

1. Go to your course and turn on Editing by clicking the “Turn editing on” button.
2. In the section where you want to add a video, click Add an activity or resource.
3. Choose File and click Add.
4. In the File settings section, click the Add button under the Content section.
5. Choose the video file from your computer and upload it.
6. In the Display options section, you can set how you want the video to be displayed (inline, embedded, or downloadable).

Method 2: Embedding Video from External Services (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)

1. In the Text editor (Atto editor), click the Insert or edit an audio/video button (icon that looks like a film strip).
2. Paste the URL of the video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.).
3. Set the size and other settings as needed and click Insert.
4. This will embed the video directly into the course.

3. Embedding and Managing Other Multimedia Resources

Method 1: Adding Audio Files

1. Just like video, you can upload audio files by selecting the File option in the “Add an activity or resource” screen.
2. Use the Insert or edit audio button in the text editor to embed audio files directly in the course content.

Method 2: Adding Image Resources

1. To add images, click the Add an activity or resource button and select File or use the Image button in the text editor.
2. Upload your image file or paste an image URL.

4. Embedding Multimedia Content in Moodle Activities

You can add multimedia resources inside Moodle activities like Assignments, Quizzes, or Forums by embedding or uploading the content directly into the activity description or via the text editor. For instance:

• For Assignments: When setting up an assignment, you can add instructions with embedded videos, images, or audio.
• For Quizzes: In the quiz questions, you can embed media to support the questions.
• For Forums: You can include multimedia content in forum posts.

5. Using Moodle’s Video Player

Moodle has a built-in video player to handle various video formats (e.g., MP4, WebM, etc.). When you upload a video, Moodle will automatically use its player to render the video. However, you can adjust settings to enhance how the player behaves:

• Automatic resizing: Set video to resize based on device type.
• Autoplay: Enable autoplay for video files.
• Subtitles: If your video has subtitles, you can upload the subtitle files.

6. Managing Course Multimedia (Video and Audio Files)

Moodle also provides options to manage and organize media files in your course:

• Repository System: Use Moodle’s repository system to store and access multimedia content. You can upload files to your Course Files or link to files stored in external repositories.
• Organize by Folders: You can use folders to organize multimedia content for easy access by students.
  • Create a Folder: In your course, click Add an activity or resource > Folder and upload your multimedia content into the folder.

7. Use Moodle’s Streaming Options

Moodle also allows for integration with external video hosting platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and others. You can embed or link these platforms for better video management and streaming quality. This is particularly helpful for large videos where hosting them on Moodle may not be ideal.

8. Video Streaming with BigBlueButton (For Live Sessions)

If you plan on using live video content, you can integrate BigBlueButton, which allows you to conduct live video sessions, record them, and embed them in Moodle. You can:

• Schedule live sessions.
• Upload and stream recorded sessions directly in Moodle.

9. Monitoring and Adjusting Permissions

Ensure your students have the correct permissions to view the multimedia content you’ve added. You can control:

• Visibility: Set the visibility of the video or multimedia file to be either visible or hidden based on your course schedule.
• Download Options: Enable or disable the option to download the files.
• Access Control: Set restrictions based on student groupings, course progress, or date/time.

10. Testing and Troubleshooting

Once you’ve uploaded your multimedia content, test it by viewing the course as a student. Check:

• Video playback: Ensure videos load and play correctly.
• Audio quality: Ensure audio content is clear.
• File access: Verify that all multimedia files are accessible to students.

By following these steps, you can successfully set up, manage, and organize multimedia and video content in Moodle, making your course more engaging and interactive.

The post How to set up and manage course multimedia and video resources in Moodle? appeared first on Artificial Intelligence.

Responding to concerns from advertisers and politicians, YouTube Inc. has added new measures and improved existing ones to better regulate objectionable content uploaded on its platform. The company detailed new measures in a blog post, chief among which is the use of machine learning and automation to remove objectionable content from the site and also limit access to content that falls into a gray area.

YouTube has been under pressure to clean up hate speech and terrorist-related content on its site. Earlier this year, major global media buyer Havas Mediapulled all advertising off Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and YouTube. Havas is estimated to spend about £175 million ($230 million) every year on behalf of its clients in the UK. The move followed other major advertisers including the Guardian, the BBC and Transport for London also pulling their advertising. In fact, Google was summoned by government ministers to explain why government advertising was being placed next to extremist content on YouTube.

The Internet giant promised to improve its ad placement, and announced a four-step strategy to combat extremist content a few months ago. These included: better detection and faster removal driven by machine learning, more experts to identify objectionable content, tougher standards for “borderline” videos that are controversial but don’t violate YouTube’s stated policies, and more counter-terrorism efforts.

The challenge for Google/YouTube is that digital advertising is increasingly sold programmatically. This term refers to the automated trading of advertising online. Media companies make advertising slots available via a programmatic system and advertisers and media buyers bid on these slots. The entire process is conducted using digital trading desks that match advertising to buyers using various demographic and contextual criteria.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes result in advertising showing up next to the absolutely wrong video. For example, a toy manufacturer might find its advertisement placed in an adult video, or a government agency could have its message inserted into a video from a hate preacher. This is a huge concern for advertisers. Prior reports found that message from advertisers such as UK broadcasters Channel 4 and the BBC, retailer Argos and cosmetics brand L’Oréal were slotted into extremist content on Google and YouTube.

Google claims it previously removed nearly 2 billion inappropriate advertisements from its platforms, more than 100,000 publishers from its AdSense program and blocked ads from more than 300 million YouTube videos. Examples of inappropriate content that was removed included videos of American white nationalists and extremist Islamist preachers.

Following the theory that the problems created by automation can also be solved by automation, YouTube has invested in using machine learning to try and regulate the content uploaded to the site. The scale of the service makes it impossible for a human-only solution anyway: 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and 5 billion videos are viewed daily.

The key to Google approach is better detection and faster removal driven by machine learning. It has developed new machine learning technology in-house specifically to identify and remove violent extremism and terrorism-related content “in a scalable way.” These tools have now been rolled-out, and according to the company it is seeing “some positive progress” already.

It cites improvements in speed and efficiency — more than 75% of the videos removed for violent extremism in the previous month were pulled automatically, before being flagged by a single human. The system is also more accurate due to the new machine learning technology, with Google claiming in many cases it has proven more accurate than humans at flagging objectionable videos. And, lastly, Google points out that given the massive volumes of video uploaded to the site every day, it’s a significant challenge to root through them and find the problematic ones. But over the past month, the new machine learning technology has more than doubled not only the number of videos removed, but also the rate at which they have been taken down.

Google is also adding new sources of data and insight to increase the effectiveness of its technology, partnering with various NGOs and institutions through its “Trusted Flagger” program, such as the Anti-Defamation League, the No Hate Speech Movement, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. And it’s using the YouTube platform to push anti-extremist messages. When users conduct potentially extremist-related searches on YouTube, they are redirected to a playlist of curated YouTube videos that challenge and debunk messages of extremism and violence.

In addition, Google is targeting videos that are flagged by users as being objectionable but don’t cross the line on hate speech and violent extremism. These videos are placed in what Google calls a “limited state”: they are not recommended, monetized and users cannot like, suggest or add comments to them. This will be rolled out in coming weeks for desktops and subsequently for mobiles.

While Google appears to be making a significant effort to make YouTube less likely to be misused by hate groups, advertisers and government agencies will probably have to see the results to believe them. Still, this is likely to help alleviate some of the concerns that have been building up.

However, these efforts seem aimed only at hate speech and extremism. Google has done little to alleviate concerns from brands about context and placement outside of extremist content. Advertisers are concerned about having their brands appear to sponsor content that could be damaging for their brand image even if the content is not hate speech — like a message from a religious group placed in a video featuring a wild, drunken party.

In the recently concluded “upfronts,” an annual event where advertisers buy inventory upfront for the year from broadcasters, “brand safety” was an important selling point. NBCUniversal ad sales head Linda Yaccarino pretty much led with that in her address, underscoring the benefits of human ad placement in broadcast advertising.

Google — and others such as Facebook and Twitter — will need to develop ways to resolve these advertiser concerns, because the larger brands that control the bulk of advertising expenditure are increasingly worried about where their brands are showing up. If the machine learning technology applied to YouTube is effective then it must be extended to also address objectionable content beyond extremist videos. It should also be able to relate advertiser messages to the videos they are placed in, and create better matches. If Google is able to do that, it will take away one of the most effective selling points from broadcasters, and help shift ad spend towards online video even faster.

The post Automation, Machine Learning Key to YouTube Clean-Up appeared first on Artificial Intelligence.

Nearly a month after YouTube said it was going to combat online terrorist content on its platform, the video-sharing site said the process is going well, thanks to machines and humans alike.

In an August 1 blog post, the Google-owned site said its multi-pronged approach is being aided by machine learning, where computers are detecting and removing the content in a faster manner.

“Our machine learning systems are faster and more effective than ever before,” YouTube said in the post. “Over 75 percent of the videos we’ve removed for violent extremism over the past month were taken down before receiving a single human flag.”

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YouTube added that over the past month, machine learning has helped it remove more than double “both the number of videos we’ve removed for violent extremism, as well as the rate at which we’ve taken this kind of content down.”

Over 400 hours of content are uploaded every minute to the platform, which has more than 1.5 billion logged-in users, according to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

In addition to using computers, YouTube is utilizing human experts, through its Trusted Flagger program. They’ve added 15 non-governmental organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, the No Hate Speech Movement and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

There will also be tougher standards on videos that have been flagged by users as potential violations on hate speech and violent extremism, but may not actually be illegal.

“If we find that these videos don’t violate our policies but contain controversial religious or supremacist content, they will be placed in a limited state,” YouTube said.

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The push comes after several terrorist attacks around the globe, including in the U.K. In June. YouTube said it would redirect people looking for extremist content to videos that confront and discredit the search topics, via the Redirect Method, created by another team at Google and its parent company, Alphabet.

Despite the progress, YouTube said more needs to be done to combat extremist content that lives on its site.

“With the help of new machine learning technology, deep partnerships, ongoing collaborations with other companies through the Global Internet Forum, and our vigilant community we are confident we can continue to make progress against this ever-changing threat,” YouTube wrote. “We look forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead.”

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