4.5 Adding Annotations to Videos in Canvas Studio

Adding Annotations to Videos in Canvas Studio

Beyond quizzes, Canvas Studio offers annotations as another valuable engagement tool for your community college students.

This guide shows you how to add interactive notes that appear at specific points in your videos, automatically pausing playback to display additional context, clarify concepts, or provide resource links. You'll learn the step-by-step process to create, edit, and strategically place annotations that transform passive viewing into active learning.

 Benefits of Video Annotations

  1. Increased Engagement: Annotations encourage students to actively engage with the video content, keeping them focused and attentive.
  2. Improved Retention: By providing additional context and highlighting key points, annotations help students process and retain the information more effectively.
  3. Enhanced Learning Experience: Annotations can provide supplementary resources, clarify complex concepts, and offer additional explanations, enriching the overall learning experience.
  4. Contextual References: Annotations allow you to add links to external resources, references, or related course materials directly within the video timeline.

 Step One: Accessing the Annotation Feature

Location of the "Annotate Video" option within Canvas Studio

  1. Go to the My Library page in Canvas Studio and find the video you want to annotate.
  2. Select the Options icon (three dots) for the video and select Annotate Video.

 Step Two: Selecting the Annotation Point

Canvas Studio playhead

In the video timeline, pause the media where you want to add the annotation. Select the Add icon.

 Step Three: Creating the Annotation

Annotation Notecard

  1. Enter Annotation Details:
    1. Add a headline in the Headline field.
    2. Add description text in the Description field.
    3. Optionally, add links to your annotation by entering a URL in the Link field.
    4. To create a hyperlink, enter display text in the Display Text field.
  2. Select the Save button at the bottom right-hand corner of the menu to add the annotation.
  3. The annotation will now appear in the video. To edit the annotation, select the Edit icon. To dismiss the annotation when viewing, select the Continue button.

 Step Four: Managing Annotations

  1. To edit an existing annotation, play the video to the point where the annotation appears.
  2. When the annotation appears, select the Edit icon to modify its content.
  3. To delete an annotation, select the Edit icon and then choose the Delete option.
  4. You can add multiple annotations throughout your video at different timestamps.
For more in-depth instructions, we recommend that you review the following Canvas Community Guides:

 Best Practices for Video Annotations

  1. Use annotations sparingly to highlight important information or provide additional context.
  2. Keep annotation text concise and focused to maintain student engagement.
  3. Place annotations at strategic points in the video where additional explanation would be beneficial.
  4. Use annotations to provide links to supplementary resources, readings, or related course materials.
  5. Ensure annotations are clear, relevant, and enhance the learning experience rather than distract from it.
  6. Consider using annotations to highlight key terms, definitions, or important concepts.

 Key Takeaways

  • Enhanced Context: Annotations provide additional information and context for video content.
  • Improved Engagement: Strategic use of annotations keeps students actively engaged with the material.
  • Resource Integration: Annotations allow you to seamlessly integrate external resources into your videos.
  • Flexible Learning: Students can pause, review annotations, and follow links at their own pace.