Canvas is updating its Media Player, which is used to play video/audio files added via the Upload/Record Media tool in the Rich Content Editor (shown below). 

Note: This update does not affect the video player used for My Media (Kaltura) videos. 

New Look and Feel

Side-by-side comparison of new and old Canvas media players

New Player	Old Player

Adaptive Video Quality

In the new media player, instructors and students can now select Auto quality to automatically adjust the video's resolution based on available bandwidth, helping videos stream more smoothly on slower connections.

Custom Player Size

In the new player, when instructors upload or record a video through the Canvas Record/Upload Media tool, they can now specify a custom size for the embedded player, which controls how the video appears in Canvas.

Still No Auto-Captions

Note that the Canvas Media Player still does not generate automatic captions. If you need captions automatically generated, upload your audio and video files to My Media.

Resources

More information about the new Canvas media player

Instructors can configure a default Discussion view for themselves and their students.

1. Default Thread State - Determines whether threads in a Discussion are expanded or collapsed when the Discussion opens.

   • Expanded - The Discussion opens with expanded threads. Students can collapse threads unless Lock Thread State for Students is checked.

   • Collapsed - The Discussion opens with collapsed threads. Students can expand threads unless Lock Thread State for Students is checked.

2. Lock Thread State for Students - When this box is checked, students cannot change their Discussion view from the Default Thread State set by the instructor.
   
   
3. Default Sort Order -  Determines the order in which the threads in a discussion are displayed. Sort order does NOT affect the order in which replies to a thread are displayed - replies to a thread are always sorted oldest to newest.

   • Oldest First - When instructor selects Oldest First, the Discussion opens with oldest threads first and newest threads last. Students can choose to sort the threads by newest first unless the Lock Sort Order for Students checkbox is checked.

   • Newest First - When instructor selects Newest First, the Discussion opens with newest threads first and oldest threads last. Students can choose to sort the threads by oldest first unless the Lock Sort Order for Students checkbox is checked.

4. Lock Sort Order for Students - When this box is checked, students cannot change their Discussion thread sort order set by the instructor.

More information about the Default View Settings update.

IMPORTANT: Due to the discovery of bugs in Checkpoints that must be resolved, the release date of Checkpoints has been pushed back to being released sometime in 2025. Read more about the delayed Checkpoints release.

Graded Discussions can now have multiple due dates (called checkpoints). With the new Checkpoints feature, instructors can specify:

• A due date and a point value for students' initial posts.
• A due date and a point value for the students' follow-up replies.
• The number of replies students are required to make.

Note: Checkpoints can be added to new or existing graded Discussions. 

Do the following to enable Checkpoints in a Discussion:

1  In Discussion settings, check Graded, and Assign Graded Checkpoints will appear.

2  Check Assign Graded Checkpoints.

3  Scroll down to Checkpoint Settings, and set the Points Possible: Reply to Topic value. This is the students' reply to your Discussion prompt.

4  Enter a value in the Additional Replies Required field to specify how many replies students are required to make. (The reply to your Discussion prompt does not count as a reply.)

5  Enter the total number of points students can receive for their additional replies in the Points Possible: Additional Replies field.

6  Set the Reply to Topic Due Date. This is the due date for the students' reply to your Discussion prompt. 

7  Set the Required Replies Due Date. This is the due date for the students' replies to each other. 

Read more about the Discussions - Multiple Due Dates updates.

Checkpoints FAQ

On the Rubrics page, instructors can export individual rubrics in CSV or XML formats and import them in the same formats directly into the Rubrics page. This allows instructors to create or reuse rubrics across courses, with a validation process in place to ensure data integrity and correct rubric mapping during upload.

Read more about the Rubric - CSV Export and Import updates.

On the Rubrics page, instructors can copy rubrics from the current course to another course.

Read more about the Sharing Rubrics at the Course Level updates.

The SpeedGrader interface updates include:

• A simplified design for the Section drop-down menuAn updated Submission Status now displayed as a drop-down menu
• A more visible and prominent "No Submission" alert
• An enhanced layout for courses without content
• Rubrics that automatically open in the standard view
• Relocated media attachments and submission comments, along with an updated delete icon

Read more about the Speedgrader - Interface updates.

Read more about Enabling/Disabling the Zoom AI Companion.

The Bug: Recently, some instructors have experienced a situation where - when they embed a My Media video into Canvas through the RCE, the embedded video appears in a V2 player (with the warning icon indicating the video is using an obsolete player). 

The Workaround: If you are experiencing this issue, follow this video tutorial to fix this issue by re-setting your default My Media settings.

The Fix: UWM is currently working with Kaltura (the company that owns My Media) to resolve this issue. We do not have a time frame of when this will be fixed.

The Bug: My Media video quizzes were experiencing resolution and aspect ratio issues. In standard viewing mode, the top and bottom portions of the video were cut off, which would hide important quiz controls. 

The Fix: A fix was deployed on 04/08/2025 to resolve this issue.

Warning: Video quizzes do not reliably pass student quiz data to the Canvas Gradebook. If your students are experiencing these problems, consider creating video questions inside a Canvas quiz.

A new Simplified (Standard Speed) player is now available to use when embedding videos from My Media. This player disables playback speed controls, preventing viewers from changing the speed of the video.

Use Case: Language instructors may find this player useful because the player prevents students from slowing down the audio/video to aid speech comprehension.

More information on embedding My Media videos in Canvas

YouTube Captioning Issues in My Media

Beginning May 1, 2025, instructors will no longer be able to add YouTube videos to Kaltura’s My Media. This change is necessary because a recent issue in Kaltura has caused embedded YouTube videos to lose their closed captions, making the content inaccessible for some students.

Note:

• Previously embedded YouTube videos in My Media are not affected. Captions on those videos continue to function as expected.

• Only new YouTube embeds added through My Media are affected by the caption issue.

To prevent further accessibility issues, the YouTube embed option will be removed from My Media until a solution is available.

Workaround

Use the YouTube App in the Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE) to embed videos. This method retains YouTube’s original closed captions and meets accessibility standards.

Watch a video tutorial on embedding YouTube videos in Canvas or contact CETL for help.

Background

In 2021, the University of Wisconsin System added the Course Media and Course Media Settings buttons to all Canvas courses. These buttons, visible only to instructors and Canvas admins, were designed to provide access to recordings originally created using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. After the UW System transitioned away from Collaborate Ultra, those recordings were migrated to Kaltura (My Media). However, instead of being placed in instructors’ personal My Media accounts, the recordings were stored in course-specific My Media repositories. The Course Media button allowed instructors to access those recordings, while Course Media Settings provided management options.

Changes

• Videos will be transferred - On April 18th, any videos stored in the course-level My Media repositories will be transferred to the personal My Media accounts of the instructors of the course. Instructors with affected videos will be contacted directly with more information about the reassignment.
• Buttons will be removed - On May 21st, the Course Media and Course Media Settings buttons will be removed from all Canvas courses. 

The Kaltura video player has been upgraded from Version 2 to Version 7. 

What Is the Kaltura Video Player?

The video player is the wrapper that goes around the video and contains buttons like Play, Pause, Volume, and so on.) In other words, the video player is not the video file, itself. 

Instructors Need to Re-Embed or Re-Link Old Kaltura (My Media) Videos

Kaltura videos that were embedded or linked prior to August 2024 will need to be re-embedded or re-linked.

Linked videos and embedded videos are illustrated below.

For example, prior to August 2024, you might have embedded a Kaltura video in a website or in a Canvas Page, Announcement, Quiz, Discussion, etc. 

Now, when someone views the embedded or linked video, a warning indicator appears (for 5 seconds) on the top left of the video. The warning indicates that the embedded video is using the old (Version 2) player. 

Will Videos With a Warning Indicator Still Play?

Note that at the present time, videos with the warning indicator will still play; however, the only way to remove the warning indicator is to re-embed or re-link the video in your Canvas Page, Announcement, Quiz, Discussion, etc.

How to Update the Video Players

1. Review your Canvas Pages, Announcements, Quizzes, and Discussions, etc., that contain embedded and linked Kaltura videos.
2. Locate videos that display the warning indicator. 
3. Do one of the following:

• • For embedded videos - Re-embed the video. For example, if a video is embedded on a Page, click to edit the Page, re-embed the video, and remove the old version of the embedded video from the Page.
    
    
  • For linked videos - Re-link the video. For example, if a video is linked on a Page, click to edit the Page, add another link to the video, and delete the old link to the video.

Please refer to the V2 Player Warning Indicator and Transition to V7 document for more information on how to update the video player.

Information on the Version 7 Video Player

Note that you must first click a video's Play button, and then the additional buttons pictured below will appear.

1. Search the transcript for words or phrases.
2. Show/hide the transcript panel.
3. Download video file (mp4) or captions file (srt).
4. Share Link & Embed Code - Share your video via link or embed code. Share Clip allows you to copy embed code that starts and stops the video at the points you specify. 
5. Download or print the transcript.
6. Pop out transcript to have the transcript appear in its own window.
7. Click a line in the transcript to jump to that portion of the video.

Read more about the new Kaltura Player.

The new Stitch feature allows you to combine multiple My Media videos and/or images into a single video: 

• Combine up to 5 videos and images. 
• Images will appear in the video timeline for 5 seconds.
• Does not support combining My Media's multi-stream videos (webcam and screen).
• Do not stitch videos with hotspots - you will lose the hotspots. (Instead, add hotspots after the videos/images have been combined.)

To stitch multiple videos/images:

1  In Canvas, click your account.

2  Select My Media. 

3  Click the Add New button.

4  Select Stitch Videos.

5  Click + to the right of a video or image to add it to the list of media that will be stitched together. You can add up to 5 items to combine.

6  Click and drag the items to arrange their order.

7  Click the Create button.

Note: You can edit the combined video in the My Media Video Editor to add Fade In/Fade Out transitions between segments to create smooth transitions between the combined elements in the video. 

Read more about the Media Stitching tool.