selection of 'embedded viewer' vs 'interactive desktop on demand'
GREG VAN MOURIK
Tyro
Following on from an earlier post below. I want to get to a point where I have confidence in the use of Analytics to assess students' engagement with my videos. It appears, in the case of at least one student, that downloads from his embedded viewer used with Chrome are not being counted. So my question is: what determines whether a student uses 'embedded viewer' or 'interactive desktop on demand'? In other words, how is the form of viewer selected? TIA ... Greg
Best Answer
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Kathryn
Administrator
The options I listed above are the most common reasons that "Embedded Viewer" shows up in the stats reports. There are a couple of other ways that this version can be accessed though:
- Watching in a mobile browser - If a student clicks on a link to watch a video on their mobile device and plays the video in their mobile browser (instead of the Panopto app), the stats reports will show that they accessed the "Embedded Viewer". The embedded view of the video takes up less screen real estate, so this is why we show that version when viewing in a mobile browser.
- Specific link to the Embedded Version - If you chose to link to the embedded version of the video instead of the full player version, the stats could show the embedded player as the viewing source. The link one normally shares looks like this - https://howtovideos.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=5fa74e93-3d87-4694-b60e-aaa4012214ed. If you trade out "Viewer" and instead type "Embed", you get a link that looks like - https://howtovideos.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Embed.aspx?id=5fa74e93-3d87-4694-b60e-aaa4012214ed. This link will take someone directly to the embedded version of the video.
The other way they might come across a similar view is if they accessed through an RSS feed. This should show up in the stats reports as "Syndicated Video Podcast", but the player looks basically the same as the embedded player.
Typically, If a student accesses a link from Moodle when using their computer (not a mobile device), it will take them to the Interactive Desktop On Demand version, as long as the link has "Viewer" in it.
For the stats not being counted, is the video set to be shared to "anyone with the link" or "public on the web"? If that is the case, then a student can access the video without being logged in and the the views/download would show up as "Anonymous" in the statistics. Also, if RSS is enabled regardless of the share setting, views or downloads via RSS will show up as "Anonymous." Using RSS always makes videos available without signing in.
If you believe that the stats are being miscounted, I would be happy to open a support ticket for you, so the Support Team can help get to the bottom of it. Just let me know!
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Answers
Hi Greg,
We do have an article that includes a section explaining the different viewing types that may appear in statistics reports: Learn About Folder and Session Level Statistics: Viewing Types.
Let me know if you have any more questions, we're always happy to help!
Best wishes,
Cait
Thanks Cait, that is helpful, but I am loooking for more information, in particular, about Embedded Viewer (session embedded, regardless of the device used) and Interactive Desktop On Demand (Desktop - full browser, either Mac/Windows).
I understand the latter is browser-based, but what exactly is the former? What is it embedded in? Embedded in Panopto? But Panopto runs inside a browser so that does not sound right.
Obviously if a student is using a smart phone with the Panopto app their viewing type will be 'Android App On Demand'. But how does a student choose 'embedded viewer' viewing type?
TIA ... Greg
@GREG VAN MOURIK Hi Greg! The Embedded Viewer type shows up when the video is embedded into a website using these instructions or if you've used the text editor Panopto button to embed a view into your Moodle content.
Thanks Kathryn. That is helpful. Based on what I read, it seems I do not embed the video anywhere. I simply paste the share link from Panopto into my Moodle content. Thus in the process I do not select the embed tab, nor deal directly with any html code.
So I am left with more issues:
can you confirm that if a student accesses the video by clicking my link from Moodle then their viewing type will be Interactive Desktop On Demand? This is the most common viewing type so it is what I would expect.
secondly, a student sent me a screenshot that suggests he is using an embedded viewer. How would he have accessed the video in that way?
thirdly, that same student's usage is not showing up in the analytics. It may be related to my second issue, but any idea why they don't show up?
TIA ... Greg
What a great reply Kathryn, thank you. I will do some more research and get back to you asap ...
Hi Kathryn,
I have done some research. I can confirm the link from Moodle has the word 'viewer' in it. Also, I confirm the sharing settings for the videos in question are for 'specific people', not for "anyone with the link" or "public on the web".
Regarding the issue with the student whose download stats do not appear to be recorded in the analytics, I confirm the student uses Chrome on a tablet. As you explained, since he is using a mobile browser, a screenshot of his session shows he is using an embedded viewer. He says he watches the video offline, by firstly downloading it from inside the Chrome browser. I suspect many students use Panopto videos in a similar way since the analytics data shows inactivity for a surprisingly large number of students.
I will run another report to see if the pattern of analytics data has changed over recent weeks. What other information would you need if we were to open a support ticket?
kind regards, .... Greg
@GREG VAN MOURIK Thanks for confirming the details of the student's viewing.
If they are streaming from the embedded player in the chrome browser on their tablet, the viewing should show up in the "views and downloads by day" downloadable report as a view with the Embedded Player viewing type.
If they download a copy of the video, that will be recorded as well, but Panopto will no longer be able to track the percentage completed. In the "views and downloads by day" report, it should appear as a view with the Downloaded Video Podcast viewing type. It will show up in the statistics as a 1 view for the full duration of the video as pictured below:
If statistics are not being recorded, please let me know:
You can send me a direct message with this info, and I will open a ticket for you.
Hi Kathryn,
I have run another report and I now have no reason to suspect the data is incorrect. Thank you for your support; I have learnt alot.... Greg
That's excellent, Greg! I'm happy I was able to help.