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Use captions and transcripts in teaching

Captions are subtitles that appear at the bottom of the video which can be optionally turned on and off by the viewer. Captions provides a text-based version of the audio information that accompanies the video.

Transcripts are a separate text-based version of the audio information. Online transcripts appear at the side of the screen next to the video and are clickable, taking you to a timestamped point of the video. Depending on the learning technology, transcripts may also be downloaded separately.

Benefits of captions and transcripts

Research shows that there are great benefits for all learners when using captions and transcripts.

They provide alternate ways of understanding content and allow dual processing of visual and audio content which can support greater comprehension of the content (Dommett et al., 2022).
The text-based nature of captions and transcripts supports students who are deaf or hard of hearing, neurodiverse students as well as students from non-English speaking backgrounds (Kent et al., 2017).
Students are able to review and revise course content by using the search function to search for keywords in the captions or the transcript(Kent et al., 2017; Dommett, et al., 2022).

Note

From Semester 2, 2022, captions and transcripts have been enabled by default for the audio video technologies used widely at Monash University to encourage the use of captions and transcripts for all learning and teaching videos where possible.

The table below provides an overview for the default settings for audio video technologies

Function	Echo360	Panopto	Zoom
	Technology
Captions	Enabled by default; Can be disabled at a unit/video level	Enabled by default; Can be disabled at a unit/video level; Closed captions are embedded in MP4 downloads.	Requires academics to enable first.
Transcripts	Enabled be default; Can be disabled at a unit/video level; Downloadable	Enabled by default; Currently no download available for students in Panopto	Automatically generated for Zoom cloud recordings
Search	Searchable text in captions, transcripts, attached slides and notes	Searchable text across the platform, folder or video; Searchable notes and text displayed on screen recordings (OCR)	Searchable text in audio transcripts is from Zoom Cloud recordings page
Previously created content	Requires reupload of content.	Can be enabled manually (see below).	N/A

Expand the accordions below to learn more about how to use captions and transcripts for each of the following technologies

Echo360 View

Live transcripts and captions are generated automatically by Echo360. Students can view subtitles at the bottom of the video and view the transcript of the audio beside the video. Students can click any part of the transcript to skip to the matching part of the video. Enabling transcripts and captions not only has benefits for student learning, but also enhances inclusivity and accessibility at Monash University.

There are two key settings to check in Echo360 to ensure that students can access transcripts and captions.
1. Navigate to your Echo360 recordings, which can be accessed by clicking on the Echo360 link in your Moodle unit.
2. In the top right corner, select Settings.
3. In Features, ensure that ASR (automatic speech recognition) Course Media is turned on.
  Note: You can click on Transcription Settings to choose the language of your transcripts. By default, this is set to English.
4. You may also choose to turn on Student Transcript Editor, which will allow students to edit the transcript and captions. Be aware that any changes made by students are visible to all students.
  Note: The Caption course media requests manual 3rd party captions. This setting should NOT be turned on unless required for Disability Support Service (DSS) registered students who require it.
1. When a transcript is available for an Echo360 recording, click the Transcript icon (speech bubble with T) at the top to display the transcript beside the video. Students can also download the transcript as a text file by clicking the download icon next to the search bar.
2. Captions can be displayed by clicking the CC button below the video timeline.
Search within a recording
1. When a transcript is available for an Echo360 recording, click the Transcript icon (speech bubble with T) at the top to display the transcript beside the video.
2. Enter a word into the search bar and hit enter to search for the word in the transcript/captions.
3. The number of results will be displayed and you can click the arrows to skip to where the word appears, which will be underlined and highlighted.
Search all recordings
1. To search the transcripts/captions across all available echo recordings, click search in the top right corner of the screen, enter a word into the search bar and hit enter.
2. Results will be displayed with the name and date of the recording and the timestamp that it appears in the video.
3. You can click on the result to open the Echo360 recording in a new tab at the time stamped point where the search result appears.
  Note: Using the search field without clicking the top right search button first will allow you to only search the names of available echo recordings.

Edit the transcript and captions

1. Click the media icon and select Details for the Echo360 recording that you would like to remove the transcript/captions for.
2. Click on Accessibility.
3. Click on the three dots for the Transcripts (Speech bubble with T) or Captions (CC icon). You can :
  - Upload: If you have externally created transcript files (in .vtt format), you can upload them
  - Edit Transcript: Opens the transcript editor screen.
  - Download original: Download the unedited transcripts in .vtt or .txt format.
  - Revert: Revert the transcript if you have made changes.
  - Delete: Delete the transcript or caption file.
1. Click the media icon and select Details for the Echo360 recording that you would like to remove the transcript/captions for.
2. Click on Accessibility.
3. Click Add Audio Description Audio Track +.
4. Upload your audio description file.

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Panopto View

Panopto has the ability to add Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) generated captions to your sessions. This means you and your students can view a session and read a text based version of the content. Enabling captions not only has benefits for student learning, but also supports inclusivity and accessibility standards at Monash University.

You can now also generate automatic captions in 20 different languages.

Watch the video guide or expand the topics below to learn how to use captions in Panopto

Note: Click on ^ the arrow at the bottom of the video to view the table of contents.

Navigate to the Panopto portal.
Locate the session that you want to add captions for.
Hover over the session and click on Edit. Your session will open in the Panopto Editor in a new tab.
Select Captions from the left hand navigation pane.

1. Click the Import captions link. A drop down menu will appear.
2. Select Import automatic captions. Panopto will automatically create captions.
3. Once generated, you should review and edit your captions to ensure they are accurate. Panopto's automatic captioning currently has a 65-90% accuracy rate.
4. When you have completed editing the captions, click the Apply button in the top right hand corner.
5. Panopto will automatically refresh once they have processed your session with the captions.
1. Click on the caption you would like to edit, and edit the text.
2. Hit enter once you've finished editing the caption.
3. To change the timestamp of the caption, hover of the caption you would like to edit and click on the More options icon.
4. When you have completed editing the captions, click the Apply button in the top right hand corner.
5. Panopto will automatically refresh once they have processed your session with the captions.
  
  Note: At any time while making these edits, you can press the Spacebar to play/pause the session playback, while editing captions.
1. Click on the timeline where you wish to add manual captions.
2. In the Enter a caption text box, type the caption you would like to add then hit Enter.
3. The manual caption will be time stamped to your current point on the video timeline. The timestamp can be edited by hovering over the caption, clicking on the More options icon, and editing the time.
4. When you have completed editing the captions, click the Apply button in the top right hand corner.
5. Panopto will automatically refresh once they have processed your session with the captions.
Delete captions in the session
1. Hover of the caption and click on the More options icon.
2. Click Delete to delete the caption.
3. When you have completed editing the captions, click the Apply button in the top right hand corner.
4. Panopto will automatically refresh once they have processed your session with the captions.
  
  Note: At any time while making these edits, you can press the spacebar to play/pause the session playback, while editing captions.
Delete captions for the entire session
If you would like to delete the captions for the entire video, you can do this by navigating to the captions settings.
1. Click the Import captions link. A drop down menu will appear.
2. Select Upload or request captions.This will open the caption settings for your Panopto session.
3. Under Available Captions, click on the language of your captions to reveal existing caption files.
4. Click on Delete Captions.
5. Click Yes to confirm that you would like to delete captions for your entire video.
If you have an existing caption file(.srt, .vtt) for your video, you can import them into your Panopto session. For example, a cloud recording of a Zoom meeting with closed captions.
1. Click the Import captions link. A drop down menu will appear.
2. Select Upload or request captions.
3. Under Upload Captions, check that the language of your captions is correct, then click Choose file.
4. Select your captions file and then click Upload Captions.
Upload Zoom caption files to your Panopto session
1. To download the captions file for your Zoom meeting, navigate to https://monash.zoom.us/recording/
  Note: You must record to the cloud to save a copy of the closed captions if enabled for your Zoom meeting.
2. Click on the name of your Zoom meeting to view the cloud recording files.
3. Hover over Closed Caption and click the download icon to download the file.
Disability Support Service (DSS) registered students who are deaf or hard of hearing may require a high accuracy(99%) of captions. If support is required, you may request manual captioning by contacting disabilitysupportservices@monash.edu
To generate captions in other languages, you first must set the Content Language settings for your Panopto folder. Once you have chosen the language that will be used for automatic captioning, videos can be uploaded to the folder so that video audio can be processed in your selected language.
Note: Videos MUST be processed with the selected language settings. This means you may need to re-upload your video to your folder using the original video file.
1. Navigate to the Panopto portal.
2. Locate the folder you want to change language settings for. Click the settings icon in the top right corner of the page.
3. For Content Language, select your desired language from the drop down list, then close the settings window.
4. Record or upload a video to your folder. For more information see Record video with Panopto.
5. Once your video has been processed, hover over the session and click on Edit.
6. Select Captions from the left hand navigation pane.
7. Check that the Language selected for captions matches your selected language. If it does not match, check your folder settings. You may need to re-upload your video so it is processed in your selected language.
8. Then click the Import captions link. A drop down menu will appear.
9. Select Import automatic captions. Panopto will automatically create captions in your selected language.
10. Once generated, you should review and edit your captions to ensure they are accurate.
11. When you have completed editing the captions, click the Apply button in the top right hand corner.
12. Panopto will automatically refresh once they have processed your session with the captions.
While captions appear on screen simultaneously as the audio and video, a transcript is a text-based version of the content, with or without timestamps, that can be provided separately. Both captions and transcripts provide alternate ways of understanding content which support inclusivity and improve accessibility.
To download a .txt file version of captions:
1. Navigate to the Panopto video settings and click on Captions in the left hand menu.
2. Under Available Captions, click on the language of your captions to reveal existing caption files.
3. Click on Download file. This will download a .txt file version of the captions in your video including timestamps (see example below).
  1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:12,360
  So this week, we would just be kind of talking about a very important issue and probably the issue that you have never,
  2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:19,020
  ever worked on, maybe in this program so far, even though you've done many units in this program.
  3 00:00:19,020 --> 00:00:26,340
  But I think a lot of the stuff that I will cover today, you would have not learned that in other units.
4. If you would like to remove timestamps from your transcript, you can use online websites such Subtitle Tools to strip your captions file of timestamps, leaving only the script (see example below).
  So this week, we would just be kind of talking about a very important issue and probably the issue that you have never,
  ever worked on, maybe in this program so far, even though you've done many units in this program.
  But I think a lot of the stuff that I will cover today, you would have not learned that in other units.

Note

The accuracy of automatically generated captions depends on audio quality, topic and speaker and therefore are unlikely to be 100% accurate. Monash does not expect or require staff to edit or correct automatically-generated captions. Students should not rely solely on captions when viewing video content and use them alongside other learning resources to ensure they understand the topic and terminology used. Deaf or hard of hearing students should contact Disability Support Services if they are concerned about the accuracy of the captions/transcript.

If you would like to improve the accuracy of captions for unit specific terminology, please contact your faculty administrator.

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Let us know how we can improve this resource.

Zoom View

Captions and live transcripts are now enabled for all staff accounts in Zoom. This means that if you enable live transcriptions, you and your students can view a live transcription of audio during the Zoom meeting, and afterwards in the Zoom cloud recording.

Live captions enhance the online experience by providing a transcript for students to read while listening to the lesson. Captions can catch and hold your students’ attention for longer as they receive information both orally and visually. This improves accessibility for all students, especially those who may be hard-of-hearing or non-native English speakers. Captions can improve students’ capacity to learn and retain the content taught during the Zoom session. The transcripts can also be downloaded and shared to students as a reference after the session is complete.

Watch the video guide or expand the topics below to learn how to use captions in Zoom

Note: Click on ^ the arrow at the bottom of the video to view the table of contents.

1. Navigate to Monash.zoom.us.
2. Sign in with your Monash authcate details.
3. In Settings, click on In Meeting (Advanced).
4. Ensure that Automated captions, Full transcript and Save captions are enabled (blue).
5. Click save.
1. In your Zoom meeting, click on the Live Transcript icon.
2. Select Enable under Live Transcription. If you do not see this option, update your Zoom settings.
3. Once you have enabled automatic captioning, Live captions will be generated as people speak during the Zoom meeting. Students can choose to view live captions by clicking the Live Transcript icon and selecting Show Subtitle.
4. The appearance of the live captions can be customised by selecting Subtitle Settings.
5. You can choose to hide live captions by selecting Hide Subtitle. This will only affect your view of the captions. Live captions will still be available to other participants in the Zoom meeting if they have chosen to view them.
1. To display a full transcript in real time, click the arrow next to Live Transcript and select View Full transcript.
2. The transcript panel will appear on the right of the meeting window and display who was speaking at what time.
3. You can hide the full transcript by selecting Close Full Transcript. This will only affect your view. The full transcript will still be available to other participants in the Zoom meeting if they have chosen to view the full transcript.
If you have recorded your Zoom meeting and live transcripts have been enabled, the live transcript will automatically be converted into a captions file once the Zoom meeting has ended.
Depending on whether you have chosen to record to your computer or record to the cloud, the workflow for sharing the recording with captions and transcripts with students will be slightly different.
It is recommended that you Record to the Cloud and share the Zoom cloud recording with your students as it will automatically be displayed with captions and the full transcript.
Recording to your computer means the Zoom recording will be downloaded as separate files directly onto your device once the Zoom meeting has ended. Once recording conversion is complete, the folder containing your recording files should open automatically. Zoom recordings can be found in Documents>Zoom>date and name of the Zoom meeting.
Share the Zoom meeting transcript
The closed_caption.txt file is a text file version of the life transcript recording during the meeting. You can use online websites such as Subtitle Tools to strip the closed_caption.txt file of timestamps leaving only the transcript which can then be shared with students.
Share the Zoom meeting captions
The video#####.vtt file is similar to the closed captions file, but is a common captions file format. The video#####.vtt file can be uploaded to other platforms where you have uploaded your Zoom recording, for example Panopto. For more information, see Use captions in Panopto.

Recording to the Cloud allows you and your students to watch the Zoom recording with the full transcript displayed beside the Zoom recording.
Once recording conversion is complete, you will receive an email with a link to your cloud recording. You can copy the link to the recording and the passcode at the bottom of the email and share it with students so they can access the Zoom cloud recording.
Click View Detail to view the Zoom Cloud recording.
Click the video thumbnail to watch the Zoom cloud recording.
Note: Click Download to download the recording files or hover over the files to download them individually.
The transcript will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
Hover over the transcript and click the highlighter icon to highlight sections of the transcript. Highlighted sections of the transcript will also be highlighted on the timeline in the video. This can be used to emphasise important information. Students can click on any part of the transcript or timeline to skip to that section of the recording.
Note: Students can also download your Zoom recording files by clicking on Download in the top right corner.

Edit Zoom captions and transcripts

The workflow for editing the Zoom recording’s captions will be different depending on if you have chosen to record to your computer or record to the cloud.

Once recording conversion is complete, the folder containing your recording files should open automatically. Zoom recordings can be found in Documents>Zoom>date and name of the Zoom meeting.
1. Open the file you would like to edit and make the changes required before saving your file.
  - Close captions file: The closed_caption.txt file is a text file version of the life transcript recording during the meeting.
  - Subtitle file: The video#####.vtt file is similar to the closed captions file, but is a common captions file format. If you intend to upload your video with captions to other platforms such as Panopto, ensure that you make the changes in the .vtt file.
Recording to the Cloud allows you and your students to watch the Zoom recording with the full transcript displayed beside the Zoom recording.
1. Navigate to monash.zoom.us
2. Sign in with your Monash authcate details.
3. To view all cloud recordings for your Monash Zoom account, click on Recordings in the left hand menu.
4. Click the name of recording, then click the video thumbnail to watch the Zoom cloud recording.
5. The transcript will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
6. Hover over the transcript and click the pencil icon to edit the text. The captions will automatically be updated as you update the transcript.

Note

Your feedback matters

Let us know how we can improve this resource.

Note

If you would like to improve the accuracy of captions for unit specific terminology, please contact your faculty administrator.

Your feedback matters

Let us know how we can improve this resource.

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Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Use captions and transcripts in teaching

Benefits of captions and transcripts

Note

The table below provides an overview for the default settings for audio video technologies

Expand the accordions below to learn more about how to use captions and transcripts for each of the following technologies

Echo360 View

Search within a recording

Search all recordings

Note

Your feedback matters

Panopto View

Watch the video guide or expand the topics below to learn how to use captions in Panopto

Delete captions in the session

Delete captions for the entire session

Upload Zoom caption files to your Panopto session

To download a .txt file version of captions:

Note

Your feedback matters

Zoom View

Watch the video guide or expand the topics below to learn how to use captions in Zoom

Share the Zoom meeting transcript

Share the Zoom meeting captions

Note

Your feedback matters

Note

Your feedback matters