If you are looking to upload and share video content to students, the three major options available to U of T faculty members are:
- Youtube (Google) - Currently NOT recommended due to lack of access for distributed students
- Microsoft Stream (See Microsoft Stream FAQ)
- MyMedia (U of T Developed Solution)
While the tools can be used in a variety of ways, the chart below depicts their functionality in terms of video hosting (not live broadcast/streaming). We do not encourage uploading video content directly to Quercus - please select a video streaming service instead.
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YouTube is not accessible to students in certain geographic locations. While students are geographically distributed, we do NOT recommend the use of YouTube as the sole service to share content to students. If you are using YouTube, please also share your content via MyMedia or Microsoft Stream. Even while accessing network services via the Alibaba Network, students in China will not have access to YouTube (see what websites and domains are accessible through this service).
1. Current Video Hosting Recommendation
Our current recommendation for video hosting is Microsoft Stream. Although it is not accessible outside of the U of T community (you do require a O365 login), and it can be a bit difficult to limit to certain groups of people, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
- You can enable automatic captioning (and then edit those captions) (see how to generate automatic captions and a transcript)
- You can add formative assessments to your videos using Microsoft Forms (see How can I add a quiz or survey to a video on Microsoft Stream?)
2. What should I consider while making this decision?
3. Comparison table of different video hosting services
| YouTube | Microsoft Stream | MyMedia | |
| Tool in Brief | Public platform; not institutionally licensed; not accessible in all geographic locations | Part your O365 subscription; generates auto captions; can add formative quizzes to video timeline | Developed by U of T Libraries; usage available upon request; intended for archival purposes, fairly basic functionality |
| Set up Effort | Medium - High (if using Channels) | Medium (High to Very High if limiting to certain people) | Low |
| Supported at FASE | No; external, non-vetted tool | Yes; Part of UofT O365 access | Yes; UTL developed video and audio archival system |
| Cost | Free; Requires Google Account to Upload video content | Included w/ U of T’s Office 365 Subscription | Included w/ U of T Staff/Faculty Status |
| Viewing Permissions | Three layers of permissions: Unlisted (anyone with the link can view), Private (only the account holder can view), and Public (anyone can view; available in search results) | Visible to entire U of T community (visible in searches) OR limited to certain individuals/groups (e.g. based on a Team) if manually configured (per video) | Two layers of permissions: Public (anyone can view) or UTORid Authentication (anyone with a UTORid can login and view, if they have the link; not searchable) |
| Administrative Video Access | Youtube account owner |
Permissions can be granted by account owner (see how to grant video viewing permissions) |
Account owner only |
| Browser Compatibility | All | Chrome, Safari, Edge | All |
| Uploadable Files Types | Video formats only (MOV, mp4, FLV, etc.) |
Video formats only (MOV, mp4, FLC, etc.) |
Almost all types of video, audio + image files |
| Max. Storage Capacity | Unlimited; accounts must be verified for extended storage (Each upload must be under 2 GB) |
500GB (Can request more) |
Unlimited |
| Automatic Captioning/Subtitling | Yes |
Yes (see how to enable auto captions) | No; but you can upload a transcript file (see how to add captions to MyMedia) |
| Viewing Analytics | Yes | Limited | Available upon request |
| Quercus Integration | No - Channels can be iframed into Quercus pages for easy updating | No - Share URL to course (see how to share your video to people) | No - Share URL to course |
| Customization Options | Video thumbnail customization, personalized banners, channels and playlists | Video thumbnail customization | No |
| Content Longevity | Forever; you can manually remove content | Forever; you can manually remove content |
Forever; you can manually remove content |
| Built in capture tool? | No (but you can livestream and record; unsupported by ETO) |
No (but you can livestream and record) | Yes (but has limitations) |