Teaching and Learning Resource Center

Setting Up Video Assignments in Carmen

At some point in your course, you may want your students to submit an assignment via video. There are a number of reasons to do include video assignments in your course: to ensure a variety of methods for students to submit artifacts; to view a student’s mastery of a skill; to pick up non-verbal communication cues; or maybe you’re just tired of reading papers and want to watch a video! 

You might consider allowing, but not requiring, your students to submit discussion board posts via video. Seeing their peers allows students to develop deeper connections and helps build a community of learners that feel bonds to one another. Students will use the Rich Content Editor in their replies to submit a video reply.

How to set up your video assignment 

To allow your students to upload a video presentation, such as a video or a voiceover PowerPoint presentation, you'll need to set up a Carmen assignment with at least one of the Online submission settings listed below. You may allow students to use all three types of submissions, but students are only able to submit via one submission type; they cannot submit multiple types in one assignment. Be sure to clarify this in your assignment or discussion instructions.

Website URL  

The Website URL  option is the preferred method for submitting video assignments, as recording or uploading large video files in Carmen can result in long upload times, depending on the student’s internet connection. Carmen also limits media uploads larger than 500 MB so this is a good option for large files.

Students are encouraged to record their videos using CarmenZoom. You may ask them to submit the URL link to their Zoom cloud recording. 

Students may also have a video file in OneDrive. By checking the Website URL option, students can submit a shared link to their file instead of uploading it to Carmen. 

File Upload 

Alternatively, if you would like your students to be able to upload a video file to Carmen, check the box for File Uploads. The File Upload option is integrated with Microsoft OneDrive, so students can upload files directly from their OneDrive account. Note: Students submitting through the OneDrive integration do not need to adjust their sharing settings for file uploads.  

This is a good option for students who have internet connectivity issues and are unable to reliably record in CarmenZoom. However, keep in mind that Carmen does not allow media uploads larger than 500 MB. Video files tend to be large files, so be cautious when allowing students to upload a file for submission.  

Carmen Media Upload 

You can allow your students to record their submission within Carmen itself by checking the Media Recordings option. As with the File Upload option, if the video recorded in Carmen is long, it may result in long encoding times and is best suited for shorter videos. Learn more about the Carmen Media Tool.

For additional information on setting up assignments, visit the Carmen Assignments guide

Make sure to provide students with instructions on submitting a video. You can’t assume that your students know how to do this already. You may want to share the Record and Submit Video Assignments in Carmen guide with your students.