Screen recordings are a great way to demonstrate complex software-based tasks to students with narration. They can also be used to capture lectures, tutorials or powerpoint presentations. 

There are 3 main ways to create screen or webcam recordings for use in Canvas, which are detailed below.  

The GSA Planet eStream web recorder is a useful Chrome extension tool that can be used to create webcam or screen recordings. To access the recorder on Planet eSteam click the Create menu and select ‘Web Recorder’ or access the link here. The enoder is only compatible with the Chrome browser. 

You will be prompted to install a browser extension which allows the recorder to capture your desktop, webcam, or a specific window (or windows) of your choice. Once recording is complete, the video will be available in your Planet eStream account where it can then be edited, shared or embedded into Canvas. 

To create a screen recording locally on a Mac, we would recommend using quicktime player, which is an application that comes pre-installed on all macs by default.

An Apple guide on using quicktime player to create a screen recording can be found here. Once you have created your file, you can upload to Planet eStream, or directly into Canvas. 

To create a webcam or audio-only recording follow the same process, select ‘New Movie Recording’ or ‘New Audio Recording’ instead of ‘New Screen Recording’ in the file menu.

Once the recording is complete, select Save, name the file accordingly and choose a location for the file. Once saved the file can be uploaded to Planet eStream, where it can then be edited and shared on Canvas.  

We recommend Windows users use the Planet eStream web encoder detailed above. 

There is a desktop app available which offers more advanced features, and is useful for recording off campus or when no internet connection is available. This can be accessed from the tools menu and selecting ‘Install Encoder’. Unfortunately this encoder is not available on Mac at present.

If you require further assistance creating screen recordings for use in Canvas and Planet eStream please contact us in the Learning Technology Office in the Library email us at LThelp@gsa.ac.uk