Which Servers are Compatible with my Files? 
 

Media Server

* Webpages must be stored in public_html folder

** Uploading too many files, or files that are too large, to Moodle WILL slow down your course and make it difficult to backup and restore!

*** While YouTube is built for video storage and distribution we do not recommend placing zoom cloud recording on your Lane Youtube account. If separated from the college for a long enough time your account and its contents could be deleted which will delete any videos you posted on the youtube account. This applies to Google drive as well.

**** Moodle will render most HTML including inline CSS if you import or copy/paste into Moodle's html editor. However, Moodle is not a webserver and will not render files or sites built externally.

Make sure your students will be able to view any files you upload to your Moodle course!

Different Types of Media Servers:

Document and File Media Storage

Google Drive: G Suite for Education provides storage in Google Drive. Share documents, link to files, and set granular permissions so that viewing/editing is available to individuals, a team, the institution or the entire Internet. 

• Strengths: Storage is not limited to any file type. You can expire access to files after a certain amount of time. Very high availability with Google’s servers being amongst the most stable around. You can update files on Google Drive and the links you have shared will always have the up-to-date file content.
• Weaknesses: Limited storage. If separated from the college for a long enough time your account and its contents could be deleted which will delete any files stored in Google Drive. You cannot serve HTML files (web pages) from Google Drive. For those needs see Filr. 

Filr: This is a Lane specific file server that will sync all your files with any device you access it from. We recommend this solution only for web pages that you need to host. For everything else see the, we recommend Google Drive. 

SoftChalk users: Due to Flash and Java both being depreciated, we recommend converting all SoftChalk content to H5P and avoiding SoftChalk entirely.

• Strengths: You can serve HTML and SoftChalk files if they are placed in your public_html folder. Talk to us in the ATC if you need help with this.
• Weaknesses: Storage space is limited per account to 10 GB. If separated from the college for a long enough time your account and its contents could be deleted which will delete any files stored in filr.

Moodle: Moodle is Lane’s learning management system and can be used to host files and link to other sources, as well as interact with your students on an online platform. Students are automatically added to Moodle when they enroll in your course, so you can be sure that they will have access to your files here. 

• Strengths: It is easy to add files and folders to your course, and easy for your students to access all of the content in one place. Very good for linking to other storage platforms. 
• Weaknesses: Hard for students to access files after the end of a term, no offline access. Uploading too many files will slow down course. Moodle can store any and all file types. However, your students may not be able to view them if they do not have the required software. You cannot update the file you will have to update a file using word and reupload the content.

Video Media Storage

Using Video in the Classroom: Kaltura‍ is a media streaming platform for audio and video resources. It’s biggest advantage is for copyrighted content that you use in a limited manner and want to exercise your fair use rights for education. Kaltura is also ideal for storing long or short form video content, especially those you provide to students on Moodle.

• Strengths: This is a limited access video streaming server, meaning videos are only available to those with the link. Videos can be password protected to limit access to copyrighted content. Easily store video content of any length. Requesting automated or official captioning of media files is easy.
• Weaknesses: This system is more complicated than YouTube and is not as apparent how to upload and manage videos.

YouTube: You can upload an unlimited amount of video to YouTube, but by default these videos can only be 15 minutes in length. You can remove this limit by verifying your account. YouTube videos can be shared with your students by sending them a link or by linking to the video from your Moodle course.

• Strengths: Very stable servers mean that your videos will always be there. Make your video content visible to the world to share your knowledge beyond the classroom. 
• Weaknesses: Automatic closed captioning from YouTube is often unreliable; however, there is the option to generate your own subtitles or edit the auto-generated subtitles. Copyright scanning bots will restrict your media or put ads on it if they detect copyrighted content within your video. YouTube will encourage viewers to continue watching other content that isn't yours. Finally, if separated from the college for a long enough time your account and its contents could be deleted which will delete any videos you posted on the youtube account. 

Media Servers Quick Guide:

* We don't want anyone uploading file sizes this large. The reason we have it set so high is because of our backup and restore process. In order to restore a large class without having the ATC or Moodle admin do it, we keep the upload file size limit larger than it really needs to be. Please keep your uploads to less than 10 mb. Uploading large file sizes, or many files to your course WILL slow down your course.

Which Account Should I Use? 

Individual Accounts: 
These accounts allow you to create and store media privately and securely, with stronger editing capabilities.

Course Accounts: 
These accounts are great for keeping materials with the course, even between instructors. However, the individual editing capacity is weaker than with Individual accounts.

Department Accounts: 
These accounts allow you to share content between multiple courses in a department. These accounts are best for general knowledge that can be used by many teachers throughout many classes.