Instructional Support

How to get started with Annoto

Before setting up Annoto in your course, it is necessary to have video content in D2L Brightspace. Add your videos to Kaltura/My Media using the uploading media to our streaming server guide to get started.

Step 1: Recommended setup – Embed your video in an HTML page

  1. Click the Content link on the navigation bar menu and open a module to add a video.
  2. Click the Upload/Create button and select Create a File.
  3. Enter a title for the file and click the Browse for a Template button to search Public Files > 2024-html-templates > and select simple_blank_template.html. This will apply the Online Learning Template 8 to your page.
  4. Click the Insert Stuff button on the toolbar of the content editor and select one of the following options:
    1. Embed Kaltura Media Insert Stuff – This option allows you to embed a video from your Kaltura/My Media video library. This is the recommended option if you have a video library through Kaltura/My Media to use with Annoto.
    2. ?Embed Annoto Media Insert Stuff – This option allows you to embed a video using a YouTube share link.This is only recommended if you do not own the video or it does not exist in your Kaltura/My Media library.
  5. Enter other information to the page that corresponds with the video and consider adding a link to the Student Help Desk – Annoto Guide to get started.

Click the Save and Close button to create the HTML page with the embedded video.

Step 2: Access the Annoto Dashboard

Once you have added videos to your course, click the Instructor Tools link on the navigation bar and select Annoto Dashboard from the menu. The Annoto Dashboard contains your course’s Hub, Insights, and Preferences.

  • Course Hub?– The Hub tab contains all the video content available to Annoto and the option to view the activity for each video.
  • Course Insights – The Insights tab contains the various analytics and engagement details that Annoto is capturing for each video.
  • Preferences – The Preferences option allows you to customize which features to enable at the course level. (Note: You can customize features for specific videos by going to the Hub tab, clicking on the video, and opening Preferences.)

To learn more about Annoto, please watch our training video: Adding Interactive Elements to Video with Annoto (Winter 2025).

Step 3: Understanding the Annoto Widget

This is the platform where users watch the Annoto video in the course content for Annoto interaction. Watch this video training (start time-end time) to learn more about how to start using Annoto.