It also serves as pocket-friendly LMS for new, small, and medium-scale educators who do not have the budget to make a custom platform for their own. On the technical end, Moodle only requires you to

• Self-host your website through Moodle LMS.
• Purchase a domain name and renew it yourself while maintaining DNS records.
• Purchase and Integrate video hosting solutions through plugins, APIs, etc.
• Customize the appearance and features using code, plugins, and themes.
• Integrate security measures.

What is Moodle?

Moodle is an open-source and free LMS or Learning Management System. It is written in PHP language and is majorly used for online learning projects for online class delivery, hybrid learning, distance learning, and other online teaching methodologies. Edtech starters, universities, and other learning sector organizations implement their online teaching platform using Moodle due to easy accessibility and integrations. Since it is open source and gets distributed under GNU General Public License, organizations sometimes prefer it.

You can create custom websites for serving online courses through a very easy setup. It also allows advanced integrations via community-sourced and third-party plugins. Plugins, mobile responsive web design, custom design themes, and a Moodle mobile app are also available to customize each individual online learning platform. The Moodle mobile app is available on App Store, Google Play, and also on the Windows Phone Store.

To install Moodle on Web Server, you can easily download it for Apache HTTP Server and integrate it with DBMS like MySQL, etc. For local testing, pre-built MAMP, etc, packages with local Apache server and MySQL are also available to download for Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. The only part which is left to choose is video hosting, for which you get free options like YouTube as a Video Hosting solution or otherwise pick up a secure video hosting solution provider like VdoCipher.

Role of Moodle and other LMSs in eLearning Ecosystem

Moodle was originally released on 20 August 2002, and since then, it has developed into an LMS masterpiece. The core developer Martin Dougiamas started building Moodle to help educators go online with a focus on interactive learning through easy build-up. It plays a very helpful role for many low capital educators, and for being open source, it is helped by 84 Moodle Partner companies for development and finances.

Since the start, the focus element i.e, video has been integrated into Moodle infrastructure for all kinds of learning utilities. Educators get support for uploading and embedding videos for their custom websites and can even record short videos directly with the support of Atto and other editors. Even students get to use other video-related features like lecture catch-up and “how-to” screencast.

Moodle and other Learning Management Systems (LMSs) play an important role in the eLearning ecosystem. Not only do they help evade the capital-intensive task of platform development, but they also provide the framework for managing, delivering, and tracking online learning content. They include features such as quizzes, forums, and assignments, which can be used to facilitate learning. Additionally, LMSs provide tools for tracking learners’ progress, so teachers can easily monitor their progress and provide feedback.

Moodle and other LMSs also provide an environment for collaboration between students and teachers. Through forums, messaging, and other tools, students and teachers can collaborate on assignments and projects. This can help create an engaging learning experience for students and teachers.

How to Upload a Video to Moodle?

Now lets learn how to add video to Moodle with these simple steps. You can even test for uploading, and embedding via localhost Moodle setup or directly push the files into the cloud server. Whatever the case, the steps remain the same.

• First, Log in to your Moodle account either in localhost or live website.
• From the Homepage, Click on the course to which you want to add the video.
• Turn “Edit Mode” On with the button at the top right of the page.
• Scroll down to the course section where you want to add the video and click the “Add an Activity or Resource” link.
  
• Select “Text and Media area” from the list of activities or resources.
• Click on the “Insert video/audio” icon at the top of the text editor.
  
• Select “browse repositories” and then the “upload a file” button on the left pane.
  
• Select an attachment from the local or cloud storage and add other information like the name of the video.
• Click on the “Upload this File” button at the bottom.
• You can now view the “Video Source URL”
  
• Finally, click on insert media and the video will start showing within the course.
  

How to Embed a Video to Moodle Course

Embedding a video into your course is fairly simple as copy-paste. Follow through this section to see how to embed a video in your course. Incorporating YouTube videos can enrich your course content. Here’s how to add and embed YouTube video in Moodle. You just need to copy the embed code containing the iframe and video element of any video file available on YouTube or of your hosted video. Here is the list of steps you can use for reference.

• First, Log in to your Moodle account either in localhost or live website.
• From the Homepage, Click on the course you want to embed the video to.
• Turn “Edit Mode” On with the button at the top right of the page.
• Scroll down to the course section where you want to add the video and click the “Add an Activity or Resource” link.
• Select “Text and Media area” from the list of activities or resources.
• Click on the “Show more buttons” icon in the top left corner of the text editor to open more options in the toolbar.
  
• Now click on the “HTML” button to open the HTML editor of the text section.
  
• You can now copy the embed code of the video from YouTube or from your video hosting provider dashboard and paste it into the HTML editor box.
  
• Now, click on the “Save and return to Course” button at the bottom of the page, and your embedded video will start appearing in your course.

Video Tutorial to Embed a Video using Iframe in Moodle

How to install a plugin in Moodle?

There are majorly two ways to install a Moodle plugin. One is through Moodle plugin repository, and the other is through uploading the zip file of a plugin.

Installing via Moodle Plugin Repository

• First, Log in to your Moodle account either in localhost or live website.
• Click on “Site administration” in the top navigation bar and click on “Plugins” under the available tabs in the next window.
• Click on “Install plugins” and then from the Plugin Installer page, click on the “Install plugins from the Moodle plugins directory” button.
  
• To install the plugin directly on your Moodle website, you need to be logged in with your moodle.org account.
  
• Search for the plugin in the directory and select “Install” from the Plugin description page. For local installation, you can download the plugin for upload.
• This will validate the plugin and will ask you to “continue” if the plugin gets successfully verified.
• Finally, click on “Upgrade Moodle database now” to make the final plugin migration and again continue from the next page.

If required, you can edit the settings from the “Plugin Settings” page. This will enable the plugin for your Moodle website.

Installing Moodle Plugin by Uploading ZIP file

• First, Log in to your Moodle account either in localhost or live website.
• Click on “Site administration” in the top navigation bar and click on “Plugins” under the available tabs in the next window.
• Click on “Install plugins”
• To download the zip file, search for the plugin in the directory and select Download from the Plugin description page.
• Now, click on the “Choose a file” in the “Install plugin from ZIP file” section of the Plugin Installer page.
  
• Name the plugin in the next window and choose the attachment from the local or attached cloud storage.
• Click on the “Install plugin from the ZIP file” button at the bottom of the page.
• This will validate the plugin and will ask you to “continue” if the plugin gets successfully verified.
  
• Now, on the next page of “Current release information” click again on “Continue” at the bottom of the page. This page also displays if all server requirements are met.
  
• Finally, click on “Upgrade Moodle database now” to make the final plugin migration and again continue from the next page.
  
• Settings page of the plugin might open up, requiring further details like API keys, etc to be filled in. You can add and save the settings from this page.
  

Note: For VdoCipher Plugin, go to filters under the Plugins section and then manage filters. Here change the dropdown across VdoCipher to On and save changes. This will enable the plugin for your Moodle website.

Video Tutorial to Install VdoCipher Plugin in Moodle

Moodle Video Player and Customizations

Moodle use VideoJS player as a default player for Video playback. VideoJS player is also used to playback YouTube videos with Moodle course. To tweak VideoJS player settings, you can go to “Site administration” > Plugins > Media Players > VideoJS player. From here, you can also identify the CSS class getting used for player display, supported video and audio file extensions, limit size and default YouTube playback options. For applying customizations, there are two methods. One is by making additions to the CSS file attached with the VideoJS player and whose CSS class can be identified from the settings page discussed above. Another way to make customizations to the player, be it styling or features addition like security, can be done using a third-party Moodle Video Plugin like VdoCipher.

Plugins like VdoCipher not only provide player customization features with better UI and controls for adaptive bitrate streaming and multilingual subtitles but also contains various other features like,

• Protection against illegal video download through downloader tools.
• Protection against screen capture on many devices and browsers.
• Dynamic controls to change playback speed and skip/rewind.
• Option for selecting Multilingual subtitles.
• Show Progress Bar
• Show Scrubbing Preview
• JavaScript API to add overlay buttons and track viewer interactions with video.
• Auto Resume
• Enable Keyboard Shortcuts
• Primary Color change via Hex color code
• Show Time Text
• Lock Controls
• Enable Save Offline
• Show Quality Control
• Hide Controls on Pause

Moodle Video Hosting Solution

Explore the essentials of Moodle Video Hosting to enhance your educational content. You can store video files on the same server instance where your Moodle website is hosted, but it creates certain issues. For example, if you want adaptive bitrate streaming, you must store multiple copies of your videos for different bitrates and even for different devices. These copies can cost you your main server’s available storage space within the instance, also making the variable cost dearer. There are many other reasons, like security, scalability, costing, and integrations which are only available via third-party Video Hosting Solution Providers.

To handle these cases, it is always advised to integrate a video hosting solution provider with your Moodle website. Moodle suggests using low-cost options like YouTube and Vimeo, but they don’t provide security against illegal video downloads. You can also set up your video hosting solution via AWS by combining various AWS services, but they will require a technical understanding of AWS infrastructure. Also, if you plan to integrate security into your video infrastructure, it requires getting licenses and their integrations. To summarize the challenges, let us list four major stages required to set up AWS S3 Video Streaming.

• S3 bucket creation and upload
• AWS CloudFront set up
• Batch Transcoding for adaptive playback
• Applying DRM Encryption

The difficulty of setting up such an infrastructure is a cumbersome task for small, medium, and large-scale eLearning Moodle Platforms. This is the reason to use a video hosting solution provider with a history of providing the best in class service and features. Best-in-class solution providers like VdoCipher can help you evade the challenges in the implementation part and the challenges in creating dashboards, APIs, etc., for easy integration.

Why need Video Security on Moodle

Educators using in-moodle or other video hosting platforms have a basic need to upload, embed, share, or view a video. This requirement also poses a threat during different stages of transferring the chunks of a video file. Major leaks happen during the storage process and the delivery of video files for playback. These videos are mostly premium and unique content to serve students for learning. If these videos get illegally downloaded and distributed, it is a direct revenue loss for creators with enabled monetization on Moodle platform.

As Moodle does not provide any security for videos uploaded and streamed via the default mechanism, the only choice left is to use a third-party video security solution like VdoCipher. VdoCipher’s Hollywood Grade Video DRM encryption protects a wide range of video file formats. The videos streamed via VdoCipher cannot be downloaded by any internet plugin or software. This is possible due to the use of multi-DRM licensing and encryption technology. It is the safest way to store and deliver a video file globally. DRM technology uses encryption to protect content from unauthorized copying and playback. The user needs a valid DRM license to play the video content with access on only to authorized devices. Only people with the appropriate key can decrypt and access the video.

For example, like EdTech platforms, OTT providers like Netflix cannot risk illegal downloads via browsers or apps. This is a direct loss to their monetizable content, which is why all the likes of Netflix use multi-DRM servers to protect their premium content. Since every video creator cannot set up their DRM servers, solutions like Vdocipher help them set up a full-fledged multi-DRM setup at very affordable prices.

VdoCipher – Moodle Video Plugin for Security

Choosing the right Moodle video plugin can drastically improve your video integration. If you are looking for a secure video hosting solution provider with easy integrations for Moodle, then VdoCipher will be your best choice. It uses AWS Infrastructure for the highest scalability, uptime, and integration ease and is also the best one based on global reviews. To use the VdoCipher’s moodle plugin, you can download the latest version directly from the GitHub page and then install the plugin by uploading it to your Moodle website. This plugin adds download-protected videos from your VdoCipher dashboard directly inside your moodle content using the video id. This will replace the video shortcode with an embedded video player, having added security and features. It not only uses the best infrastructure for storing and delivering videos but also provides a ton of other features, like,

• Google and Apple FairPlay DRM Encryption – to protect videos from unauthorized access and downloads via Widevine and FairPlay DRM.
• Dynamic watermarking – to discourage screen capture, details like user ID, email, etc., can be dynamically watermarked over the video.
• Adaptive Video Quality with CloudFront CDN – VdoCipher uses Global AWS Cloud Infrastructure. Storage on AWS S3, batch Transcoding via VdoCipher algorithms on AWS EC2, Streaming of content via Cloudfront CDN, and Encryption by integrating Google and Apple DRM.
• Smart HTML5 Video Player – dynamic controls with multi-lingual subtitle support, change playback speed, theme options, and API to add overlay buttons for tracking viewer interactions with video.
• Secure offline downloads in apps – VdoCipher iOS native SDK securely enables video download on the device.
  Google Play Integrity for app-based security – SafetyNet to block playback on rooted, duplicate, and unauthorized apps. Check out our play integrity api documentation to know more.
• Plugins – The video plugin by VdoCipher supports WordPress, Moodle, and other CMSs and LMSs.
  Geo-Restrictions – For blacklisting or whitelisting specific countries

Important FAQs Around Moodle Video Hosting

How to enable Moodle DRM?

Moodle does not provide DRM integration as a feature of its own. The only way to set up DRM protection for your videos can be achieved by using a secure video hosting solution provider like VdoCipher. They integrate the Google Widevine and Apple FairPlay DRM licenses with other video infrastructure required for streaming secure videos.

Does Moodle provide an end-to-end solution for Video Hosting?

Moodle only provides video hosting on your main website server. If you want an end-to-end solution for Video Hosting with support of player customizations, APIs, dashboard, analytics, DRM, etc. solutions like VdoCipher are applicable.

Is Moodle really free, or does it cost?

Moodle is an open-source and free LMS or Learning Management System distributed under GNU General Public License. Its use as LMS is free of charge, but cloud hosting plans start at USD 110/year for 50 users and 250 MB storage without any video security.

How to add a video to a Moodle course?

To add a video, log into Moodle, navigate to your course, and switch to Edit Mode. In the course section, click “Add an Activity or Resource”, select “Text and Media area”, and use the “Insert video/audio” icon to upload or embed your video.

How to upload a video to Moodle?

First, ensure you’re in Edit Mode in your course. Click on “Add an Activity or Resource”, choose “Text and Media area”, and then select “browse repositories” followed by “upload a file”. After uploading, click “Insert media” to add the video to your course.

How to embed a video within a Moodle course?

In Edit Mode, select the course section, click “Add an Activity or Resource”, and choose “Text and Media area”. Use the HTML editor to paste your video’s embed code and save the changes to see the video in your course.

Vishal Sharma

My expertise focuses on DRM encryption, CDN technologies, and streamlining marketing campaigns to drive engagement and growth. At VdoCipher, I’ve significantly enhanced digital experiences and contributed to in-depth technical discussions in the eLearning, Media, and Security sectors, showcasing a commitment to innovation and excellence in the digital landscape.

The post How to Add, Upload, Embed Videos in Moodle: Video Hosting Explained appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

With the assured increase in engagement, exposure, and conversion, the mobile video consumption rate rises by 100% every year. Owning to the fact that the vast majority of short video consumption is from mobiles. And the recent pandemic outbreak has also boosted the popularity of these video platforms.

Wyzowl, a leading animator explainer video company, says that people share videos twice the rate than any other form of content.

What are short videos?

Short form videos are relatively short, lasting somewhere between a few seconds to a few minutes. What’s considered a short form video depends on the platform. For example YouTube shorts are upto 60 seconds long, Instagram reels are about 90 seconds long while Facebook reels are 15 seconds or less.

Short videos can be of different forms, from lip-syncing to tutorials and how-to do demonstrations. Shorts are attention-grabbing and highly engaging with the aim to gain more likes and comments. They are gaining popularity on mobile devices where viewers need to consume content on the go.

What’s the reason behind this sudden rise in popularity of these short video platforms? The main reason is its ‘snackable’ form. Short videos run between 30 seconds to five minutes, are so convenient and likable to the global audience. For example, two-thirds of people prefer to watch a business video if it’s under a minute.

Next is the fresh, in-depth content- not just for entertainment but also for awareness. This is something that is not common for traditional television or youtube videos. According to Forrester Research, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words to a consumer. This means a lot if you are a marketer.

The recent boom in the smartphone market has paved the way for the growth of short video platforms. Affordable data prices also play a role in this sudden rise in popularity.

As we discussed, the increased popularity of the short video content, made them the ‘new normal’ of entertainment.  With this, there has been a hike in the number of short video platforms too.

Want to find out which short video platforms will ramp up the video content marketing industry in 2023? Read on!

Best Global Short Video Platforms and Apps

Let’s see some of the top players in the short video platform industry. The following platforms are offering the power of video storytelling to millions of people all across the globe.

1. Tik Tok

TikTok is considered one of the best short video apps that enable users to create and share short videos. TikTok gave a huge platform to content creators to showcase their skills.

Compatible with android as well as iOS devices, Tik Tok is one of the most appreciated short video platforms. Since 2016, when it was first made available, it has been used by a diverse user base from distinct countries.

Programmed by the china owned ByteDance company, Tik Tok allows users to make short and exhilarating funny, lip-sync and dance videos. The in-built features to edit, modify, merge multiple videos and make videos more engaging have gained its million users.

The fashionistas and influencers use TikTok as a major earning source via video monetization, and brands use it to reach wider audiences. Recently, in 2020, due to privacy violations and security threats, this short video app has been banned by Indian councils.

2. Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform that allows users to edit, upload photos and short videos via mobile application. Instagram is a popular short Video App in India with 180 million users as of July 2021.

Having maximum users in the US, Instagram is loved and used globally. Acquired by Facebook in 2012, it is used by professional content creators to engage, network, and interact with their fans.

It comes with features like sharing quick videos as profile stories, adding highlights, and uploading eye-candy pictures just the way you are. Due to this short video platform has procured popularity from some past years.

Users can like, comment and connect with friends through this short video app. One can upload IGTV videos of a maximum of 60 minutes, and with reels limited to 30 minutes. Using this you can share quick excerpts from your day with your instagram followers and enjoy networking.

For business affairs, its advertising feature also plays well with users with giving extended reach for business. This in turn gives a fruitful return on their marketing and advertising investment on Instagram.

3. Snapchat

In action since 2011, Snapchat is available in 37 languages and provides easy and bewitching video sharing. It is compatible with android and iOS devices. As per the report, this short video app has a user base of 105.25 million users in India as of July 2021.

It allows you to share moments, live as well as recorded. The amazing filters with some stimulating effects have made it hot among youth. Recently, maintaining streak features with friends has also elevated its user database to several folds.

It has an engaging discovery section to explore stories from public accounts to know recent news about your friends and celebrities. This platform is one of the best.

4. Vimeo

Vimeo is a video platform launched in 2004 where you can create, share and comment on the videos available on the platform.

This short video platform gives you complete freedom to choose who can or cannot see shared videos. Its ad-free experience has always been its highlight.

With advanced privacy and security settings, it is completely safe for users. However, with other robust competitors around the corner, its user database is relatively low today. But it is expected to rise in the coming years.

5. WeChat

If you are a lover of multipurpose apps with short video features, WeChat is for you.

It is for messaging, video making, payment gateways, social media entertainment. It supports voice, photo, video modes for messaging and can be used by android and ios users.

WeChat has got more than 1 billion users worldwide and is an application by Tencent in China.

Due to its integrated privacy and security guidelines, WeChat is also facing a ban by the Indian government in 2020. Therefore, it is not available to Indian users.

6. Triller

Launched in 2015, it has been built for content creators exclusively. Triller is a video sharing and networking app.

Make short videos for entertaining sessions with your fans, friends, and other users on the app. It allows users to edit, synchronize videos within seconds.

Triller got a sudden boost, especially in India after the Tik Tok ban. Many Indian creators and different types of influencers moved to triller for networking and showcasing their video-making abilities.”

Short video trends

• As of December 2022, videos under 1 minute made up to 55% of the YouTube views.
• Short videos are the most popular video content type because of their addictive nature and short attention span.
• They can quickly share brand awareness and especially campaign messages compared to other content types.
• Easier to make and are ideal to make content go viral or share unfiltered opinions in seconds.
• In 2022, we saw microlearning videos as a top online learning format, with video length between 2-5 minutes.
• Product teasers are recognizing short videos to engage viewers, especially unboxing videos, teasers, and product drops.
• More brands are utilizing the power of short videos to create online influencer campaigns.

Best Indian Short Video Platforms

At the same time in India too, new ‘desi’ made in India short-video platforms are blooming. Mainly to fill in the void of the TikTok ban. This opened up a lot of opportunities for indian market to develop alternative short video apps in India. Here, we are going to see some of the top homegrown short video platforms.

7. Mojo

Want to make exciting stories for Instagram?

Use mojo to edit and make them extra engaging. Available in both free and premium memberships. Premium membership provides access to exceptionally exciting templates to add an instant“wow” factor to Instagram stories.

Add frames, stickers, gifs, music, filters, and much more. In this short video platform, you can save videos on handy devices, and integration with an Instagram account is feasible.

8. Mitron

Another homegrown short video app. Mitron app got eyeballs as a replacement of the Tik Tok in its home country. To elevate and use the TikTok market, Mitron can build short videos, lip-sync, and funny dubbing videos.

The short-format video app provides a unique opportunity to create engaging content with a lot of built-in features. 

The user base for Mitron in India is still progressing. The progress is slower than estimated. Mainly due to its removal from the google play store due to violation of privacy terms and policies. But was soon restored after the update of T&C and is now looking to establish roots in the Indian market.

9. Chingari

Again, an India-originated, ‘desi’ short video platform. Chingari was released in 2018 and is available in 20 languages. By 2020, it has already become available in 50 countries worldwide.

This Short Video app was made in India to support the Make in India campaign. 

Chingari App has gained a lot of popularity in India. It has almost 38 million users on the platform. Being paramountly used for status videos, its user base is still elevating and people feel keen to explore Chingari more. However, estimations are that this will still struggle to get valid limelight.

10. Tik Kik

Tik Kik is recognized as the Karaoke for the digital age and got its limelight a few years back. This Indian short video app provides options for lip sync videos, comedy, and dancing, Tik Kik is widely known for its easy user interface.

There have been reviews regarding sign-up problems on an app that assumptively dragged its play store ratings. Yet, it is one of the famous short video platforms in India.

11. Trell

Video Pinterest for Bharat. This Indian short video platform with optimum privacy protection, data protection, and complete encryption, is now getting popular among creators.

Since 2017 when it first went live, Trell achieved 25x growth in a year.

You can create videos on lifestyle, health, fitness genre along with various other domains on this short video platform.

12. ShareChat

Having roots in Bangalore, India, ShareChat is an open platform for video streaming platform and content creation.

Being in action since Oct 2015, it is a completely free platform to enjoy videos from trending content creators.  With a user base of 160 million and 50+ million creator community. This short video app has grown into India’s one of the best short video apps. It is also proved to be an earning source for participants.

It Includes private messaging, video sharing, and video saving features. Being used extensively, it has more than 4-star ratings on google as well as on the apple store.

13. Roposo

Developed by an Indian company, Roposso wins in all privacy and security analysis as a video platform.

Video genres like comedy, dance have been popular on Riposo. The availability of finding videos of the desired genre has been an important feature of an app.

It is available in 15 languages and has been in action since July 2014.

Having an easy and engaging user experience makes it a better choice for users looking for video streaming sites.

14. LitLot

The short video app LitLot is an Indian-based social media platform for creating, sharing short music videos.

Download, like, share the videos of your choice.

This video app provides a simple interface and handy features that make it appreciable for every age user. The video app has more than 1 million downloads on Google Play Store.

Among various features of an app, the freehand drawing feature is one of the most loved ones. When compared to other apps available, it has fewer editing and filter options.

15. Josh

Munch on the popular short videos of your choice, Plug into Josh; an Indian-originated app.

Still struggling to get enough exposure, Josh has massive investors in Google, Alphabet, and Microsoft to aid India’s digital economy. However, various suggestions and reviews are used to improvise Josh to make it more engaging and entertaining.

Josh is collaborating with famous Instagram influencers named Faisal shaikh, Sameeksha sud, and more to elevate its visibility and virality. Josh aspires to elevate its market in the coming years as a top video platform.

So, here’s the list of top short video platforms trending in the year 2021. They offer a wide range of opportunities for creators with outstanding short videos, which can appeal to millions of audiences. Do we miss any platform? Let us know in the comments.

Meanwhile we also created a list of video hosting sites, video sharing platforms, check it out as well!!

FAQs

What is a short video app?

It is a video platform that allows users to create, edit, share short-format videos. It also helps influencers and businesses to expand their reach within a short period of time.

Which is India’s best short video app?

Many short video apps have emerged recently in India and few of  them are Mojo, Josh, Mitron, Chingari, Roposo, and Tik Kik      

Rahul Rana

Head of Digital Marketing at Vdocipher. I love the art of connecting the right product to their users. When i’m not doing that i love getting lost in books.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post Top 15 Short Video Platforms 2023: Global & India appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.