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.

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