Canvas Studio has received a lot of attention as the scope of online learning continues to grow. With an intuitive user interface and virtually unlimited global storage capacity, Canvas’ built-in video creation and editing tool is the obvious choice for producing, organizing, and embedding media in a course. While Studio is a straightforward platform, there are a few pro-tips we’d like to pass along to help elevate your Studio user status to “Expert”.

1. Two Studios?! You may have noticed that there are two places to access Studio within Canvas. The Studio link in the blue global navigation menu is your “Global” Studio, whereas the Studio link that you see within the navigation menu in a particular course is your “Course-Level” Studio. While media can be created or added in either of these places, it is highly recommended to create a workflow where you only add new media to your Global Studio. Media from your Global Studio can then be added to any of your courses (or to multiple courses), and you also have the option to create video quizzes.
   
   
2. Advocate for accessibility. Closed captions are an integral accessibility component that must be included on all videos that are shared in a Canvas course. Luckily, Studio does the heavy lifting on this piece. Captions can be automatically generated and then easily edited for accuracy. Captions will accompany the video anywhere you choose to place it, and users have the option to turn the captions on or off.
   
   
3. Stay organized with Collections. Collections allow Studio users to organize their media into smaller groups – think creating folders to organize files on your computer. Media can be easily moved between collections, and entire collections can be shared directly with other users.
   
   
4. Speaking of sharing… In addition to embedding Studio media in a Canvas course, you have a few other options for how media can be shared. These include sharing directly with another user within your instance of Canvas and sharing publicly with a direct link to the video or an embed code.
   
   
5. Students have Studio too! Instructors aren’t the only people who get to reap the benefits of Canvas Studio. Students also have access to their own Studio accounts, which means they can create dynamic audio-visual media that can be delivered to assignments, discussion boards, or anywhere else it would be beneficial to have engaging student-created media inserted.

We hope you have found these nuggets of Studio wisdom enlightening. For a deeper dive into Canvas Studio and all, it can do, visit Instructure’s official guides on Studio. As always, feel free to reach out to CIRT and schedule a personalized consultation on Studio or any other Canvas-related topic.