Images, audio, and video can support teaching and learning by illustrating concepts, providing demonstrations, presenting different perspectives, and giving students opportunities to revisit or engage with course materials in different ways.
The University of Toronto provides several services for storing, hosting, and sharing media. Choosing an appropriate service depends on the type of media, how it will be used, who needs access, and whether students will view, download, or contribute materials.
Quercus (Canvas) provides up to 3 GB of file storage per course. While instructors can upload and display media directly in Quercus, it is not intended to serve as a repository for large collections of audio and video. Dedicated media hosting and storage services can provide additional options for streaming, managing access, and sharing content through Quercus.
Choosing Where to Host and Share Media
Before selecting a service, consider how the media will support teaching and learning, who needs access, and what requirements may affect students’ ability to engage with the materials.
- Purpose: Will students watch or listen to media, download files, contribute their own recordings, or collaborate on materials?
- Access and platform availability: Should the media be available only to enrolled students, the University of Toronto community, or a broader audience? Consider whether students can access the service from their location and whether additional accounts, software, or permissions are required. Some external platforms may be restricted or unavailable in certain countries or regions.
- File type and size: Are you sharing images, audio, video, or large collections of media? Consider storage limits and whether the service supports streaming, downloading, or embedding.
- Accessibility: Does the service support captions, transcripts, alternative text, and other accessibility features? Provide accurate captions for videos with spoken content, transcripts for audio materials, and meaningful alternative text or descriptions for instructional visuals. Where possible, offer alternative ways to access essential information.
- Copyright: Confirm that media can be shared for the intended educational purpose. Consider licensing, attribution, and restrictions on redistribution.
- Privacy and permissions: Check sharing settings, particularly when materials include identifiable students, personal information, or classroom interactions. External platforms may have different privacy practices, data storage arrangements, copyright terms, and accessibility features.
- Ownership and reuse: Who will manage the media, and will it remain accessible across course offerings? Consider whether links and permissions will remain valid when staff or student accounts change.
For additional guidance, consult CTSI’s Captioning Recorded Videos resource and the University of Toronto Libraries’ Online Instruction: Copyright Considerations.
Hosting and Sharing Your Media
The following University of Toronto services support different approaches to storing, hosting, and sharing instructional media.
MyMedia
MyMedia is a University of Toronto Libraries service for hosting and streaming video and audio files. Instructors can upload recordings, manage media information and access settings, and share recordings using playback links or embed codes.
MyMedia supports public access or access restricted to the University of Toronto community. It also allows caption files to be uploaded, although captions must be created separately.
MyMedia may be useful for sharing instructional videos, audio recordings, demonstrations, or student-created media through Quercus.
For instructions on uploading, captioning, managing, and sharing recordings, consult the CTSI MyMedia resource.
Microsoft OneDrive and Video Playback
Microsoft OneDrive provides file storage and sharing through the University’s Microsoft 365 environment. Instructors can store audio and video files in OneDrive and share them using links with appropriate access permissions.
Videos stored in OneDrive or SharePoint can be played through Microsoft’s video player, which provides playback features and options for captions and transcripts. Video editing and additional media features are available through Microsoft Clipchamp.
OneDrive may be useful when instructors need to manage access to recordings, share media with specific people, or store files alongside other course materials.
For instructions, consult the CTSI resources: Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft OneDrive in Quercus (Canvas), and Microsoft Clipchamp.
For one-time transfers of large media files or confidential materials, UTsend provides a secure file transfer option. UTsend is intended for temporary transfers rather than ongoing media hosting or streaming.
Accessing Existing Media Collections
Instructors can also draw on existing scholarly collections and repositories when selecting media for their courses.
Institutional Teaching Collections
The University of Toronto Institutional Teaching Collections provide specialized images and films curated for academic study and instruction. The collections are available through JSTOR to current U of T faculty, staff, and students using their UTORid.
These collections may be particularly useful for courses that rely on visual materials, such as art history, architecture, history, and other image-based disciplines.
Instructors can direct students to relevant collection materials, subject to the collections’ access and usage conditions.
For more information, consult the University of Toronto Libraries’ Institutional Teaching Collections guide.
TSpace
TSpace is the University of Toronto’s institutional research repository. It preserves and provides access to scholarly materials produced by members of the University community, including publications, presentations, images, audio, and video.
Instructors may find existing scholarly collections or multimedia materials in TSpace that are relevant to their courses and can link students to those resources.
TSpace is intended for disseminating and preserving scholarly work, rather than general-purpose hosting of course recordings or instructional media.
Sharing Media Through Quercus
Once media has been uploaded to an appropriate service, instructors can make it available through Quercus.
Depending on the service and type of content, instructors may:
- Link to media: Add a link to a recording, image collection, or other resource in a Quercus Page, Module, Assignment, or Announcement.
- Embed media: Display supported video or audio players within a Quercus Page or other area that uses the Rich Content Editor.
- Share downloadable files: Provide access to files that students need to download, review, or use in learning activities.
Before sharing, check that the link or embedded media works for the intended audience. Access to a Quercus course does not automatically grant students permission to view files hosted in another service.
For guidance on adding links, images, and embedded media, consult Quercus (Canvas) Rich Content Editor. For uploading and managing files directly within Quercus, consult Quercus (Canvas) Files.