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: Adding videos to your course

Annoto provides two options to apply the tool to your videos in D2L Brightspace. Be sure to use the “Insert Stuff” feature in Brightspace to add your videos to the course content.

  • For using a Kaltura video, please use “Embed Kaltura Media Quick Link” from “Existing Activities”
  • For videos located on YouTube, Wistia, or Vimeo, please use “Embed Annoto Media Quicklink” from Existing Activities. (Note: please do not use this option to link to a Kaltura video from MyMedia library!)

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.