How to Play a Video in an Online Class So Everyone Stays in Sync

To play a video in an online class, open it in a shared player that the teacher controls, so that when you press play or pause every student's video does the same. In Educastic you choose Play Video from the file menu, pick a video from your library and it opens on every student's screen at the same moment.

Screen sharing a video is the usual workaround, and it rarely goes well. The sound stutters, the picture lags and students on a slow connection see a slideshow. Worse, you cannot be sure everyone is looking at the same moment when you stop to ask a question.

This guide explains how the Educastic video player works, how to prepare your videos, and how to turn a clip into an active part of the lesson.

What is a synced video player in an online class?

A synced video player is a player that opens on every participant's screen and follows the teacher's controls: when the teacher plays, pauses or skips, each student's copy does the same. Each student's browser plays the video itself, so the picture and sound are as smooth as on their own device, instead of a re-captured screen share.

In Educastic the player opens as a window over the whiteboard. The board stays usable behind it, so you can stop the video and write on the board straight away.

How do you play a video in Educastic?

You play a video in Educastic from the Load File to Whiteboard menu in the header. Before class, put the video in your library: open My Library in your dashboard and use Upload Media (MP4 works best). Then, in the session:

1. Click Load File to Whiteboard (the folder icon) in the header.
2. Choose Play Video. The My Videos window lists the videos in your library.
3. Click Play next to the video you want.
4. The player opens for you and for every student, with the video's title at the top.
5. Use play and pause, volume and full screen as usual. Students' videos follow you.
6. When you are done, click Close video. The player closes for everyone.

The Minimize or restore video button shrinks the player out of the way when you want the board back without ending the video.

What do students see and control?

Students see the same video at the same point as the teacher, and they control only their own volume. Educastic hides the play, pause and close buttons on students' players, so nobody can run ahead or stop the video for the group. The details:

If a student joins late, or reloads the page while the video is open, Educastic opens the video for them at the teacher's current position, playing or paused as it is for everyone else.

Can you replay a past class recording during a lesson?

Yes. Recordings of your Educastic sessions (kept in the My Recordings tab of My Library) appear in the My Videos list next to the videos you uploaded, so you can play last week's explanation at the start of today's lesson. It plays inside the class for the people in this session, the same way as any other video.

This is useful for revision and for students who missed a class: replay the five minutes where you worked through a key example, pause, and ask the class to finish the next one on the board. To learn how to record in the first place, see how to record online classes.

How do you make a video part of the lesson, not a break from it?

Treat the video as a text to work with, not something to sit through. Three habits that work in most subjects:

• Keep it short. Two to four minutes is enough for one idea. Play a longer video in parts.
• Set a question before you press play. "Watch for the moment the reaction changes colour" or "Note two arguments the speaker uses" gives students a reason to watch closely.
• Pause and write. Stop at the key moment, minimize the player and sketch or summarise the idea on the whiteboard with the class. Then play the next part.

A science teacher might play a short experiment clip, pause before the result and ask students to write their prediction on the board. A language teacher might play one minute of a dialogue, pause and ask the class to write down the phrases they heard.

What are the tips and limits of the video player?

A few points to plan around:

• Only the teacher starts, pauses, skips and closes the video. Students can change their own volume.
• The My Videos list shows the videos stored in your own library. Upload them to My Library before the class, as MP4 files.
• Recordings of sessions that run inside an organization are stored with the organization, so they do not appear in your personal My Videos list.
• Students need a stable connection, because each of them streams the video file.

For keeping your videos, worksheets and images organised in one place, see how to build an online teaching resource library.

Frequently asked questions

Can students pause the video? No. In Educastic only the teacher plays, pauses, skips and closes the video; students control their own volume.

What happens if a student joins in the middle of the video? Educastic opens the video for them at the teacher's current position, playing or paused as it is for the class.

Can I play a recording of an earlier class? Yes. Recordings of your sessions are listed in My Videos and play inside the class like any other video.

Which video format should I upload? MP4. Upload it to My Library with Upload Media before the class.

Does the video player cost extra? No. Educastic includes all of its teaching features in the free version.

Play your first video with the class

Upload a short clip you already use to your library, open it with Play Video on the Educastic online whiteboard and pause it at the moment you want students to think.

Play a video in class free