EchoVideo is a lecture capture and delivery tool at UMass Amherst. One of the features of this tool uses Amazon’s Alexa algorithm to generate transcripts based on the audio of a recording through a process of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR).

The transcripts that are created will be added to your EchoVideo media, and will appear to students as interactive transcripts as they watch or listen to your recordings. Students can use the transcripts to study, and even search for key terms to be brought right to the point in the lecture where they are mentioned. The accuracy of transcripts generated this way will vary, based on factors such as the equipment and recording space, the speaker’s voice and speech patterns, and the discipline-specific language that may be used. You will be able to edit the transcripts to make them effective study aids for your students.

Once you have edited your transcripts for accuracy, you can also add them to the media as closed captions for your students as well.

If you need transcripts and/or captions for a student with a disability, please direct the student to Disability Services to arrange for professional captioning services. 

Transcript Standards

Transcripts can be a great resource for students to use to assist them in finding information, studying, and engaging with your content. In order to maximize transcription use, and minimize student confusion, there are several expectations to consider:

• The transcripts should be 99% accurate, and be as close to verbatim as possible. 
• All speakers should be identified. 
• Appropriate grammar and punctuation should be used. 

Enable Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in your EchoVideo Course

The first step is to enable ASR for your EchoVideo course. This will set up the course to transcribe any content you add to it. If you have already added content to your course, you will need to Share (Publish) and Unshare Media to a Course, and then Share it to the course again to generate a transcript. 

Note: If a co-instructor or TA will be making edits to your content, you must Allowing All Instructors and Teaching Assistants to Edit Course Media. 

1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password. 
2. On the EchoVideo Library page, select Courses (top left). 
3. On the Courses page, select your course. The Class list page will open. 
4. On the Class list page, select Settings (top right). The Settings page will open. 
5. On the Settings page, select Features. 
6. On the Features list, toggle the ASR Course Media on (turns green). 

Access and Edit Your ASR Transcripts

Once you have enabled ASR for your EchoVideo course, when you Share (Publish) and Unshare Media to a Course, the transcription will appear automatically. This can take a few minutes, up to 3 hours, depending on the length of the media and demands on the system when it is uploaded. If you have recently added media to your course and the Edit Transcript page says “No transcript available” you may need to wait until the transcript has finished processing.

To access a transcript from your Class list:

1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password.
2. On the EchoVideo Library page, select Courses (top left).
3. On the Courses page, select your course. The Class list page will open.
4. In the row of the recording you want to view the transcripts, select the playback icon. The drop-down menu will open.
5. From the drop-down menu select Edit Transcript. The Transcript Editor page will open. Now you can Edit your ASR Transcript.
   Note: If you have recently added media to your course and the Edit Transcript page says “No transcript available”, you may need to wait until the transcript has finished processing. 

To access a transcript from your Library: 

1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password.
2. On the Library page, find the recording you would like to view or edit the transcript of. 
3. On the media tile for the recording, select the blue Elipses button (). The drop-down menu will appear.
4. From the drop-down menu select More Actions, then select Edit Transcript. The Transcript Editor page will open. 
   Note: If you have recently added media to your course and the Edit Transcript page says “No transcript available”, you may need to wait until the transcript has finished processing.   

Edit your ASR Transcript

Once the transcript is available, you may begin editing it for accuracy. Having an accurate transcript is important as some students may not listen to audio and instead only study from the text that is available. Mistranscriptions may cause students to miss out on the correct information. 

1. On ​the Transcript Editor page, select Edit Transcript (top right, highlighted blue).
2. With Edit Transcript on, click on the play button to begin listening to your recording. 
   Note: We recommend selecting Pause when typing under the video player while editing your typing. 
   
   • The transcript appears on the right, and will move to keep time with the audio. 
3. When you need to make an edit, click in the text line where you would like to make an edit, and type your corrections. 
4. Repeat Step 4 for any error you find while reviewing the entire transcript. 
5. When you have finished reviewing your recording and transcripts, select Save As New Version. 
6. A pop-up message will appear to confirm the action. Select Apply to save.

Add Your Edited Transcript as Captions

Once you have edited and saved your transcript, you can also add the transcript text as Closed Captions for your students to use. 

1. On the Edit Transcript page for your media, edit the transcript if necessary, and select Save As New Version.
2. Select Apply To CC. The captions will now be available for your students to view. 
   Note: If you re-edit the transcript, the changes will not automatically also apply to the Closed Captions. You will need to select Apply To CC to ensure changes are applied.