Kaltura is the video tool Capella uses for recorded assignments, and yes, it is the real submission method for a number of assessments across both formats. You record with Kaltura Capture, a small app that grabs your webcam and your screen, then manage the file from the My Media area inside your courseroom and drop it into the assessment through the media button in the text editor. The thing students underestimate: a Kaltura assessment is still scored against a written scoring guide, so the recording is graded on what you say and show, not on production polish.
What Kaltura is, and is not
Kaltura is a video capture and hosting platform Capella adopted for its recorded coursework. It is not a proctoring tool and not a live exam; you record on your own time, review your take, and submit when it is right. Capella provides it free through the courseroom, it runs on both Mac and Windows, and the recordings live in your personal media library so you can reuse or re-record before a deadline. Think of it as the school's built-in studio rather than a test.
Where you record it and where it goes
Record with Kaltura Capture
The Capture app records your camera, your screen, or both at once, which is why it suits presentations and demonstrations. You install it once from the courseroom and it saves straight into your media library.
Manage it in My Media
Every recording lands in the My Media area of your courseroom. From there you can rename, trim, delete, or caption it before it is attached to anything.
Embed it through the media button
Inside a discussion, an assignment, or an assessment, the text editor carries a media or mashup button that inserts a video from My Media. That embed is your submission; there is no separate upload portal to wrestle with.
Which assessments actually use it
Recorded work shows up more often than new students expect. Common examples include a self-introduction early in a program, a recorded presentation of a project or analysis, a speech or teaching demonstration, a spoken discussion response, and the recorded side of a simulated patient or client encounter. Nursing and education programs lean on video for demonstrations of practice; business courses use it for stakeholder-style presentations. The assessment instructions and the scoring guide always tell you whether a recording is required and how long it should run.
What is actually being graded
This is the part that changes how you should prepare. A Kaltura assessment is scored against the same kind of scoring guide as a written one: a table of criteria with four performance levels, from Non-performance up to Distinguished. The camera is a delivery method, not the assignment. Evaluators are listening for whether you addressed each criterion, cited evidence where the guide asks for it, and organized the talk so every required point is unmistakable. A beautiful recording that skips a criterion still earns Non-performance on that criterion, exactly as a polished essay would.
| What students focus on | What the scoring guide rewards |
|---|---|
| Lighting, background, camera quality | Every criterion clearly addressed out loud |
| Reading slides word for word | Analysis and evidence spoken in your own words |
| Filling the full time limit | Hitting each required point inside the limit |
The mistakes that quietly cost points
- Treating the script as optional. The strongest recordings are read from a criterion-by-criterion outline, so nothing required gets left out under the pressure of the record button.
- Ignoring the time limit. Going long usually means the evaluator loses the thread; going short usually means a criterion was rushed. Rehearse to the stated length.
- Skipping captions when they are asked for. Some assessments and accessibility guidance expect captions, and Kaltura generates them from My Media in a couple of clicks.
- Recording once and submitting blind. Watch your own take against the scoring guide before you embed it, the same self-scoring pass you would give a paper.
Where a tutor fits a Kaltura assessment
The written spine of a recorded assessment is exactly what we help with. Send the scoring guide and the prompt and a tutor returns a criterion-mapped talking script and, where the assessment calls for slides, a deck with speaker notes you can read straight into Kaltura, all in 24 to 48 hours. You still record it in your own voice and submit it yourself; what you skip is the guesswork about what to say and in what order. If your course pairs a recording with a written paper, the assignment help page covers how we handle both halves together.
Have a recording due?
Send the scoring guide and time limit. We will build the script and, if needed, the slides, so your Kaltura take hits every criterion. First sample free.
Sources and verification
Facts on this page come from official and independent sources, and anything that matters is worth checking against the originals:
- www.capella.edu: Capella University's official site, the primary source for program and format facts
- technicalsupport.capella.edu: Capella's official technical support, source for Kaltura Capture and My Media guidance
- www.capella.edu/capella-experience/flexpath: the official FlexPath format page
- www.hlcommission.org: Higher Learning Commission, the institutional accreditor
- apastyle.apa.org: APA Style, the official style authority behind the formatting rules