Moodle + Kaltura Media Data Retention Guidelines

Moodle

Moodle course shells are often reused by instructors and updated for each semester. This leaves a trail of old and inactive course shells that end up taking a fair share of storage space.

The life cycle of a regular Moodle course shell is 3 years before automatic removal. Course shells can be backed up on Moodle's servers, and also downloaded to local storage. We are working on a system to ensure proper notification before removal of old courses.

You can make a backup and then download the backup by going into your course, and from the top course navbar choose More > Course Reuse and then select Backup from the toggle menu. Once the backup is done you will be able to download it.

Video guide on how to backup your Moodle course:

Kaltura

Kaltura can be used to make engaging course content and help create instructor presence when teaching online and hybrid courses. Some uploaded media will have a long lifespan and be re-used again and again, while some material will not be used more than once.

To ensure we stay within our allotted server space, so we can support instructors who utilize Kaltura for multimedia learning strategies, we will start removing "abandoned" media that is no longer being engaged with.

  • Kaltura cannot be used as a media archive or media backup solution
  • Always retain a backup of your media on a local drive or on OneDrive
  • Student gradable material will be held for a minimum of 12 months

    Our strategy is to start flagging media for deletion when it fits the parameters listed below:

    • Copyrighted material
    • Media that is 24 months old + no plays in the last 24 months
    • Content by former staff, faculty and students with 0 plays 12 months after they have left the university

    When a media entry has been flagged for deletion, the media owner will be notified 14 days before removal to ensure they can take action on the media.


    Instructors who have been notified they have media flagged for deletion can take action and choose to Keep, Download or Delete the media from a custom Kaltura file manager located here.

    Below are other ways to download or delete Kaltura media.


    Downloading Kaltura Media:

    You can download Kaltura media from the media's Edit Page. There is a download button in the bottom right corner of the player. You can also request a complete list of download links to all your media by emailing the TLC (tlc@ecuad.ca).

    Screenshot of download button


    Deleting Kaltura Media:

    You can delete media in bulk from My Media by checking the box to the left of the media you want to remove, then click Actions and select Delete.

    Screenshot of how to delete Kaltura media

    You can always re-upload media to Kaltura or a Moodle course from a backup.If you want to preserve media for future use, we advise you to store it on a personal drive or to use your ECU OneDrive account.

    To upload media to OneDrive, log into your ECU OneDrive account here.