Quick Guide: Podcasting within Blackboard CDoTL In simple, step-by-step sections, this Quick Guide describes the new Podcast LX facility, outlines how to activate the facility within your Blackboard course and briefly covers how to use it. 1 of 3 How Podcast LX works… Podcast LX gives you the ability to add audio, video or other media files to your Blackboard course without having to restructure your course in any way. So if youre used to structuring your course by week or by topic, you can drop in the podcast files alongside the notes or other items that you usually put up. You can then set up a link to Podcast Homepage. An example of this is shown in the picture above as Podcast List. The page automatically aggregates all your podcast files for you and give students the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed or link the course to their iTunes – which will make it easier for them to transfer the files to an iPod or another portable digital audio device. Activating Podcast LX within your Blackboard course Enter the course that you require the tool for and then click on the Control Panel. Once in the Control Panel, youll find a link called Manage Tools, right at the bottom of the page in the "Course Options" box". Click on this link. Youll then find a simple three- link menu. Firstly, you need to click the Building Block Availability link. This will bring up a checklist of tools – scroll down to Podcast and tick the box to the right. Once you have ticked the boxes for all the tools you want to make available, click Submit at the bottom of the page.

You should get a receipt to say this has been done. Click OK. Back on the Manage Tools page, you will need to go through the same procedure with Content Type Availability – click the link and this will bring up another checklist. Right down towards the bottom of the list youll find an option called Podcast that again needs ticking and submitting (pictured below). Again, once youve submitted, you should get a receipt to say this has been done. Click OK. Now the tool has been activated, you have the option to set up a Podcast Homepage within your course. This will bring you to a page where you can see all the options that are currently displayed in the menu of your Blackboard course. Click the "Tool Link" button near the top of the page. Then, on the drop-down list that is presented next, select the Podcast option – as pictured below. Give the menu item a name that will make sense to your students. Something like Podcast Homepage or Podcast List should do the trick. Then make sure the Availability box is ticked and click the "Submit" button. You should then have a success message. If you click the title of the course at the top of the page you will be taken back to the entry point. Page 2 of 3 Deploying a Podcast Homepage Again go to the Control Panel of your course.... and then select "Manage Course Menu" on the "Course Options" box near the bottom of the page.

Unit name You should now see the Podcast Homepage listed under the name you have given it in the menu on the left! Adding Podcast Episodes When using Podcast LX, individual files you upload are called Episodes. As explained at the beginning of this guide, you can add an episode to any area of your course. Links to all the episodes are then also displayed on the Podcast Homepage for ease of access. To add a Podcast Episode to a folder within your course: go to the page on which you would like the feature to appear. Then click "Edit View" in the top right corner of the page... Once in Edit View, go to the drop-down list on the right of the page. In this list, you will find a number of tools. Select Podcast Episode then click the Go button to the right of the list. Note: If you cannot see the Podcast Episode option in the list, please make sure you have activated them in the "Content Type Availability" area of your Control Panel. You will be asked to give the podcast episode a name and description. Once you have done this, you need to attach the file that you want to podcast to your students. You are given three options – the simplest of which is the Attach Local File option. All this requires is for you to click the first Browse button, locate the media file you want to upload and then select it. Presuming you dont want to do anything more complicated, all you need to do then is click the Submit button and the Podcast file will display both in the appropriate folder and on the Podcast Homepage, ready for students to access! Page 3 of 3 Note: The second option will only be applicable to those who use the Content Collection and is therefore covered in a separate guide. The third option is available to those for whom the media files are already online somewhere. This means you can just type in the URL for the relevant file – a button is supplied here for those who wish to check if the URL works with Podcast LX. Recommended Formats Audio – mp3 files Video – m4v files Others – Were still piloting so if you have specific file types you want to try out, give it a go and let us know if it works! Queries / Problems? If you get stuck, or something in this introductory guide isnt clear, please feel free to send an , again, to requesting further assistance. For further information, please contact CDoTL University of Reading Whiteknights P.O. Box 220 Reading RG6 6AA ! Tel: ! Fax: This guide was produced by Guy Pursey, CDoTL Copyright © 2007: University of Reading Last Revised: April 2007