The term "podcast" is short for "iPod broadcast." Podcasts are audio or video files that are posted to the Internet. A recommended use of a podcast in an academic setting is to record an instructor's lecture or that of a guest speaker and post the audio or video in a SPU Blackboard course site or on SPU iTunes U. Instructors could also ask students to create podcasts as a course project.
One benefit of podcasts is that content can be replayed an unlimited number of times outside class. Also, students can choose to subscribe to a podcast feed so that those files are automatically downloaded to their computer when they become available.
To learn about how to record content in an audio or video format, please contact us. To learn about how to post course content to SPU iTunes U, please contact iTunes@spu.edu.
Need a computer application to record your podcast?
Audacity is an open source program that you can use to record podcasts - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
You will need to download the MP3 plug-in for it separately - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3
To post a podcast to your SPU Blackboard course site:
- Log into your course site.
- Click the Control Panel.
- Click on the Content Area where you’d like the podcast to appear (i.e. Course Document).
- On the right-hand side of the page, click the dropdown menu and select Podcast Episode. Click the Go button to the immediate right of the dropdown menu.
- Type a title for the podcast.
- Type a description for the podcast, if desired.
- Under the Podcast Media section, you can choose to upload a file on your computer or link to a podcast already posted on the Internet or on iTunes.
To upload a file from your computer, click the Browse button and locate the file saved on your computer.
To link to a podcast already posted to the Internet, copy and paste the address to the podcast in the Link to an external URL text box.
To link to an iTunes podcast:
1. In iTunes, right-click on the tab that contains the podcasts.
2. Choose Copy iTunes Store URL.
3. Paste the link into the address bar of a web browser.
4. In the URL, change the text "Browse" to "Feed".
5. Press Enter on your keyboard. You will be taken to a web page that lists all the podcasts under the tab you've selected.
6. Right-click on the link to the MP3 file.
7. Choose Copy Shortcut.
8. Return to your course site, and paste it into the Link to an external URL text box.
- Under the Supplemental Attachments section, you can choose to post a document to accompany the link to the podcast, if desired.
- Under the Options section, click Yes to Make the episode available. You can also choose to set date restrictions for when the podcast is available.
- When finished, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Submit.