Posting Podcasts Directly in Blackboard

Recently, several of you who have taken my GarageBand podcasting course have asked me how to directly post a .m4a podcast file into Blackboard so that it will play without the use of a Macintosh podcasting server as the conduit. This option is a possibility with Blackboard but first you must convert the file into an .mp3 file. You will also need to convert the file if you have students who wish to sync the podcast to MP3 players other than the Apple iPod (e.g., Zunes or Rio Players, which don’t accept the standard Apple AAC files). Blackboard will accept both .mp3 and .wav files but not .m4a or AAC files, which is the Apple GarageBand default. Since .wav files are much larger in size than .mp3 files, we’ll focus on converting our podcast to .mp3 format for optimal ease of download.

The good news is that you can convert the .m4a file with software that you already possess on your computer - iTunes. Here’ how:

1. First, within GarageBand you must save the podcast .band file to the Desktop as a .m4a file by selecting Share > Export Podcast to Disk…

Once you have the .m4a file saved to your Desktop, open iTunes and drag the file into your iTunes Library. After a few moments, iTunes will copy the file to the iTunes Library. Sometimes it might be difficult to find the copied file but keep looking - it’s in there! Usually, it is copied to the Music section of the Library rather than the Podcast section that you would naturally expect. (If all else fails, you can always do a search by the file’s name in the iTunes Search window to locate it.) Once you locate the file, you will then use the Advanced menu to convert it into an MP3 file.

2. If you go to the Advanced menu right now, you might see that the choice Convert Selection To… already says Convert Selection To MP3. If that is indeed the case, then you won’t need to change the Preferences in the next step. However, if it says something else such as Convert Selection To AAC or Convert Selection To AIFF, you’ll need to change your preferences as described below in Steps #3-8.

3. From the iTunes menu, select Preferences…

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4. Click on the Advanced tab. 5. Click on the Importing tab. 6. From the Import Using: pull-down menu, select MP3 Encoder. 7. From the Setting: pull-down menu below it, select the type of quality you want your file to have. Remember, the better the quality of the MP3, the bigger the file will be and thus, it will be a slower download for your students in Blackboard. 8. Click the OK button to close the Advanced Importing preference. 9. Now, select the file you wish to convert to MP3 from the iTunes Library so that it is highlighted. 10. Go to the Advanced menu at the top of the iTunes screen and select Convert Selection to MP3

11. You will see iTunes processing the file in the upper iTunes window. When iTunes is done converting the file, search for the MP3 version of your file in your iTunes Library.

12. To make sure you have located the MP3 version (not the AAC version), you can turn on the View options. To do this, go to View > View Options… and from the list, make sure that Kind is selected.

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13. Now when you look at the columns in iTunes, you should see Kind as a column where it lists the type of file for the podcast (e.g., MPEG, AAC, AIFF, WAV, etc.)

14. Drag the MPEG (.mp3) audio file out of iTunes onto your Desktop. This is the file you will post in Blackboard.

15. Login to Blackboard and click on the Control Panel. (Note: You must have Instructor or TA privileges in the Blackboard course to see the Control Panel.)

16. Click on the link to the area where you wish to place the podcast (e.g., Course Documents, Assignments, etc.) or specifically create an area in your Blackboard course and call it Podcasts as we have done here.

17. Click on +Item to add an item.

18. Type in a Name for the podcast and provide a Text description if you wish.

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19. In the Content area of this page, click on Choose File to retrieve the file from your Desktop. Make sure you upload the .mp3 version of your podcast NOT the .m4a version.

20. Type in either the name of the file or an instruction such as “Click here to listen” in the Name of Link to File textbox.

21. VERY IMPORTANT: Leave the Special Action pull-down menu on the default of Create a link to this file. Logically, you would think that you should select Display Media File in Page here but that will not allow the file to actually play in Blackboard. In some browsers, it may still download the MP3 file to the students’ Desktop. If this should happen, the student should attempt to play the file with another type of player (e.g., drag it into iTunes, play it with QuickTime player, play it with Real Player). Unfortunately, Windows Media Player is currently not able to play MP3 files.

22. In the Options section of this page, select the options you desire and then click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

23. You should receive a Receipt of Success from Blackboard if everything was uploaded properly. Click OK. Now go into the student navigation area of your Blackboard course and check to make sure the file actually works.

24. When you click on the link to the podcast file, you should see a play controller similar to the one shown in the illustration below. Make sure you have headphones or your speakers on so you can actually hear the podcast!

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