University of Houston-Downtown TTLC Tech Tips : Multimedia Content

Showing posts with label Multimedia Content. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Powerpoint and Youtube Compatibility Issue

At the time of this writing there seems to be an issue with embedding Youtube videos into Powerpoint. It is recommended that you link to the video rather than copy and paste the embed code from Youtube.com. Embedding the video into Powerpoint will not play it.

UPDATE: Follow the instructions on this video as a work around for the current issue with youtube and powerpoint.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Upload an Image to Blackboard: Flickr Photo Mashup

Go to content, hover over build content, click on Flickr Photo.

There are two ways to get content from Flickr:

Go to flickr.com and log in or create an account; search the site for the image you want to upload, once you find it, on the top of the image there will be sharing icons. Highlight the url link and copy and paste to the Blackboard Search bar.

In the Search bar look for the type of image you are looking for.

Once you find the image you want to upload, click on Select.

Select from the various options given:

Mashup options
Attach or link content
Options
Submit

Once you are done click Submit.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Embed a Twitter App into Blackboard

Twitter is a social network with a limit of 140 characters. Do not be fooled by the character limitation. It is still a powerful platform for networking with leaders in a variety of fields and searching for information. Twitter also has these things called widgets that can be embedded in websites using the html script provided. This guide will walk you on how to obtain such a widget for your class, and also how to embed it into the course. But first, what are some ways of implementing a twitter feed in your blackboard? I know one professor that would tweet the answers to the study guide as the final approached, meaning the student could cross-check and make sure they had the right answer. Twitter lets you create lists of things you like to know about; create an account and follow the accounts of various leaders in the field of study and link the list into Blackboard. Twitter’s famous # (hash-tags) are the way in which subjects are separated into “trending topics”; for example, search for #CogSci, #Economics, #Literature, #Math, etc. and provide students with news and information from individuals within that field of study. Ready? Let’s begin:

1. Inside the course click on the Content folder you wish to insert the Twitter App into.

2. Click on Build an Item. In the new window that pops up click the toggle HTML source mode (<>) in the text editor.

Now go to twitter.com and log in or, if you prefer, create a new account.

1. Once you are logged in, go to Settings and click on Widgets: Create New.

2. In the "configure a search widget" you have 4 tabs: User timeline, Favorites, Lists, Search. For this example, the search tab was chosen. On the options fields fill out: search query; add (if any) customized height options; select the theme (light or dark); the link color; fill out the domain as: bb.uhd.edu; when you are done click on the Create Widget.

3. When you click on Create Widget, it will create an html script that you can embed into Blackboard. Copy and paste the script into the Blackboard text editor with HTML Source turned on.

4. Click Submit.

The last image shows what your twitter app will look like.

Monday, October 29, 2012

How to Upload a YouTube Video into Blackboard in 6 Steps

YouTube is no longer just for cat and skateboard videos. And now Blackboard gives the option to add multimedia content -in this case video- into a course, thus allowing greater variety of information for the student’s benefit.

1. Starting from the Course’s Home page, select a content area in which you want to include the YouTube videos. For this example, the video will be placed under the content area called Content.

2. Once inside the Content Module, hover over the Build Content tab; under Mashups, select YouTube Video.

3. In the new page, type in the name of the YouTube video copy and paste the title into the Search Bar. Click on Go and all the videos within that parameter will show up. Click the Select button in the correct video.

4. After pressing Select, a new window will appear that includes various options for your video. First, the Name – this allows the video to be retitled to something else. The description box allows for additional information.

5. Decide whether to show the YouTube url address or YouTube information. Additional content can be attached to the YouTube video, for example: an assignment, a questionnaire, notes, etc. The last three options include setting the release date of the video, track the number of views, and set a limit to the duration it is made available. Click Submit when you have finished selecting your options.