Blackboard Mashups

One of the "best practices" we try to promote in terms of Blackboard use is to keep course sizes small.  Two main ways to do so are reducing file sizes prior to uploading them (by saving Word, PowerPoint, and other file formats as PDFs) and embedding audio/video content, rather than uploading it to Blackboard.  Throughout this month's blog series we'll focus on ways to embed media content (photos, audio, video) from the web to reduce course size.  You can learn more about this best practice in general via Blackboard Help's Reduce Your Course Size page.

Our focus this week is on using the Blackboard Mashup tool, which allows you to embed media content from certain websites within a Blackboard course.  The Mashup tool is available from both the Build Content drop-down menu and within the third (bottom) toolbar of the Content Editor box.  Using the Mashup tool within the Content Editor allows you to embed media content in a variety of areas, such as discussion forums, assignments, and tests/quizzes.  Learn more within Blackboard TV's video "How to Create a Mashup":

There are numerous advantages to using Blackboard's Mashup tool:

• link to media content from YouTube, SlideShare, Flickr, or Atomic Learning resources
• reduce Blackboard course size by embedding, rather than uploading, media
• embed the actual content from its original source, rather than downloading and then uploading it
• use online resources within copyright law since the source is automatically cited with the item

For additional information, along with step-by-step instructions, about Blackboard's Mashup Tool, visit Blackboard's Create Content page section about Mashups.  

Visit us again next week when we explore options for embedding content that is not available via the Blackboard Mashup tool.