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Using Podcasts

Podcasting provides a convenient, subscription-based model for distributing course content. Podcasting makes your course content mobile and supports anywhere, anytime learning. Students can subscribe to the course and have the content automatically downloaded as soon as it is made available. Podcasting is most useful in courses where content is frequently added.

Your site administrator controls whether or not podcasting is a feature available within Course pages at your institution. Because distributing content via podcasting might be a security concern at your institution, it might not be available. If podcasting is available, users see a Subscribe button in the Course page. Clicking Subscribe allows users to subscribe to the selected podcast and use the podcasting features in iTunes.

The podcasting feature in iTunes U was created for ease of use and therefore does not require iTunes U to re-authorize users upon each podcast download. When a user first subscribes to a course or group, iTunes U verifies that the user has access permissions to the course or group. After the initial subscription, iTunes U does not re-authorize the user to verify that the user still has permissions to view or download course content. For example, if a student enrolls in a course, clicks Subscribe, and downloads course content, the student continues to receive the podcast content even after the student drops the course or leaves your institution.

Note: When a user subscribes to a podcast, iTunes U displays all information fields (for example, Course name, Group name, Track name, and Comment) in the Description column in the Podcasts library.

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