The content added to iTunes U can include information fields, also known as metadata, such as Name or Artist. Information fields help instructors and students locate and organize their iTunes U content after they download it to their computers, iPod music players, iPhone, and Apple TV. For more information on these fields, see “Creating Content.”
As the site administrator, you control the information field preferences for all content distributed through your institution’s iTunes U site. You can overwrite a track’s Album, Artwork, Genre, Comment, and Artist fields. By controlling the information field preferences, you can ensure that the fields are used consistently for all the content. For example, you can specify that the Album field always contains the course title and that the Genre field always contains the institution name. Before you upload content to your iTunes U site, use iTunes to add or edit track information to provide helpful details and extra information for students and others (Control-click the track, choose Get Info from the shortcut menu, click the Info tab, and then add or edit the track information fields).
Note to instructors and course managers: Any data your site administrator defines for track preferences overwrites information you previously defined for the fields. Your site administrator can overwrite a track’s Album, Artwork, Genre, Comment, and Artist fields. To see if your site administrator has specified data for these fields, upload a file to iTunes U and then download that same file. In iTunes, locate the file and see if the information in the fields has changed.
You can also specify a site preference to turn podcasting on and off for Course pages and, for iTunes 8 or earlier, you can specify the location where tracks are downloaded (for example, you can specify that all content from your institution’s iTunes U site appears in a playlist in the source list of iTunes named for your institution). For iTunes 9 or later, tracks you download from iTunes U appear in iTunes U in your iTunes library. Tracks downloaded before iTunes 9 remain in their current locations.
If you use helpful and specific information, instructors and students can find the content more quickly and easily. iTunes U can display the following fields for each track:
Field | Suggested use |
|---|---|
Name | Track title, for example, Easter Island and Darwin or Digital Storytelling. |
Time | Track length. |
Artist | Author, instructor, lecturer, or source of the content. |
Release Date | For uploaded tracks, the date the track was first uploaded to iTunes U. For tracks within a feed, the track’s “pubDate”. If the track does not have a “pubDate”, Release Date is the date the track was first added to iTunes U. |
Album | Course title, Department, or Group who created the content. |
Price | The track price (Free). |
Comment | Additional information, such as assignment details or upload information. |
Genre | Broad category, for example, by subject, organization (such as institution name), or by type (such as podcast). |
Disc # | Order in which a disc appears in a multi-disc CD set. |
Track # | Order in which a track appears on a CD. |
Year | The year a track was recorded. |
Description | A description of the track content. |
The information for each track appears in columns within the Course page. You can change which columns iTunes U displays on your computer. Choose View > View Options and select the columns you want to appear. Information in track fields other than those listed above is saved when you add and download a file, but iTunes U does not display the information in the Course page track list area.
Note: For non-encrypted PDF files, iTunes U maps PDF fields to iTunes U information fields. For example, iTunes U maps the PDF Author field to the iTunes U track Artist field and the PDF Subject field to the track Album field.
To define track preferences:
Log in to iTunes U as an administrator.
Click Edit Track Preferences in the Tools area.
Specify the rule you want to apply to all track Album information:
Click “Use original” to continue using a track’s original Album information.
Click “Override with” to override a track’s original Album information. You can select to override the information with the Course page and group name, only the Course page name, or type a name for the Album information (for example, the course semester and year).
Click “If empty, use” to specify Album information for a track when none exists. You can select the Course page and group name, only the Course page name, or type a name for the Album information (for example, the course semester and year).
iTunes U applies the preference you specify to all tracks downloaded from your site. If you type a new name for the Album information, make sure you use a name that makes sense for all tracks throughout your entire iTunes U site.
Specify the rule you want to apply to all track Artwork information:
Click “Use original” to continue using a track’s original Artwork information.
Click “Override with the Course page image” to override a track’s original Artwork with the course image artwork.
Click “If empty, use the Course page image” to specify that you want iTunes U to use the course image artwork for a track when none exists.
Track artwork is never empty for video files. By default, track artwork for a video uses the video’s poster frame. To use specific artwork for individual tracks within a video, use QuickTime Pro to set the video’s poster frame. A poster frame is a still image from a video that represents the video. The default poster frame is the first frame in the video. The poster frame becomes the image used as track artwork within iTunes U. iTunes U displays the track artwork in places such as track links and the Get Info Summary pane upon download.
Some MP3 audio files, specifically ID3 version 1.x tagged files, have known issues displaying track Artwork information. To use specific artwork with these audio files, Apple recommends either converting the files to MP3 files tagged as ID3 version 2.4 or converting the files to the AAC file type format (.m4a).
Specify the rule you want to apply to all track Genre information:
Click “Use original” to continue using a track’s original Genre information.
Click “Override with” to override a track’s original Genre information. You can select to override the information with your institution’s site name, or type a name for the Genre information (for example, the school or college name).
iTunes U applies the preference you specify to all tracks downloaded from your site. If you type a new name for the Genre information, make sure you use a name that makes sense for all tracks throughout your entire iTunes U site.
For a podcast, any Genre information you specify is changed to “Podcast” upon download.
Specify the rule you want to apply to all track Comment information:
Click “Use original” to continue using a track’s original Comment information.
Click “Override with upload information” to override a track’s original Comment information with identity, date, and time information for the user who uploaded the track.
If you override Comment data with upload information, instructors and course managers cannot use the Comments field to communicate with their students. Any comments the instructor, course manager, or student might write about content they have uploaded are overwritten with information about when the track was uploaded to iTunes U.
When you send user identity information to iTunes U, if you do not include the displayName or emailAddress, selecting “Override with upload information” provides little information as iTunes U can only display date and time information for the user who uploaded the track.
Specify the rule you want to apply to all track Artist information:
Click “Use original” to continue using a track’s original Artist information.
Click “Override with” to override a track’s original Artist information. You can select to override the information with your institution’s site name or type a name for the Artist information (for example, the instructor’s name).
Click “If empty, use” to specify Artist information for a track when none exists. You can select your institution’s site name or type a name for the Artist information (for example, the instructor’s name).
iTunes U applies the preference you specify to all tracks downloaded from your site. If you type a new name for the Artist information, make sure you use a name that makes sense for all tracks throughout your entire iTunes U site.
Specify the playlist where you want iTunes U to download tracks for iTunes 8 or earlier:
Click “A single playlist for the entire site named” to specify that you want iTunes U to create one playlist for your entire site. You can select to use your institution’s site name, or type a name for the playlist.
Click ”Individual playlists per course” to specify that you want iTunes U to create a playlist for each Course page, using the Course page name for the playlist. iTunes U saves the playlists in a folder, using your institution’s site name as the folder name.
Click ”Individual playlists per group” to specify that you want iTunes U to create a playlist for each Course page group, using the Course page and group name for the playlist. iTunes U saves the playlists in a folder, using your institution’s site name as the folder name.
For iTunes 9 or later, tracks you download from iTunes U appear in iTunes U in your iTunes library. Tracks downloaded before iTunes 9 remain in their current locations. To move previously downloaded content into the iTunes U section, select individual or multiple audio, video, or subscribed podcast tracks, choose File > Get Info, click the Options pane, and then choose iTunes U from the Media Kind pop-up menu.
Specify whether you want to enable or disable podcasting in all Course pages. If available, users see a Subscribe button in all the Course pages in your site. Clicking Subscribe allows users to subscribe to the selected podcast and use the podcasting features in iTunes.
Podcasting provides a convenient, subscription-based model for distributing course content. Podcasting makes course content mobile and supports anywhere, anytime learning. Users can subscribe to the course or group and have the content automatically downloaded as soon as it is made available. Podcasting is most useful in courses where content is frequently added.
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, if needed. 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.
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.
Click Save to save all your track preferences.
Click Logout.
When a user downloads an item from iTunes U (for example, a track or podcast), depending on your iTunes version, how you set up your site and define your track preferences, and which button the user clicks, iTunes copies the item to iTunes U in the iTunes library, the iTunes library, Podcasts library, or source list, such as the institution playlist. For more details, see the following table:
When you click this button | iTunes U takes this action |
|---|---|
Get (or Get Track or Get Song or Get Movie) | For iTunes 8 or earlier, downloads the selected item into your iTunes library, as well as into your institution’s playlist, if specified. For iTunes 9 or later, downloads the selected item into iTunes U in your iTunes library. |
Get Track(s) | For iTunes 8 or earlier, downloads all items in the selected Course page group into your iTunes library, as well as into your institution’s playlist, if specified. For iTunes 9 or later, downloads all items in the selected Course page group into iTunes U in your iTunes library. |
Subscribe | For iTunes 8 or earlier, subscribes to the podcast and downloads the most recent episode into your iTunes Podcasts library. For iTunes 9 or later, subscribes to the podcast and downloads the most recent episode into iTunes U in your iTunes library. As new episodes become available, if you are connected to the Internet, the iTunes application automatically downloads the new episodes. Recently added episodes that have not been downloaded to iTunes appear dimmed. For more information on podcasts, see the iTunes online help. |
When a user double-clicks an item to preview content, iTunes U previews the entire track, not just 30 seconds. If users have trouble previewing an item, you can check the following:
Available bandwidth. A video might not preview due to low bandwidth, as it takes several minutes to download enough content to begin playing a few frames of the video.
Video encoding. A video might not preview if the video was encoded in a way that requires more data to be downloaded before it can begin playing certain frames.
Video format. A video might not preview if the video is not flattened. Flatten all movies in iTunes U using the Self Contained option in QuickTime Pro.
Note: To download or preview an item from an iTunes U page or group, users must have download access to the specific page or group.
© 2009 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2009-11-04)