Mediacast

Retrieving Mediacast contributions

Mediacast Introduction

Mediacasts (also known as "podcasts") are collections of media contributions. They can be audiocasts (audio-only pieces), slidecasts (presentations with animations or additional audio), or videocasts (video files). But graphics can also be provided as a mediacast.
Mediacasts can also be played from mobile devices and are, therefore, popular with users. Typically, a series of posts is created learners can automatically obtain that via an RSS web feed.

You create the Mediacast files outside of ILIAS on your computer. Materials from the Internet can also be used, provided that you have the appropriate rights. With the Mediacast object, you then integrate these files into ILIAS so that users can play them or download the contributions to their computers. You can also set your Mediacast to allow users to subscribe to new posts via RSS.

• Mediacasts engage learners in courses intended for extended periods without face-to-face instruction. For example, course instructors can publish weekly commentaries via audiocast to keep learning activities present in their daily lives.
• Mediacasts can contribute to face-to-face courses, for example, by providing historical visual and audio documents or depicting critical situations and events.
• However, it is also conceivable that learners publish mediacasts they have produced with their smartphones as part of practical assignments.
• It is also conceivable to make recordings of a classroom event available in this way.

You can edit the Mediacast object or adapt existing Mediacast contributions.

Download Mediacast contribution

You want to download a Mediacast contribution to your computer.

Prerequisite: For you to download the contribution, the owner of Mediacast must enable the download in the settings. If necessary, please get in touch with your ILIAS administrator or a tutor.

1. Open the mediacast and click on the Content tab.
2. Navigate to the desired contribution.
3. Click on the Download link in the Properties column.
4. ILIAS opens the download dialog of your browser.    
   Note: This dialog varies depending on your browser and operating system.

Subscribe to Mediacast

You want to subscribe to a Mediacast via RSS to be informed about new contributions in a feed reader.

Prerequisite: To subscribe to the Mediacast, the owner must enable the RSS web feed option in the settings. If necessary, contact your ILIAS administrator or the owner of the mediacast. You can find out who the owner of the mediacast is by clicking on the Info tab.

1. Click on the Content tab.
2. Click on the orange RSS button in the upper right corner.
   If this button is not visible, the owner of the mediacast has not granted this possibility.
3. ILIAS opens a page where you can decide with which feed reader you want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Here the offers are different from browser to browser. You can also add your feed reader installed on your PC.

Upload and edit Mediacast contributions.

Upload and provide a new Mediacast contribution.

You want to upload a new Mediacast contribution and make it available to other users.

1. In the Content tab, click the Manage link.
2. Click the Add button.
3. ILIAS opens a new page.
4. In the Add New Mediacast Contribution section, enter a title and description.
5. Select an access method:
   Select the Logged in users checkbox to make the RSS feed accessible only to users of your ILIAS installation.
   Activate the Public checkbox to share your mediacast with users external to ILIAS. In the Default Media File section, upload your contribution or link to a resource on the web:
   To upload a file, click the Choose File button in the File section. ILIAS will then open the upload dialog of your browser.
   To link to a file, enter its full address in the URL section.
   
   If you don't know any better, leave the MIME type set at "automatic".
   If you add a thumbnail, it will be displayed in the Mediacast post view. For videos as well as for audio contributions. This increases the clarity. All graphics in PNG and JPG formats are suitable.
6. Click on the Save button.
7. ILIAS creates a new contribution and makes it available for other users.

Edit an existing Mediacast contribution.

You want to edit an existing Mediacast contribution.

1. In the Content tab, under Manage, click the Edit link located under the relevant post.
2. Follow the other instructions in this chapter:

• Upload and deploy a new Mediacast post: Follow these instructions to replace the existing media file.
• Deploy particular files for portable devices and Internet browsers: Follow this instruction to add specially formatted files after the fact.
• Additional editing options: Follow this instruction to set the post duration, MIME type or upload a thumbnail for a video post.

Delivering particular files for portable devices and web browsers

You can upload Mediacast posts in special formats suitable for playback on portable devices (such as smartphones or tablets) and directly in the Internet browser.

You want to provide particular files for portable devices and Internet browsers.

Note: You can do this directly when you upload the default file or afterward by clicking the Edit link located under each post in the Content tab under Manage.

1. Navigate to the desired section:
   Alternative video format for use in the browser
   Additional video file for portable devices (Allowed file types: .mp4, .m4v, .mov)
   Additional audio file for portable devices (Allowed file types: .mp3)
2. Upload your contribution there in the desired format or link to a resource on the web:
   To upload a file, click the Choose File button in the File section. ILIAS will then open the upload dialog of your browser.
   To link to a file, enter its full address in the URL section.
3. Click on the Save button.
4. ILIAS will make your contribution available in the desired format.

Further editing options

While uploading a new Mediacast contribution or via the edit link, you can provide additional data: The length of the post, the MIME type, and a preview image for video files.

You want to use one of these features.

Note: You can do this directly when uploading the default file or afterward by clicking the Edit link located under the respective post in the Content tab under Manage.

1. In the Edit Mediacast Post section, specify the duration of your post in the Duration section. If you do not enter a value, ILIAS determines the duration automatically.
2. In the Default Media File area, in the MIME Type section, select the MIME type of your post.    
   Tip. Use this function only if you know exactly which protocol you need. If this is not the case, leave the Automatic entry selected, and ILIAS will automatically choose the correct MIME type.    
   Note: MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) allows the declaration of content in different internet protocols. This makes it possible to exchange information between sender and receiver about the type of data transmitted and, at the same time to specify a character encoding that is safe for the transmission path used. This may facilitate the direct rendering of the content in the browser. However, this requires the end user to have the necessary plug-ins installed. In the same area, click the Select File button in the Preview Image section to provide a preview image for your video post.    
   Note: thumbnails can be provided only for videos in .mp4 format.
3. Click the Save button.
4. ILIAS will accept your specifications.

Editing the settings of the mediacast.

Editing mediacast settings

You want to edit an existing mediacast.
Follow the instructions in this chapter:

1. Rename Mediacast: Follow this instruction to rename the title and description of a mediacast.
2. Set Display and Access: Follow this instruction to set the display and access of the mediacast.
3. Offer mediacast as webfeed: Follow this instruction to offer your mediacast as a web feed.

Rename Mediacast

You want to give your Mediacast a different title.

1. Open the Settings tab in the Mediacast.
2. In the Title input field, change the name of the mediacast.
3. Click on the Save button.
4. ILIAS changes the name of the mediacast.

Note: You can also use the Description input field to add an explanatory subtitle, which will be displayed in a smaller font under the title.

Set display and access.

You want to make or change the settings for the mediacast for the first time.

1. Open the Settings tab.
2. ILIAS will present you with the following settings:
   Under Title, you can rename the mediacast. Optionally, you can enter a description, which will be displayed to users below the title.
   Activate the checkbox Online to make your mediacast object visible and usable for other users.
   In the Appearance section, you can upload an image under Tile Image via Select File. The tile image is displayed when the tile view is selected.
   Under Sorting you determine the criterion by which your Mediacast contributions are sorted.
   Under View, choose whether you want your Mediacast contributions to be displayed as tiles or as a list. If you select the Manual option, an additional Sorting link is displayed in the Mediacast Content tab below the tabs, where you can specify the order of the posts manually.
   Only if you activate the Download link checkbox can users download your Mediacast contributions and, if necessary, play them offline on players of their choice outside ILIAS. If you do not activate this checkbox, users can only play the Mediacast contributions within ILIAS.
   For the RSS web feed settings, please read the separate instructions.
3. Select the desired options.
4. Click the Save button.
5. ILIAS will configure the mediacast as you have selected.

Offer Mediacasts as Webfeed

You want to offer your mediacast as a web feed. RSS is an electronic news format that allows users to subscribe to content as so-called RSS feeds.
Newly published content is automatically sent to subscribers' computers or cell phones at regular intervals using RSS.
Special feed readers receive RSS feeds. An RSS feed can also be integrated as a "dynamic bookmark" in the browser.

1. Open the Settings tab in the RSS Web Feed section. You have the following options:
   Under Preferences Access, decide who you want to allow to subscribe to the feed:
   Authenticated users: the webfeed can only be subscribed to by users with ILIAS access.
   Public: The webfeed can be subscribed to by all internet users.
   Activate the checkbox Custom webfeed to display a custom RSS icon with a separate webfeed URL.
   
   This URL allows users to subscribe to new posts from your mediacast.
   Under Keep older posts, enter how many posts should remain available in the feed, even though they are so old that ILIAS would automatically delete them. Without this setting, the posts of the mediacast will disappear after a certain number of days from the webfeed (but not from the mediacast itself). Typically they remain for 60 days, and this setting is set on the server for the entire installation. To prevent the webfeed from ever becoming "empty", you can specify that at least a certain number of entries should always remain in the webfeed, regardless of how old they are. In this case, the most recent entries are used.
   Under File Attachment, you can add Mediacast entries as attachments to the webfeed. This allows subscribers to retrieve new entries directly in their feed reader without visiting ILIAS.
2. Activate the checkboxes according to your requirements.
3. Click the Save button.
4. ILIAS will configure the mediacast as you have selected.

Public news can be received via the newsfeed URL even without logging in.
If enabled, the audio or video posts will be added as attachments to the web feed; otherwise, users will only receive messages about new posts to the Mediacast.  Mediacast posts disappear from the web feed after a certain number of days. Typically, they remain for 60 days. To prevent the webfeed from ever becoming "empty", you can specify that at least a certain number of entries should always remain in the webfeed, regardless of how old they are. In this case, the most recent entries are used.