If you create your own content for internet distribution, remember that copyright law applies.  Apple provides an excellent copyright overview, available iTunes_U_Copyright_Overview.pdf.

We strongly recommend offering written transcripts all all spoken material in audio and video, in compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990.

Some examples of how to produce your own podcast content

• Audio - Record your voice using your computer or a handheld digital recorder.
• Enhanced - Record your voice using GarageBand, then add images to timeline.
• Video - Create a short movie using a digital camcorder and iMovie or Final Cut.
• PDF’s - Generate transcripts of videos or other documents using Word.

If you have existing media - VHS tapes, DVD, audio cassette tapes, etc. - the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning can assist with digitizing to be used in iTunes U.

Don’t forget to search iTunes for podcasts already available in your subject.  There are over 100,000 educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world.  You can link directly to that podcast, or download the files and upload them into your iTunes U course.  For more information on how to search iTunes U, go here.

If you create original content or already have existing digital media content, import into iTunes, which can do the conversion for you.

For video, select the file in iTunes, go to Advanced > Create iPod/iPhone Version.

For audio, select the file in iTunes, go to Advanced > Create AAC Version.

If you use QuickTime to create and edit video content, Apple recommends that you export your videos by choosing “Movie to iPod” from the Export pop-up menu in QuickTime Pro.

If you want to configure your settings manually, Apple recommends using the following formats for your iTunes U audio and video content: 

Audio files (AAC, MP3) with appropriate file extensions (.m4a, .mp3). For best resultduring playback, Apple recommends converting MP3 files larger than 32MB to AAC format.  For AAC audio files, use the following specifications: 

• Audio format: AAC-LC (Music) 
• Data rate: 128 Kbps 
• Channels: Stereo 
• Output sample rate: 44.100 kHz 
• Encoding quality: Better 
  

Video files (MPEG-4 with H.264 compression) with appropriate file extensions (.mp4, .m4v, .mov). For best results with iPod, use MPEG-4 with H.264 compression with the following specifications: 

• Video format: MPEG-4 with H.264 
• Data rate: 256 Kbps 
• Image size: 320 by 240 
• Frame rate: 30 
• Key frame: Every 24 frames