Mashups provide a very quick and easy way to add rich content into your module from external sources. You can get photos from Flickr, presentations from SlideShare and videos from both YouTube and Vimeo. Content from the Teesside’s Helix Media Server is also added via a mashup tool. A mashup item can be added as a standalone item or added to a normal content item alongside other content to give the page a more visual appearance. The mashup tool eliminates the need for you to copy and paste embed code or worry about whether the content can be legally used – most of the hard work is done for you – all you need to do is search for the content and choose how you want it to be displayed.

This guide explains how to use the SlideShare mashup tool.

Adding a SlideShare Presentation

SlideShare is an online service which allows people to upload and share their presentations. SlideShare works on many different platforms such as PCs and tablet devices.

1. Go the content area in your module in which you want to add the SlideShare presentation.
2. Select Build Content and then click SlideShare Presentation from the Mashups section.
3. Enter a search term in the Search box and choose a search Type – either Full Text, Tags Only or, if you know it, select Specific Presentation (URL) and enter the URL in the Search box. Click Go to perform the search. A list of results will be displayed.
4. You can sort results and also choose to view results based on the type of licence.
5. You can preview a presentation by clicking on the Preview button underneath the thumbnail. When you have found one that you want to use, click Select.
6. On the Create Mashup Item page, the Name will automatically be pre-populated with the title of the presentation (this can be changed if necessary). Optionally enter a Description for the presentation – this can be used to provide more context to students.
7. In the Mash-up Options section, choose how you would like the video to be displayed and whether or not you want to show the SlideShare URL and information (the number of slides, the username of creator and the date presentation was added). For display options, you can choose from the following:

• Thumbnail: Displays a small thumbnail which opens up a larger player to view the presentation when clicked.
• Text Link with Player: Displays a text link labelled “Watch Presentation” which opens the video in a larger player when clicked.
• Embed Video: Embeds the presentation directly into the page.

8. The Attachments section lets you attach files alongside the presentation. This is useful if you want to include an activity for students relating to the presentation.
9. The Standard Options section lets you specify usual content availability settings such as date and time restrictions.
10. Click Preview to see what your content will look like or simply click Submit to finish.
11. The presentation will be displayed in your module as you selected in step 7; an example of an embedded presentation is shown below.

Adding a SlideShare Presentation in the VTBE

As mentioned earlier in this guide, you can also add mashup content in the Visual Text Box Editor (VTBE). Whenever you see the VTBE, look for the “Mashups” button. Click on the button to reveal a list of available mash-ups and then click SlideShare Presentation.

A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to search for a presentation. Simply follow the process as described above. The presentation will automatically be placed inside the VTBE. You also have the option of entering additional content around the presentation.

Related Guides

The following guides look at other Mashups available on Blackboard.

• How to Embed ReView Recordings to a Blackboard Module
• Mashups – Vimeo
• Mashups – Flickr
• Mashups – YouTube