Teachers' toolkit for creating and re-purposing OER using FOSS/File formats

Different programs store the same kind of OER in different formats, the format is indicated by the extension to the file name, which is usually 3 characters. For e.g. a text file may be stored in a .docx or a .odt or a .txt format, a music file may be in a .wav or a .mp3 or a .ogg format. Some formats are ‘open’ while others are ‘closed’. An open format is a file format for storing digital data, defined by a published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone (https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_format), whereas a non-open or closed format may not be possible to be implemented by anyone other than the vendor. Open formats should be preferred for OER, since they share the underlying rationale of being used/usable by anyone. Another pragmatic reason, you may have a need to convert a file from one format to another. A video that plays on your computer may not play on your DVD player, or a music clip that plays on your computer may not play on your mobile phone. In this chapter, you will learn how to publish your OER in open formats, and convert the OER into an open format. Open and closed formats Open and closed formats for the different OER you have learnt is provided in table below No Category open format closed format 1 Text OER odt doc 2 Text OER – Presentations Odp ppt 3 Image OER png

4 Audio OER ogg wav 5 Video OER Ogg, ogv mpeg4 Text files (LibreOffice) The formats that LibreOffice saves files conform to the ‘Open Document Format’ for text (.odt or open document text), spreadsheet (.ods or open document spreadsheet), and presentation (.odp or open document presentation). You can convert a document which is in another format into these formats by simply opening the document in LibreOffice and then using File → Save As in these open formats. LibreOffice Media files (Selene Media converter) You can convert media files using the Selene Media converter Open Selene Media converter on your computer, through Applications → Sound and Video → Selene Media converter Image - COL - Opening Selene Media converter You can click on the ‘settings’ icon to specify the folder in which the converted file should be saved. We will need to ‘import’ the audio or video file we have into Selene Media converter. You can specify the output format. We will click on the ‘Add’ icon to open a music file in .mp3 format. We will convert it into the .ogg open format. Image - COL - Selecting the input audio file and output format - Selene We will select the file and click on the ‘Start’ icon to begin the conversion On right clicking the file, you will get an option to open the output folder. Image - COL - Opening the output file using Selene