Some of the Literacy units have media files associated with them in video or audio formats that can be view or listened to on a PC. Many of the Literacy resources have been packaged in .zip files (see section on Compressed Files) to enable a single download. Once the .zip file is uncompressed the resources contained within can be used.

Video

.avi

A video format that can use different levels of compression to save on the file size. avi files can be quite large - some provided for The Piano are about 50MB in size. The advantage of this format is higher quality video playback. These files can be played with Windows Media Player (supplied with Windows) or the free RealPlayer downloadable from Real.

.wmv

A video format that can use different levels of compression to save on the file size. The larger the file the better the quality. .wmv files can be played with Windows Media Player (supplied with Windows) or the free RealPlayer downloadable from Real.

.mpg, .mpeg and .mp4 files

These are all versions of .mpeg video files and can be played using Windows Media Player (supplied with Windows) or the free RealPlayer downloadable from Real and the free QuickTime player from QuickTime.

.mov or .qt

Video files in Apple's QuickTime format and can be played using the free QuickTime player from QuickTime.

Audio

.wav

An audio format that can be played using Windows Media Player (supplied with Windows) or the free RealPlayer downloadable from Real and the free QuickTime player from QuickTime.

.aiff or .aif

An audio format that can be played using Windows Media Player (supplied with Windows) or the free RealPlayer downloadable from Real and the free QuickTime player from QuickTime.

Images

.gif, .jpg or .jpeg

Standard web site image formats that can be viewed in a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox or in any standard graphics software.