Media Types

LI: Identify different media types and explain the need for Standard File Formats

Using a variety of media

A good software developer should use a variety of media on their project.

Media Types can include: Text (for the user to read)

Sound (for the user to hear)

Graphics(for the user to see)

Audio (for the user to listen)

Think of some of the websites you browse most often. How many of the above do they use? Can you think of any websites that use all of these?

YouTube

Sound Video Graphics Text

BBC

Sound TextVideo Graphics

Even Wikipedia

Sound GraphicsText

Advantages

Adding a variety of media can help to keep your audience engaged.

Imagine a computer game with no sound, or a website without pictures.

Task – Research 5 other websites that have not been mentioned and note how they make use of each media type.

File Types (National 5) We can save our files using different file formats. We are going to examine the different ways in which we can store:

• Text

• Audio

• Graphics

• Video

• You can identify the file format by looking at the extension to the file.

• E.g. .doc .mp3 .jpeg .avi etc

Class Task

Complete the worksheet on file formats.

Standard File FormatsScenario – You send a file home from your school e-mail. The report was saved using Microsoft Word 2007. At home you have Microsoft Word 2003 installed. Are you able to open the file?

When you save a file using a standard file format you can be sure that the files will be accepted by a wide range of software. The result is that your data files are very portable and can be transferred easily from one package to another.

Standard File Formats exist for a variety of files including text, graphics, audio and video.

Class TaskComplete the worksheet on Standard File Formats.

Conclusion.doc is not a standard file format. It will only open if a computer has Microsoft Office installed.

.txt is a standard file format that will not save any formatting. It takes less storage space than an RTF document.

.rft is a standard file format that stores formatting. This will result in a larger file size.