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Exchanging Information on the Internet |
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The Basics Your project goals must fit your technology resources. By starting simple and knowing what you can do with your resources at hand, you will have a successful experience. Our TeleResources Checklist can help you determine your resources and needs.And, even if the road is rough, you will learn a lot! Getting Started Finding information, exchanging email You don't need your own classroom computer and internet access to participate. You just need to be able to use one to communicate with collaborators. All you need for many projects is: As you try to do more, the process gets more complicated. Your technology needs get more complicated and so does what you need to know. The nice thing is that everything you need to know is on the Internet, and much of it is available at NickNacks. What's so complicated? When a telecollaboration involves exchanging more than e-mail messages, the format of information you exchange, that is, the way you save a program file, is very important. You must find a file format all participants can open and use. For unique kinds of information that only certain programs can handle, you will have to set software/hardware requirements for your project What seems like a simple exchange of files on the Internet may be more complicated than it appears. Participants' available software may limit the kinds of files they can create or use. Some e-mail software and services can limit how many or what kind of attachments allowed to messages, or require special software to translate attachments. Setting guidelines for file formats ahead of time will help everyone involved to enjoy and learn from the project. Top File Formats Graphics | Spreadsheets | Text Some programs recognize other programs' files and some do not. The format in which you save a file determines whether someone else will be able to use it. Always agree ahead of time about the software and file formats to be used. All Macs share a Text format and PICT graphic format, so you can rely on exchanging in these two basic formats. But, if you want to get more involved, you'll have to double check with all participants on their software resources. Text letters, stories, essays Words can be written directly in e-mail software, or saved as text from any word processing software and copied into an email message. Unless all particpants have the same software, you will have to share simple generic text files anyway. If you don't have the same version of the same word processing software, first check your program's translators to see if it will recognize the other file. You can check the translators by looking in the program's translator file. You can also use the Save As... command to look at the save Options in the Save dialog box. If you have MacLink Plus software, you can also use it to convert files to other formats. Otherwise, save text files as Text. All of the formatting (styles and spacing) will be lost, but any word processor can recognize it. Simple Text, which every Mac user should have, is a versatile little program which saves as Text and reads Text files and PICTs. You can even write Web pages with it. Remember, too, that newer versions of a program can recognize older versions of the same program, but not vice versa. ClarisWorks now offers a translation program, for a fee, which will convert 4.0 documents into an older Claris format. Top Spreadsheets Projects with produce data may require presentation in spreadsheet format. Most works programs have a spreadsheet component. And there are stand-alone programs like Excel. As a last resort, you can share data in simple text form if you donŐt have a spreadsheet. You can use someone else's spreadsheet only if you have the same software or translators for that software. If you do not have the translators (refer to previous section on Word Processing) for exchanging a spreadsheet in its original format, you can save it in Text format, but all of the columns and formulas will be gone. To let anyone view the spreadsheet in its original format, take a desktop photograph of the spreadsheet (Command-Shift-3). The photo is a PICT file and can be opened into any text or drawing document, or even Simple Text. The photo will only show what is visible on your monitor screen, and it cannot used as a spreadsheet. Compress before e-mailing for faster transmission and to preserve file integrity. Top Graphics To make any kind of image to share, you need imaging software, a digital camera for photographs, or a scanner for computerizing (digitizing) manually done graphics. The format in which you save a graphic image file depends on how you want others to use it. Drawing and painting files are generally bigger than Word Processing or Spreadsheet file, so it is best to compress them before e-mailing to speed transmission and to avoid damage to the file. For Works or graphics programs. Save a graphic as PICT if you want someone to open it in Word Processing or Graphic Program. All text and graphic programs can used this format. Although Kid Pix does not tell you so, it saves files as PICT. For Internet display or GIF/JPEG viewers. Save graphics in GIF format. GIF stands for Graphic Image File. Another compressed image format is JPEG, or Joint Photographic Experts Graphic format. JPEG is better for compressing full color photographics, which are very complex. GIF/JPEG files can only be viewed in programs especially designed to handle them such as PageMill, graphic converter programs and, of course, Adobe Photoshop. GIF and JPEG files attached to e-mail appears in the body of your e-mail message for easy viewing if the recipient is using Netscape 2.0 or later. Generally, too much information is missing to convert GIF back to PICT. JPEGView is a good shareware program for viewing many graphic formats. If you need a GIF converter, Graphic Converter, a shareware program, converts to multiple formats and performs many other graphic tasks. GIF Converter is a simpler conversion program. Getting Shareware If the graphic file is to be displayed on the WWW, save it as a GIF 89a, which will automatically interlace it. Interlacing allows the image to load fuzzy and become increasingly clear. JPEG files cannot be interlaced. Top Special Formats HyperStudio stacks, page layouts, Opening Night, presentations, database, movies Some programs are not like any others. Their files cannot be translated by other programs. Most special programs require that everyone participating have the same software. Some, however, such as HyperStudio and Powerpoint and Macromedia provide a free viewer so that anyone see your work (but not create). Page Layouts More complex page layouts, such as files from Works drawing pages, card making programs, PageMaker, and QuarkExpress cannot be converted. If you are exchanging files to do further work in these programs, you must both have the same program. If you only want to see the image, you can take a desktop photograph of the page (Command-Shift-3) and send: the PICT file or convert it to a JPEG or GIF file. For more information, see Graphics. Programs with Free Viewers If you are assembling a project for Internet participants, you can circumvent the format problem by using a program that offers a free viewer. Both HyperStudio and PowerPoint provide free viewers which you can give to anyone for viewing your creations. Both programs offer easy multimedia formats for creating and disseminating projects in your original form to anyone. In addition, both programs operate cross-platform (which means files can be directly exchanged from Macs to PCs. Classroom more frequently have access to HyperStudio, which even primary level students can readily learn to use. HyperStudio Projects and the Internet addresses using HyperStudio for project exchanges and special considerations in making a HyperStudio stack for cross-platform use. Stacks up to 500K compress to a manageable emailing size, but it is easier to use an ftp site for uploading and downloading files. JPEGView is the most commonly used program for viewing GIF and JPEG files. Graphic Converter is a shareware program which allows you to run a slide show from the GIF files it can make from a variety of graphic formats. A simpler GIF converter is GIF Converter. Anyone can download these programs for exchanging and viewing GIF files. Getting Shareware Top Emailing Files Compression Think of folding and folding a bandana until it fits into a 2 inch x 2 inch x 2 inch box. It takes up less space. And when you unfold it, it's still all in one piece. Compressed files can be sent and received much more quickly. Some compression programs can take really large files and break them into smaller section, and then put them back together again for you. The most commonly used Mac programs are Drop Stuff with Expander Enhancer and Stuffit Expander by Alladin. Email and Compression Attachments to e-mail slow down the transmission of the message. The larger the file, the slower the uploading and downloading time. Compressing a file speeds the transmission and also protects the file from damage by some encoding/decoding processes. E-mail programs vary in how attachments are encoded and how they are decoded. That's why it is safest to do a pre-project mailing test. Some useful programs for handling the encoding/decoding differences are Stuffit for decompressing most Mac and PC formats, mPack for MIME translating, BinHex for binary translating (although StuffIt will decode binary files).The safest solution is to have as many resources as you can and then try them all to see what works. Compression formats differ not only among software programs, but also server systems. Stuffit Expander 4.0, Drop Stuff with Stuffit Expander Enhancer, mPack and BinHex are available at at shareware web sites. Getting Shareware Server systems may also vary in how many files may be attached at one time and how large the attachments can be. A pre-test answers these questions, also. Servers like AOL and Compuserve which try to standardize and simplify procedures also have their quirks. They tend to change slowly, with so many customers to consider. Their software tends to be "older" and more likely to work with tried and true formats, but not necessarily to handle newer formats. Top FTP-ing Files A simple way to transfer files, if your server has a public access directory, uses FTP, or file transfer protocol. Upload, or transfer, your file to the public directory on your server using an FTP program such as freeware Fetch, or a WWW browser capable of uploading. Participants and anyone else can then download the files directly from your site. Ask you Technology Coordinator or your Internet service provider if you can get a public ftp directory. Before you upload a file to an FTP site, compress it using StuffIt or DropStuff (.sit). Then when you upload it, compress it again in BinHex (.hqx) or Binary II (.bin) format . MacBinary II (.bin) files are smaller than BinHex (.hqx) files and can be de-compressed by Stuffit Expander 3.5.2 and later . If you want to shorten the file name, you can delete the .sit. When the file is downloaded, StuffIt Expander recognizes the file and first decodes the BinHex or Binary and then the SIT compression. Top WWW sites Web Pages These are the easiest to share, since everyone with a browser can access a web page. Of course, you have to know HTML coding. And you need web space on a server for storing your web pages. Remember that not everyone has WWW access. Some projects such at Kidlink's KIDPROJ conduct all of their projects via email, with supplemental websites. If you have the capability to make html pages (hypertext markup language) to post on the World Wide Web, it is an easy way to share your data with everyone and anyone. Web pages can be saved by everyone with a browser, and graphics can be saved with HMTL 2 browsers, like Netscape 2.0 or later. There are some good sites on the Web for learning html. The Web Developer's Virtual Library has everything you might want to know ... and then some! Lycos has an extensive listing of html code information. Stoogenet offers amusing visual pointers on what to avoid on your pages. Once you learn html codes, any text program will do. Thus far, some shareware editors are better than the commerical offerings. Microsoft's Front Page is the best of the commerical lot (Mac version is still under development) for WYSIWYG (you can see what your page will look like on the web) and tools. You can save money by using your WWW browser to view your html composition done in a text editor. A very simple way to edit html is with System 7.5's Simple Text or even TeachText. Good shareware html editors are available which displays different font styles, colors and sizes for various tags and commands. Remember save graphics for posting on the WWW, as a GIF 89a, which automatically interlaces. Interlaced files load fuzzy and become increasingly clear. Save color photographs as JPEG files to preserve their complexity. JPEGs cannot be interlaced. Top Web Forms and CGI programs After you've had a web page for awhile, you may start thinking about collecting information using a form on your web page. There are many resources on the WWW for learning to make forms, which is part 1. Part 2 is the CGI (common gateway interface) program which transforms and transfers the data to you as email. You can also learn this process on the web, but it requires more expertise than authoring html. If you're ready for the next challenge, try The Web Developer's Virtual Library, or The Internet Project, which has a simple email script. Or, if you have a friend in the know, get some help. Before you start, check to see whether your internet provider allows CGI programs. Some do not because of possible security problems. Then find out the steps and codes your provider requires for installing and running the program. Top Sound Files If you are writing and recording music, you need specialized software and instruments. But you can share your files with anyone who has a shareware player.If you have a microphone, you can record sounds with the sound control panel and share them. Macintosh System 7 comes with a control panel which allows you to record sounds if you have a built-in or compatible microphone. These sounds are saved as system sound files. They can be played using your control panel or a program which incorporate sound, like HyperStudio and Amazing Animation. You can exchange these files as email attachments. For music files, MIDI is the cross-platform standard. To record MIDI, you need expensive equipment. But, to play them, use Quicktime 2.0 or later (available on the Net from Apple). It will play these files like movies with no picture. Crescendo is a WWW browser plug-in which plays music files live online, including MIDI, AIFF, and WAV (Windows format). Top Cross-platform exchanges If you are not familiar with Macintosh and Windows operating systems (OS), you may want to limit your participants to those with the same OS. If you understand both kinds, you have a definite advantage. Computers with Windows/DOS operating systems cannot read most Macintosh files or Mac formattted disks. However, there is now a growing list of software capable of reading files from its own cross platform version, including: Microsoft Office 4.2.1 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint); ClarisWorks; and HyperStudio (some restrictions). Macintoshes using System 7 or later do have cross-platform tools, i.e., can convert to and from some Windows and DOS formatted files. With System 7 or later, you can use PC Exchange, which comes with your system software to convert your Mac Files to some Windows/DOS formats. Mac Easy Open extends the possibilitites. And, if you have MacLink Plus, you can convert to even more Windows/DOS formats. If you do not have these translation programs, you need a friend who has this software. For compression, StuffIt will recognize and unzip PC zip compression files. And PC software UnStuffit wil let PC users decompress your file. UnStuffit is availabe on the Internet. You can also get ZipIt on the Internet to convert your file to the PC .zip format to "zip" the file for them. Top Conferencing Internet Relay Chat IRC is a valuable way to add realtime interaction to your project. Check our extensive discussion on educational IRC conferencing. Live Video This technology is fairly new, so tolerance and patience are important. If you want to share live images and sound, you need a digital camera, an AV computer, and conferencing software such as CU-SeeMe.Transmissions are much better if you have an Audio Visual ready computer and lots of RAM. You can hook a camcorder directly into an AV computer, increasing the quality and range of your broadcast. But the audio can be pretty choppy. Some folks like to use a telephone conference for when the audio is going to be extensive. Information and software is available from CUSeeMe Networks. Top Downloading Useful Project Shareware |
