Creating+Content+-+Great+Links

= Great Links for Creating Content =


 * Aggregators
 * Free content management platforms and websites
 * ARED : a free tool for creating e-learning content
 * Create a free animated GIF for your page
 * Create a free animation
 * Free file converters
 * Online 'dead link' checkers
 * Screen capture software
 * Tag Clouds
 * Youtube videos made portable

Aggregators

 * 1) Qwiki is an ipad app which draws factual content from the internet (mostly from Wikipedia. You will need to scrutinise the content for reliability, but compiling a multimedia e-book is as easy as typing in some keywords. The content will display on a regular desktop but can be affected by poor bandwidth. Here is one I created about economics: [|http://www.qwiki.com/q/#!%2FEconomics]

__ For more __#|Information about aggregators visit Wikipedia

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Free Content Management Platforms and Sites

 * Google sites- more information coming soon...
 * Joomlaa free content management system.
 * Find out about Joomla at Joomlashack
 * Get a free version at the Joomlacode website
 * See xamples of Joomla at Joomla Community Showcase - (Joomla in libraries)
 * Wikipedia has also written about Joomla.
 * Drupal
 * Wordpress (a blogging site with enhanced possibilities)

__#|Check__ out this **useful comparison of Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress** by Tony Phitzner:
 * Wordpress versus Drupal versus Joomla

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ARED : a free Tool for Creating e-Learning Content:
Applications for Rapid e-Learning Development (ARED) Here is a sample page from a __#|quiz__ created using one of the ARED templates: Top of page



Create an animated .gif for free online
Definition: "An animated GIF is a graphic file type that is composed of many different images on top of each other. Together these images are compressed __#|and work__ together, creating movement, and give the appearance of a mini movie. GIF stands for **G**raphics **I**nterchange **F**ormat" [source: [], accessed 4/6/10]

Animated GIFs can liven up a __#|web page__, even deliver a message. There are a few sites that offer this feature for free. Here are links to a few: I found Picasion gave me the best result. It only lets you add four images, but you can customize the size of the frame which give a better result.
 * Picasion.com
 * Gickr
 * Gifninja

Try to get each image as close in size as possible. That way, you avoid any unwanted border area around your .gif.
 * Points to remember:**

If you're feeling really adventurous, try making an animated GIF yourself, using Fireworks. To learn how open the following page:

Note! The how to guide is for Fireworks CS3. If you're using CS4, remember a 'frame' is called a 'state'. Here is an animated Gif I created as an example: Top of page



Voki
Similar to the now defunct **xtranormal**, use **Voki** to create animations. These can be an engaging way to liven up a presentation. Unlike xtranormal, while a 'text to speech' option is offered, you can also upload your own sound byte, or record audio using a microphone. The downside - Voki offers free animations, but there is a charge, about $30.00 for a year.

I have also, successfully created an animation from my Android tablet.

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Free File Converters
Free PDF Converter This site allows you to convert one file every half hour for free. It is easy to use, and quck, with conversion usually only taking about one minute. Collect online or receive the converted file by email.

Also try Zamzar Zamzar will convert lots of different file formats online without the need to download a programme. Downloading freeware at work is frowned on by most IT departments,

Visit Whatis - file extensions to learn about the hundreds of different file extensions out there

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Free Online Dead Link Checkers
There are a number of free online services which will check your pages for "Dead Links". It is a good idea to do this regularly. Dead links are annoying!!

Here are some I found:
 * 2bone:
 * Link Valet: This one worked really well, including in the report the URL for redirected sites.
 * Site Link Analyzer

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Wink
Have a look at Wink Wink. Wink is a free 'screen capture' software which allows you to produce online demonstrations and tutorials.

It is similar to Adobe Captivate. You can capture screenshots, add text boxes for explanations, buttons, titles, voice-over, etc.

Wink creates highly compressed Flash presentations. It will create your project in Macromedia Flash, Standalone EXE, PDF (for printable versions) PostScript, HTML or as in image formats such as BMP, JPG, GIF

**Jing**

Available for Windows and Mac, Jing is a free screen capture software. Visit this **TechSmith** page for free Jing tutorials.

Here is a brief video I created using Jing. This video is not voiced but it is also possible to add a narration. It produces a flash file which might be a problem for iPad:

media type="file" key="GoogleSearchDemo.swf" width="468" height="355" align="center"

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Tag clouds are links to words appearing in your site, The size in which they display is dependent on the frequency of the term appearing. That is, the larger the word, the more frequent the word or subject appears within the cloud

Some sites offer you a free tag cloud for your site. can make a free tag cloud for your site. Here are a couple to try:
 * [] - generate a tag cloud from any text - for example I produced this cloud for the paragraph above about save Youtube videos:

The following tag __#|cloud__ is produced by Wikispaces to represent tags or keywords used in this wiki. .include component="tagCloud"
 * @http://www.tocloud.com/
 * Tag Cloud Generator

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youtube can be a great source of instructional videos for use in education It is always better to link to a youtube video you have found, but if you need the video to be portable, because you do not have internet access in a classroom, you can save it to a flash drive. If you save the video to a flash drive, you will need to convert the youtube video from a .flv file to a more common format such as mp4. Alternatively you can get a .flv player to go with your video.

There are actually a lot of help guides on the internet which will help you export a youtube video.

Lots of sites help you do this. For example, Zamzar makes it easy in four simple steps. Or try out this help sheet:

Another is Keepvid or Savevid. If you want to find more, just Google it!


 * Note! Always investigate copyright ownership for youtube videos you wish to download**

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