Blog archives

Q: What are the recommended file formats for digital assets that will be uploaded to SkillsCommons?

Answer: To enable others to easily access and work with all CCBY-licensed content, content should be made available in a file format that allows anyone to natively and directly edit the content. Content may be made available in multiple formats, but at least one of these formats must be openly editable by providing the original file format used to create the content. The type of file format varies by type of media:

For documents: Openly editable formats include original Microsoft Office files (e.g., doc, .docx., .ppt, etc) and other editable document files. An example of a closed document format is a PDF, since files with the .pdf extension do not allow edits.

For images: Source files should be shared for images (e.g. Adobe Photoshop), video clips, or Flash (such as FLA). 

For video: Common video formats include MP4 (H.264), MOV, OGM, WEBM, FLV, and AVI

For audio: Common audio formats include MP3, OGG, FLAC, and WAV, Theora and MP4. For audio-only files, exporting to OGG Vorbis and MP3 is recommended. Include high-resolution versions of videos where possible.

Retrieved 6/10/2016 from: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/taaccct_sga_dfa_py_12_10.pdf.  pg. 72.

Q: My materials were created using Microsoft Word®. Should I upload the files in this format, even though someone will need the same version or later of Microsoft Word® to read them?

Answer:  Given the broad availability of Microsoft Word®, you can upload the material in the .doc or .docx format, so that other people can edit the original with full fidelity. Please see Authoring Tools Considerations for SkillsCommons Contributors for more information.

Q: I have heard about Common Cartridge for exporting files out of our LMS, how do you we go about doing this?

Answer: The Common Cartridge option is not a requirement but it can improve the ability of others to reuse your materials. The Common Cartridge option may be a plug-in your LMS administrator will need to add to get the export option for Common Cartridge. A Common Cartridge captures the application files, assessments, web links, and discussion topics in an LMS course for easy import into any other compliant LMS. Here is information about Common Cartridge : http://www.imsglobal.org/cc

You can upload the LMS export file of the OER materials to the SkillsCommons repository for now.

Q: Is there an easy way to upload NTER content to SkillsCommon?

Answer: The easiest way to upload NTER content to SkillsCommons.org is to export the content from NTER and upload it to SkillsCommons.org

NTER has put an export feature in place to allow you to export the material you uploaded to NTER as a zip file. Once you have downloaded the zip file from NTER, you will need to upload it to the SkillsCommons.org repository.

Please see the Import/Export Instructions for NTER

If you have questions or need support for exporting your material from NTER, please contact NTER for additional support.

Q: Are there limits on file sizes/large uploads?

Answer: There aren’t any limits on file sizes. However, if they are really large, then contact us and we will work with you on a solution to upload these taking into account connection speed, bandwidth, etc.

Q: We have a lot of animation, movies, and interactive content, can SkillsCommon handle this type of content?

Answer: Yes.