Description

"Data conversion is the conversion of one form of computer data to another--the changing of bits from being in one format to a different one, usually for the purpose of application interoperability or of capability of using new features. At the simplest level, data conversion can be exemplified by conversion of a text file from one character encoding to another." (from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_conversion)

More complex conversions, such as image and audio file formats, are now possible through free sites that make the conversions online.

"File Conversion - The process of changing the format of a file from one standard to another. e.g., to look at Microsoft Word documents with WordPerfect, it might be necessary to convert the Word documents into the format of WordPerfect documents. Many applications can convert documents, graphics, databases and other programs of rival brands into their own format for viewing or editing."  (from:  http://www.crm.mb.ca/guide/glossary.html)

Reasons for Use

What if you use a computer that has Office 2007 on it and you create an awesome document in Microsoft Word?  You go home to your computer that has Word 2000 on it and want to work on that awesome document, you click to open it, and you get the dreaded "Microsoft Word is not able to open this document" message.  Or, what if you find a perfect video online to teach your class the latest concept, but you can't open YouTube at school because it's blocked!  How frustrating!  But, don't panic in either case!  Now there are sites that will convert those files into a format that you can use right from your computer.  And best of all .... they're FREE unless you want advanced features!

Tutorials & Helpful Resources

Here are some quick instructions for using Media-Convert.  At this site, you can convert Office, PDF, Works, and other text documents to different formats, as well as converting audio and video files.

Where to Find this Program

 http://media-convert.com/ 

Cautions:

Sometimes it takes a while to get your conversion, so plan ahead.  Don't plan on getting an idea in the middle of your lesson and doing the conversion right then and there!  It might work, but it might not!