Media and Learning 2013

LibriVox is a project which objective is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet (generally podcasting). It has a database-driven catalog where every podcasting project can be found using the search page.
Once you have found and clicked the link for a book/recording you want to listen to, there are several things to note about the individual catalog pages. Each catalog page contains a description of the book, and helpful links about the book and author. You can also find a link to an online source for the text, if you wish to read along.
You'll find that you can download files in several places. You can download the individual chapters by choosing 128kbps MP3, 64kbps MP3 (smaller file size), or the Ogg Vorbis files. You can also find a link to a zip file of the whole book at the top. Another option is to find the recording with !BitTorrent, but not all recordings have been seeded.
The first step before you listen is to get the audio files onto your own computer. Once you have found an audiobook that interests you, there are many ways to download the files, and save them onto your computer. Each chapter is offered in three (3) formats: 64 Kbps MP3, 128 Kbps MP3, and Ogg Vorbis.
The audio files are hosted by the Internet Archive (see http://www.media-and-learning.eu/resource/internet-archive)
It is a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.
Librivox contains books in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and a few other languages.

Wikiversity is a learning community which aims to further the discovery and distribution of knowledge by helping people to learn and to share learning resources. Users can use Wikiversity to find information, ask questions, or learn more about a subject, to explore knowledge through advanced study and research and also to share their knowledge about a subject with others by building learning materials.
Wikiversity is available in 15 different languages, with a different number of learning resources for every language, varying from a few hundreds to over 20k.
The library of learning materials is growing and contains materials of all types, including a wide variety of multimedia course materials. They are designed, not just for self-study, but also as material which can be used in your classroom.
Everyone can create and revise teaching materials. Anyone can participate in the learning activities. Everyone can take a course. Everyone can teach a course. There are no entrance requirements and no fees. All content in Wikiversity is written collaboratively, using wiki software, and everyone is welcome to take part through using, adding and discussing content.

Pixabay.com is a collaborative repository for quality public domain images. People can upload photographs or graphics to the website, and they will be screened to see if they are suitable for distribution. The images so uploaded will go under Creative Commons Deed CC0 into the public domain.
Although it is not possible to claim ownership of any image in its original state or license them granting exclusive rights as they are, it is possible to adapt and use the images also for commercial purposes without attributing the original author or source. For details about this, look the page of terms and conditions.

IrfanView is a fast, small, innovative freeware graphic viewer that can be also used for editing. It is intended as free only for private, non-commercial and/or educational use (schools, universities and libraries) and for use in charity or humanitarian organisations.
The software is currently supported and a list of recent changes can be seen on the website. A FAQ page quite rich of useful information is also provided on the website.
Some IrfanView features:
• Many supported file formats
• Multi language support
• Thumbnail/preview option
• Paint option - to draw lines, circles, arrows, straighten image etc.
• Toolbar skins option
• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
• Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters
• Fast directory view (moving through directory)
• Batch conversion (with advanced image processing)
• Multipage TIF editing
• File search
• Email option
• Multimedia player
• Print option
• Support for embedded color profiles in JPG/TIF
• Change color depth
• Scan (batch scan) support
• Cut/crop
• Add overlay text/image (watermark)
• IPTC editing
• Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)
• Screen Capturing
• Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs
• Lossless JPG rotation
• Unicode support
• Hotkeys
• Command line options
• PlugIns

Language support can vary with the version. The current version supports the languages listed aside. English is anyway always supported.

Audiolingua is a collaborative bank of authentic audio resources, recorded by native speakers, for a freely pedagogical or personal use, according to the rights of use which are detailed in the legal notice. Its aim is to train oral comprehension for anyone who would like to improve this language skill and to provide language teachers with authentic resources.
The mp3 files are classified according to the reference levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. You can listen to the audio files online, download them one after another or also register to the podcast.
Audiolingua contains recordings in 10 languages.

On this website you can learn foreign languages in a fun way: listen to popular songs and fill in the blanks. Test your knowledge of vocabulary in a fun way with music.

This guide, in the form of a free PDF, has been produced as part of the project Virtual Stages Against Violence (VSAV), which can be framed within the conceptual and methodological horizon of media literacy. Aimed at teachers and educators, the guide constitutes the Toolkit of the project and contains five units with a series of educational activities about the topics and problems already dealt with in both the online game and the theatre plays. As the whole project does, these activities aim at developing an increased awareness among young people of both the risks and opportunities of digital media and online communication.
The Toolkit offers innovative and participatory methods to support, integrate and enrich the work carried out by educational institutions such as schools. The chosen education tools aim primarily to an active acquisition of skills and not just an acquisition of knowledge. The Toolkit is therefore a valuable complement to develop educational activities, raised more effective as being part of a creative, interactive and transversal learning experience.

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Questa guida, nella forma di un PDF gratuito, è stata prodotta come parte del progetto Virtual Stages Against Violence (VSAV), che può essere inserito nella cornice concettuale e metodologica dell’educazione ai media. Diretta a insegnanti ed educatori, la guida costituisce il toolkit del progetto e contiene cinque unità con una serie di attività educative sugli argomenti e sui problemi già trattati nel campo del gioco online e delle commedie teatrali. Come anche il progetto stesso nel suo insieme, queste attività hanno la finalità di sviluppare una maggiore coscienza tra i giovani sia riguardo i rischi e le opportunità dei media digitali, sia riguardo la comunicazione online.
La guida offre innovativi metodi partecipativi per sostenere, integrare e arricchire il lavoro portato avanti dalle istituzioni scolastiche ed educative in generale. Gli strumenti educativi scelti hanno lo scopo primario di far acquisire attivamente delle capacità, non limitandosi quindi all’acquisizione di conoscenza. Per questo motivo la guida è un prezioso aiuto allo sviluppo di attività educative, rese anche più efficaci in quanto parte di un’esperienza di apprendimento trasversale e interattivo.

In this section of the official website of the European Union it is possible to find the summaries of EU legislation on every subject. The linked page gives an overview of the legislation on IPR. The act the page refers to is the directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
The page is available in 15 languages.

Ptable is an interactive Web 2.0 periodic table. It provides dynamic layouts, property trend visualization, orbitals, thousands of isotopes, and 5 writeup sources. The application uses no Flash or images, giving all the scalability and accessibility of a normal web page (it can be viewed on any kind of computer and device).
The layout, unless differently specified by the user, automatically switch to fit the width of the screen. Using the check boxes at the top of the page allows to dynamically switch between various configurations (simple, with names, with electron configuration, and inline inner transition metals).
In addition to Wikipedia descriptions in all languages, write-ups, photos, videos, and even podcasts are offered in the first tab's dropdown. Write-up windows can even be torn off or docked to the edges to allow simultaneous use of the table while reading.
Data is acquired from primary sources and curated libraries. Layout and presentation were reviewed by the world's foremost periodic table academic, Eric Scerri. Translations and non-English element names, however, should be considered no more reliable than Wikipedia.
Search (into the box at the top right) can be performed by name, symbol, or atomic number. Advanced searches work, for example, on the atomic weight, number of orbitals, etc.
Most browsers, tablets, and phones can store the site and its data for use offline. Firefox prompts you with a notification bar at the top while Chrome and Safari directly save it.
Full descriptions in 40 languages from Wikipedia.

Tux Paint is a free drawing program for children (3 to 12) that combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program. It is used in schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity.
The program runs on multiple platforms. It’s simple interface presents a number of useful drawing tools and at the same time relieve the user of the need to think about the technical details.
Sound and visual helps are available: fun sound effects are played when tools are selected and used and a cartoon mascot appears at the bottom to give tips, hints and information.
Parts of Tux Paint have currently been translated into almost 100 languages.
Stamps, starters and brushes are stored using popular open formats (PNG, SVG, Ogg Vorbis, etc.) allowing parents and teachers to create their own content for use at home or in the classroom - even using completely free tools.
The 'Tux Paint Config.' program allows parents, teachers, and school technicians to alter Tux Paint's behaviour using a simple, easy-to-use graphical interface.