August 29, 2008
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What Does “Digital Content” Mean?
By Elaine Larson, AIT’s Director of Education
What does it mean to “digitize” something? To digitize is “to encode images or sound in a format that may be processed by a computer; to convert analog information such as an audio or video signal into data.”
Another way to say this is that when you digitize audio and video, you are capturing it with a series of “ones” and “zeros”—the mother language of computers. A mathematical picture of the original signal results, and that mathematical picture can be transmitted by or played on any system or machine that is, in essence, a computer. The result is a strikingly sharp, clear—almost three-dimensional—image, enhanced sound, and increased “shelf life” of the media.
Digitizing these media makes it possible for us to index or chapter or “chunk” whole video programs into smaller units—individual learning objects—for ease of use in the classroom and align each chapter with state curriculum standards. Digitizing makes the video available for download or distribution on any of a number of electronic media.
AIT has taken scores of years’ worth of analog video (traditional format distributed on VHS tapes or broadcast on an analog signal) and converted this video to a digital format. AIT’s digital content can now be integrated into server-based or Internet streamed video-on-demand systems or can be played from a free-standing computer from a DVD or downloaded file. Teacher guides and other supplementary print materials are also available in electronic format.
We’re constantly updating our catalog, including our products that are available in digital formats. You’ll find these AIT products conveniently indexed, searchable, and correlated to state standards. If you have any questions, call Joann Flick, at 1-800-457-4509; or email her at jflick@ait.net.