Category: Software

Picasa

Kelly Tenkely6 Comments on Picasa2392 views

 

 

What it is:  Picasa is a free download from Google that helps you organize, edit, share, and create using photos.  The edit feature allows you to fix red-eye, crop, and fix any blemishes or scratches.  Picasa lets students create turning photos into movies, collages, and slideshows.  Picasa also makes it easy to upload albums to the web to share.  Picasa has been around for a while as a Google tool but the big news this week is the release of the beta version of Picasa for Macs.  The neat thing about the Mac Picasa release is its integration with iPhoto.  The features are pretty neat and definitely worth a look for either platform but with the announcement of iPhoto ’09 yesterday, they aren’t as impressive.  HOWEVER, Picasa is completely free while iPhoto ’09 is not.

 

How to integrate Picasa into the classroom:  Picasa  is a great way to organize photos you are taking of your classroom in action.  Create a web album, parents always like to see the great things their kids are learning.  Students can use Picasa to organize images they find online or pictures they take on a field trip.  These pictures can then be used to create a movie, collage, or slideshow directly in the Picasa software.  Students could create a class story in pictures, create a movie out of it and share it with other grades.  Students can also collect historical images, scientific images, etc and easily create a movie or slideshow displaying their knowledge.  

 

Tips:  Picasa is available for Macs in beta version and Windows and Linux based in alpha.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Picasa in your classroom.

Kido’z

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Kido’z1710 views

 

What it is:   Kido’z is a web browser specifically designed just for kids.  The Kido’z browser is a completely protected environment where kids can surf web sites, watch kid appropriate videos and play games.  Kido’z has an incredibly simple interface that is even appropriate for non readers and writers.  The browser blocks links, scripts and other opportunities for kids to be lead to websites that have not been approved.  Kido’z allows kids to safely explore “an endless amount of games, videos and other content and can enter with one click to the best kids’ sites that can be found.”  Kido’z is a great addition to any pre-k through second grade classroom.  

 

How to integrate Kido’z into the classroom:   Kido’z is a great way to bring the Internet to the classroom computers in the pre-k through second grade classroom.  Students can access the Internet in a completely safe, controlled environment.  The interface of Kido’z is so user friendly that even your non-reader students can use the browser sucessfuly without help.  Many of the video clips, games, and websites that students have access to through Kido’z are educational and offer great learning opportunities.  Kido’z has provided several ways to follow developments through Twitter, their blog, or RSS feed.  You are sure to be introduced to great kids learning sites that you may not have seen before.  

 

Tips:  Before you can download the Kido’z browser, you will have to download Adobe Air.  Be sure to share Kido’z with parents.  The web browser is a great way to keep your students learning at home in a safe environment.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Kido’z  in your classroom.

Aviary

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Aviary2493 views

 

 

What it is:  Aviary is a website on a mission to make creativity more accessible.  They do this by making powerful image software available online (no download required) and with free versions of the online software.  Aviary has four different offerings: Peacock, Phoenix, Toucan, and Raven.  Because each tool does something different, I am going to break it down into four posts.  Phoenix is an image editor and the first Aviary tool I will review.  Phoenix is an image editor that allows for basic image editing or complex effects, it has many of the same features as that expensive software suite (Adobe) but has the benefit of being based online and free! 🙂  There is a rich tool set with features familiar to graphics and image programs like brushes, and blend modes.  Just like the more expensive software, Aviary allows students to work on projects in layers with an intuative, easy-to-use, drag and drop interface.  Images can be imported from other popular sites like Flickr, Facebooks, and Picasa.  Any creation in Phoenix can be imported and used in other Aviary tools.

 

How to integrate Aviary into the classroom:  Aviary Phoenix is an awesome tool for classroom image editing.  This is a great alternative to expensive image editors, but looks and works enough like the ‘big dogs’ that students who learn how to use Aviary will be able to easily transfer the knowledge if and when they need to.  Aviary currently has 62 Phoenix tutorials.  Students can work through the tutorials and teach themselves the program.  I like this method of self discovery and teaching,  it is an important skill for students to learn that we don’t teach enough in the classroom.  Ask students to create brochures, advertisements, or other graphic media to illustrate concepts in the classroom using digital art.  Aviary is a nice introduction into graphic arts and digital media.

 

Tips:  It is fun to look through creations that others have made and try to figure out how they used Aviary Phoenix to create.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Aviary Phoenix  in your classroom.

Smile Box

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Smile Box3380 views

 

What it is:  Smile Box is a free application that I love.  The scrapbooker in me loves Smile Box for all of the digital scrapbooking qualities.  The teacher in me loves all of the classroom applications that Smile Box could be used for.  Smile Box is a free software that lets students combine photos, videos, and music into one amazing multimedia presentation.  Smile Box used to only be available for PC’s but now have a Mac version that is outstanding.  The Mac version integrates seamlessly with iPhoto and iTunes without any additional plugins!  Students can choose from over 700 design templates to use as a base to combine media.  The final Smile Box project can be embedded in a blog, sent via email, or printed.  

 

How to integrate Smile Box into the classroom:  Smile Box has many classroom applications.  The software is a great place for students to do some digital storytelling combining pictures, podcasts, and video.  Students could create a weekly paper about the happenings in your classroom, a memory book for each student for the end of the year, etc.  Smile Box is also a great place for students to make Mothers/Fathers day cards, Christmas cards, Happy Thanksgiving greeting, etc.  Students can also use Smile Box to create rich content reports.  For example, instead of writing a paragraph about what they learned while studying about Russia, students could create a media rich postcard about Russia.  

 

Tips:  Smile Box is simple to use and very intuitive.  Students will love creating with 

Smile Box!  

 

 

Leave a comment and share how you are using Smile Box in your classroom.

Count Us In

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Count Us In1936 views


What it is: Count Us In is a fun basic math skill site with 15 interactive games that teach kids basic math skills. These include counting, patterning, counting, ordinal numbers, representing number with words, addition, subtraction, sorting and grouping, time, numbers, chance, halves, length, and volume. The flash based games can be played online or downloaded to a Mac or PC for offline play.

How to integrate Count Us In into the classroom:
These are great games to teach kids basic math concepts. The site is good for individual use in a computer lab, or center group use in a classroom setting. Students can work at their own level, going onto the next game after they have mastered one. The games can be used to help teach concepts or as review and practice for math skills. The site is best for k-1 students or struggling math students in second grade. The site is also perfect for an interactive whiteboard. Call students up to the board to interact with the games individually or split your class into teams to play the games.

Tips: Visit the “other activities” section of the Count Us In website for some great teacher resources including well thought out activities to use with the games on the website.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Count Us In in your classroom.

Disk Inventory X

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Disk Inventory X2551 views


What it is: Summer is approaching and things are winding down on the school front. I don’t know about you but things are also slowing down on the computer front toward the end of the school year too. I always know when summer is approaching because my machine starts to run slower. I have downloaded hundreds of open source applications to try, pictures, fonts, and videos to my machine and I have created HUGE files of tutorials, videos, and lessons for my students. Normally I spend days sorting through all of the folders trying to find the culprits of my slow down and save them to disk or trash them all together. This week I learned about an awesome tool to help me speed things up from iJustine over at Tasty Blog Snack. Disk Inventory X is a disk usage utility for Mac OS X (sorry PC users, I am sure something similar exists) It shows the sizes of files and folders in “treemaps” (a graphical representation). Disk Inventory X helps solve the mystery of where all of your disk space has gone. Disk Inventory X gives detailed search results and you can delete files directly using the program…it updates live so you can see your disk space free up right before your eyes. The cost of this awesome little goody? Absolutely free!

How to integrate Disk Inventory X into the classroom:
Take a little time to free up your computer before the end of the school year. Clean your computers up for a fresh start in August. If you don’t have tech support that re-images your classroom computers, go ahead and run Disk Inventory X on them too. You are going to feel so speedy!

Tips: As a side note, if you are working to get your girls interested in technology introduce them to iJustine…she will have them amped on technology in no time! 🙂

Leave a comment and share how many Gigs you were able to free up with Disk Inventory X.

Phun

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Phun2118 views

What it is: As promised today I am reviewing the Mac version of Crayon Physics…it isn’t exactly the same, but has very similar principles and applications. Phun is a ‘playground’ where students can be creative while learning about physics principles such as resistance, friction, energy, gravity, force, etc. Phun isn’t a game with a goal like Crayon Physics, instead it is an area where students can create their own shapes and rules and see how they interact when different principles such as gravity and force are applied. Phun is a free program and available for both Mac and PC.


How to integrate Phun into the classroom: Like Crayon Physics, students can use Phun to learn about principles of gravity, energy, force, velocity, etc. Students will enjoy having an environment to test out physics concepts and conceptualize experiments. Phun may have even more application for the physics classroom because it isn’t a puzzle to figure out, but a creative environment to explore and test.

Tips: Because Phun is a free download, students can use this software at school and at home. Cool!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Phun in your classroom.

Kindle Lab

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Kindle Lab2943 views

What it is: Carrying on with the interactive whiteboard awesomeness, here is free interactive whiteboard software for your Wiimote Whiteboard. If you have a Mimio, e-beam, Smartboard, Active Board, or Promethean, this software will also work with them! Kindle Lab will run on both PC and Mac. Now, I could give you a long explanation of everything that Kindle Lab can do but I am of the mindset that a picture (or in this case video) is worth a thousand words and can do a much better job of it than I can….

 

 

How to integrate Kindle Lab into your curriculum: Kindle Lab is meant to be used to enhance all of your existing curriculum. No matter what subject you are teaching Kindle Lab, along with your Interactive Whiteboard, can bring the lesson to life for your students. The range and scope of what Kindle Lab can do for your classroom is so broad and all encompassing that for me to give you some ideas here would really be silly. Download Kindle Lab, the PDF of the Kindle Lab tools and start exploring. I promise it will be pretty apparent to you how seamlessly this could be used for any subject at any level. So cool!

Tips: At the end of the video clip above, you may have noticed another tool which is called Eduism. This is a 3-D interactive environment that was created for the classroom. It is also a free to use open source project that is meant to be used with the Interactive Whiteboards. Be sure to check it out!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Kindle Lab in your classroom.

Wiimote Whiteboard

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Wiimote Whiteboard1644 views

So, my personal Wiimote video is still a work in process but if you get as excited as I do about the thought of a $45 interactive whiteboard you need something to tide you over. This is Johnny Lee’s explanation of the Wiimote Whiteboard, he is the creator of the PC version. If you are interested in creating your own interactive whiteboard follow the links below:

PC Wiimote Whiteboard

Mac Wiimote Whiteboard

GeoGebra

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on GeoGebra2202 views

 

What it is: I’m not generally one to get excited about math especially algebra, geometry, and *uggh* calculus. But, I think if I had access to a tool like GeoGebra I might have enjoyed them (or at least understood them) more. GeoGebra is a free dynamic geometry system that lets students complete constructions with points, vectors, segments, lines, conic sections, and functions and change them dynamically afterward. Equations and coordinates can also be entered directly; this means that GeoGebra has the ability to deal with variables for numbers, vectors and points, finds derivatives and integrals of functions and offers commands like Root or Extremum. (If you didn’t catch that you are not a high school math teacher *wink*). If you are a high school or college math teacher or know someone who is…that description just made you feel a little excited. GeoGebra is a free multi-platform download.

How to integrate GeoGebra into your curriculum: Use GeoGebra to help your students understand complicated or abstract math concepts. This software is amazing for your visual learners…again a reason this should have existed when I was in school! Allow your students to explore math concepts with this software and to practice their learning. You can also use GeoGebra to create dynamic math worksheets for your students. Very cool!

Tips: Make sure to check out the examples section for some great GeoGebra uses. You can also attend free online workshops to learn how to use GeoGebra. For some great ideas and further explanation of GeoGebra check them out on Wikipedia.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using GeoGebra in your classroom.