MK Teachers’ ICT Software Blog

I think this is a really fantastic piece of software. It in no way resembles what it was originally meant to replace i.e. Microsoft Paint.

As a Paint package infant aged children might find that there are a few too many tool bars, but I will let you be the judge of that.

Junior age children will be able to roll with this programme as it beats the spots off anything you might buy and particularly as it is completely FREE!

You can use it as a paint package but you can easily place a photograph into the page and apply some amazing effects to it.

This software will be useful for the ICT aspects of Developing Ideas and for presentational purposes in Exchanging and Sharing Information.
This is what Paint.Net says about itself on its website at http://www.getpaint.net/

“Paint.NET is free image editing and photo manipulation software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing. “

Children enjoy controlling the bee as it moves about a simple garden or honeycomb to feed embryo bees. The moves include choices from left, right, forwards and backwards and the children need to estimate how far they have to sent the bee. Three different levels of difficulty can be set according to the childrens ability. This can be linked with using beebot or a roamer to move to targets on a grid. Suitable for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. 

On screen turtle. As with all the 2simple software it really is simple to use. Great for directional language, commands to make things happen. Links with QCA ICT Units 1F and 2D. Very easy to use - children love it and it gets them talking about what they are doing and where they want the turtle to go. Hugely popular. Comes highly recomended!

Incredibly useful! Ideal for infant schools as it combines everything you need for children to practise their skills from a basic graphics package to data handling to a publishing package etc. etc. on a variety of levels, so it can be used to differentiate or used for different age ranges across the school. I have found it to be very good value for money.

A database program which is easy for teachers and pupils to use! It is very attractive to the younger age range who can create their own databases with imported or personally drawn images incorporated into the card display. We are currently using it with our Year Three who have created class databases of themselves with their own personally drawn images. We have the program installed on the network, thereby enabling the class to add each of their cards simultaneously onto the server. If another machine is set up with a data projector, the children can oversee the additions made to the database as they are occur.

Audacity is an easy to use, free download and very accessible for Key Stage 2.  Here are its key features -

Recording

Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl records, or minidiscs. With some sound cards, it can also capture streaming audio.

• Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.
• Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
• Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware).
• Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.

Import and Export

Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your recordings in several common file formats.

• Import and export WAV, AIFF and  AU files
• Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad.
• Export MP3s.
• Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
• Open raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw” command.
• Note: Audacity does not currently support WMA, AAC, or most other proprietary or restricted file formats.

Editing

• Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
• Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
• Very fast editing of large files.
• Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
• Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points.
• Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.

Effects

• Change the pitch without altering the tempo, or vice-versa.
• Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises.
• Alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects.
• Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects.
• Other built-in effects include:
  • Echo
  • Phaser
  • Wahwah
  • Reverse

Pivot stickman is a really useful piece of software which is free to download.It is a good intro to stop animation, as it allows children to move a jointed stickman and other objects,frame by frame and then save and play their animation.

It is very simple to use and children can create a short animation in a very short space of time. My year 6 class have been able to produce some quite complex pieces, which has given them a good insight into how stop animation works, before beginning their own 3d animations using digital blue cameras.

it is possible to add a background for example one drawn on a graphics package or scanned in. It is also possible to export the animated gif into a package such as windows movie maker and add music and titles to create a multimedia presentation.

This is a database program.  It allows children to use and create their own databases as well as experimenting with pre-created ones available for free on the net.

I have used this program with year 3 children and it is a good program for the children to input data onto a created database.  They can then sort the information and create graphs.  It is more difficult to use when the children are expected to create their own database (year 5).  It is rather fiddly and complicated and i am sure it could be simpler.

http://www.logo.com/cat/view/junior-viewpoint.html

An easy to use early introduction to word processing. particularly useful in the early stages of infant/primary schools. a basic introduction to font changing, letter sizing and colouring font in easy to follow steps. The pick a picture function gives children an early insight to clip art. Additional features include a ’sound recorder.’ A useful addition to any software resourcing.

The chidlren enjoy finding out about toys that were used in the past, and comparing them with the toys they use today.  They enjoy discussing with others the materials from whihc the toys re made and how they would use them.