MK Teachers’ ICT Software Blog

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.

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.

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.

Textease is a common package in schools, but I don’t actually like it! For example you need to actually mark the place where your text will go and it is difficult to move it if you need to. If you change text font or size but don’t put the cursor bck in exactly the right place, it reverts to the original - a very frustrating experience. However, that said, the plus points are that the clipart is really good, it can speak to you (a feature the children love) and it is relatively easy for the children to produce a piece of work. Going back to the clipart, as I’ve said it is really good, which means that all manner of subject areas can be addressed.

This is useful for the chidlren to use when tackling the topic of homes and their contents in the past.  It is particlarly suitable for year 1 children who enjoy finding out or themselves, the uses of some of the artefacts.

A fantastic piece of software especially for nursery and early years children. It is so user friendly and allows children to visit a variety of places eg. a vets, petrol station and a zoo. Children can enter each place a have a go at an activity related to it. What is extremely beneficial is that these activities are differentiated. This piece of software lends itself to a variety of topics and kids have great fun when using it.

This is a great piece of software that is suitable for KS1. Children are able to produce their own interactive books, with animated pictures. It is very simple to use.

Word is Microsoft’s standard word processing package. It is a very sophisticated piece of software which may have too many buttons and those buttons may also be too small for Key Stage 1 children to use. Key Stage 2 children will have relatively little difficulty using Word and should be introduced to it before they enter key stage 3 where it will be used extensively.