Looking for new software for lower elementary ...

I have been tasked with investigating sofware options for our lower elementary students. My school distrtict has used the Edmark 'House' Series (Bailey's, Sammy's, Millie's etc.) for years and are looking to replace it. We also use KidPix and Kidspiration, I would be grateful for any recommendations.

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Permalink Reply by Judith Behrens on October 23, 2010 at 9:43am

Have you tried the authoring software Pixie, Share, or Frames from www.tech4learning.com. These software titles are great authoring tools. Pixie, and Share would work great for the lower elementary school grade levels. There is now a web version of Pixie, called Wixie.

There are even ways to integrate MS Office or Open Office components software at the elementary school level.

Judi

Permalink Reply by Wynelle Welsh on October 23, 2010 at 1:55pm

We love tech4learning software in our schools for creating projects and such. Pixie is great as is ImageBlender and WebBlender. I have used all of these with elementary students. The on-line community is great as well. Lots of ideas and projects already created by teachers using the software.

Permalink Reply by Judith Behrens on October 23, 2010 at 2:09pm

Here is copy of my latest news letter:

Wixie wins a 2010 EDDIE award!

Wixie has just won an EDDIE award. For those of you who haven't tried Wixie yet, it's an authoring tool based on Pixie, but it runs in your web browser! Learn more or try Wixie now.
Share is an EDDIE winner too!

Share, Tech4Learning's evolution of WebBlender and MediaBlender, also won a 2010 EDDIE! If you are already using Share, be sure to update to the latest version. If you aren't using Share yet, you will be amazed at how quickly and easily you can create sophisticated projects and share them as interactive PDF and Flash animations. Visit the Share page to learn more or download an evaluation version and give it a try.

Digital Storytelling with Frames

Digital storytelling is a powerful way to engage students in their learning, and Frames makes creating digital stories easy! To help you integrate this amazing medium into your curriculum, Tech4Learning is running a special on Digitales: The Art of Digital Storytelling. This fantastic book by Bernajean Porter will help you design questions and tasks that require high levels of thinking from your students. Normally $34.95, the book is available in the Tech4Learning online store for just $25!

Latest email:

This may be the first time I have ever written an email like this. We are not the type of company that sells on price. We prefer to talk about how our products help you engage students in the curriculum.

But, for a limited time, we are offering a phenomenal price for upgrading MediaBlender and WebBlender licenses to Share, and I just had to tell you about it.

Here is the deal: between now and December 17th 2010 (because let’s face it, who is going to be around to process a PO after December 17th) you can upgrade to Share for just $10 per license. It doesn’t matter if you have one copy of WebBlender or MediaBlender or a thousand. It is still just $10 per license.

Upgrade to Share for only $10 a LicenseIf you want to find out more, you can call us (877)-834-5453 download an evaluation of Share, go to the web site and watch a video, or do whatever else to find out about this great product. When you're ready, you can just request a quote!

Permalink Reply by Christie Rochester on October 23, 2010 at 6:04pm

Have you looked at Classroom Suite by IntelliTools? Authoring software with a share site. The software supports students with multiple abilities and access methods such as single switch scanning through their expanded keyboard (IntelliKeys) along with touch screens, traditional keyboards and mice. Lots of modifiable templates for language arts and math. Word prediction, text to speech, build cloze activities with word/pictue banks and the ability to create lessons and quizes using shared palletes. So activities can be scaffolded to meet individual learning needs. www.intellitools.com ~ Christie

Permalink Reply by Marian Ponton on November 21, 2010 at 9:22pm

Thanks, Christie. Our preschool have been using Classroom Suite for a number of years and I just found out that they are replacing it. Not sure why but will check it out.

Thanks,

Marian

Permalink Reply by Marian Ponton on November 21, 2010 at 9:19pm

I will definitely be checking tech4learning as so many people are recommending it - thanks for the suggestion - I will check out the online community as well. I am glad to hear that there are project to view.

Thanks,

Mairan

Permalink Reply by Marian Ponton on November 21, 2010 at 9:16pm

Thank you for the suggestion. At the end of last school year we looked at Tech4Learning - specifically Frames which I liked. I will check out the others that you suggested also.

Thanks,

Marian

Permalink Reply by e.cerny on October 23, 2010 at 8:23pm

scratch and kerpoof - these allow students to be creative, incorporate logic thinking, creative imagery and story writing.Both are web-based and currently free.

Permalink Reply by Kaylee hutton on November 4, 2010 at 2:49am

Your right both scratch and kerpoof are really useful to the lower students.....

Permalink Reply by Marian Ponton on November 21, 2010 at 9:23pm

Very cool - will check out Scratch and Kerpoof - I like free....

Permalink Reply by Nicholas Tee on October 25, 2010 at 7:34am

Hello Marian,

Zane Publishing published ober 250 CD-ROM titles for K12 which were very successful across the country - the concept behind the extensive library of software titles was to create a product that enabled each child to learn at their own speed and thereby achieve their greatest potential.

Zane Education just completed 4 years work to convert all that content for online delivery. This was done to overcome problems of constantly changing operating systems causing problems for software, to make the content more accessible and to reduce the cost of purchase.

They recently launched all of this K12 content in video format and for each topic they also provide online testing.

Here is an Elementary American History that is available to view today - on this page they are constantly displaying full versions of the videos that they provide on a suubscription basis.

http://www.zaneeducation.com/Videos/freevideo.php

All video except for Math are subtitled which provides each child with the option to watch, listen to, or read the presentation! An excellent learning aid for not only normal students but also special Needs, dyslexia and reading difficulties, visual and hearing impairments, autistic children, gifted students and overall reading improvement.

If you need any other information, please don't hesitate to ask.

Kindest Regards,

Nick

Permalink Reply by Leslee Vandernick on October 29, 2010 at 11:07am

We replaced KidPix last year because it was having alot of issues. We now have Pixie 2 for our drawing software. I found StationaryStudio and that is a great program for the kids because it is a writing program that allows them to work in a simple work area that is not as complicated as Word. For primary kids Word can be overwhelming and they get lost easily. If you are looking for a free typing program I found one on the web that I start with them in 2nd grade before they get into Type to Learn 4...just go to google and search for BBC DanceMat Typing. They have a good time with this and it helps start them on the basics of keyboarding.