Best New Software

Volume 32, Number 2, December 2004

Joanne Troutner

BrainPop. BrainPop. Grades K-8. Take time to explore this subscription movie service for elementary and middle school students. Indexed by subject area, these standards-based, animated videos provide a quick overview of the subject and a quiz to reinforce the concept. There are also experiments, activity page, comic strip and timeline for each movie. The site works well with a single computer as a teaching tool and does not require a high speed Internet connection. Free trial available.

Didi and Ditto Kindergarten. Kutoka Interactive. PreS-K. First in a series of grade-based edutainment options from the publishers of the Mia collection. Young users can gain skills in counting, pattern and shape recognition, alphabet learning and more. With well-done visuals and audio, this program works well with non-readers.

PhotoImpact XL. ULEAD. Grades 3-12. Check out this inexpensive, full-functioning and easy to use photo editing software. PhotoImpact includes a media organizer, a GIF animator, options for turning a series of pictures into a 360 o panorama, a collection of 1,200 royalty-free images and 300 animated GIFs. For those seeking a budget-friendly photo editor, this is worth a long look.

VideoStudio 8. ULEAD. Grades 3-12. This award-winning, full-function video editing software is easy to use and comes with superbly developed teaching materials. Novice users can begin with a movie wizard that takes the user from storyboarding to final product. Advanced users will be delighted with the vast range of input and output options. An excellent tool for teaching digital media.

Joanne Troutner is director of Media/Technology for the Tippecanoe School Corporation and owner of Creative Computer Enterprises in Lafayette, Indiana. She can be contacted at troutner@mindspring.com.