software

Free SoftwareGenerally speaking we all expect to have to pay for the software we put on our computers. But there is an enormous amount of software Click on any of the titles below to be taken to further information about the software. Free software is usually released under the GNU or GPL licence - please see this web site for more information. Alice


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Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. The adapted version Storytelling Alice is aimed at encouraging children to develop programming skills through storytelling. Both programs come with a gallery of 3D characters and scenery and operate in the same way. However Storytelling Alice has a larger gallery with custom animations designed to spark story ideas. While initially the program make look very daunting to use it has a set of useful tutorials that enable you to get up to speed with how it works very quickly. The tutorials within storytelling Alice are much more story based rather than simple how to guides. Both versions were developed by Carnegie Mellon University with an updated version Alice 3.0 currently in production. Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) has agreed to help underwrite the development of Alice 3.0 and provide essential art assets from "The Sims™," the best selling PC videogame of all time. "The Sims" content will transform the Alice software from a rudimentary, 3-D programming tool into a compelling and user-friendly programming environment. Development for Alice 3.0 will begin immediately and will span the next 18 to 24 months.

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Download Storytelling Alice

Help Alice Help Storytelling Alice Help

[|Klik n Play]
. Klik & Play, is an easy to use program for creating simple 2D games. You don't have to know anything about programming to use Klik & Play. Games can be made quickly and easily by dragging and dropping predrawn artwork. The interface is slightly outdated but still usable. Users can play preloaded games; additionally there are a number of games available that have been made using this software that can be viewed on the sites listed in the resources box. The program itself is fairly old and no longer supported by the clickteam.

Help
Tutorials Sample games with tutorial Examples Sonic game

[|Adventure Maker]
Adventure Maker is a fantastic, free program to create point-and-click games and multimedia software. It has a freeware version and you can also upgrade to a full edition offering a few extra features. The freeware version is more than adequate for schools that are just getting started There is a range of help available via the Adventure Maker website and a forum to share ideas, problems and solutions with others. The best thing about this software is that you can use it to create games not only for Windows but for a range of handheld devices such as the PSP, iPhone, and iPod touch. The tutorials are really easy to use and within seconds I had created a simple game. All you have to do is to import your pictures, add some hotspots to link the pictures to one another, and you are done! Download Adventure Maker Online Manual

[|Camstudio] CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files. Using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs) Here are just a few ways you can use this software:


 * You can use it to create demonstration videos for any software program
 * Or how about creating a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions?
 * You can create video tutorials for school or college class
 * You can use it to record a recurring problem with your computer so you can show technical support people
 * You can even use it to record new tricks and techniques you discover on your favourite software program, before you forget them

· CamStudio can also add high-quality, anti-aliased (no jagged edges) screen captions to your recordings in seconds and with the unique Video Annotation feature you can even personalise your videos by including a webcam movie of yourself "picture-in-picture" over your desktop. · And if all that wasn't enough, CamStudio also comes with its own Lossless Codec that produces crystal clear results with a much smaller filesize compared with other more popular codecs, like Microsoft Video 1. · You have total control over the output of your video: you can choose to use custom cursors, to record the whole screen or just a section of it and can reduce or increase the quality of the recording depending on if you want smaller videos (for emailing to people, for instance) or you can have "best quality" ones for burning onto CD/DVD. · But all of these features would be worthless if CamStudio wasn't easy to use ... fortunately that's not the case. CamStudio can be learned in a matter of minutes and comes with a comprehensive built-in helpfile, so if you do manage to get stuck, you can simply hit "Help" and get the answers you need. Download Camstudio

Help Online forum

=MS Logo=

Logo is a well know program which can be found in many schools. There are a number of different versions available, both free and commercial, but essentially they all do the same thing. MS Logo introduces pupils to the basics of computer programming. Whilst the programme looks very simple it has a variety of uses for both mathematics and ICT lessons. The on-screen cursor can be easily programmed to produce shapes and drawings and can also be used to aid with simple modelling and real-life use of angles Download MS Logo Logo Foundation Advice for all things related to Logo Lesson Plans A great site including lesson plans, case studies and other resources Worksheets East Riding have produced a scheme of work complete with worksheets for use with Softease that can be easily adapted
 * Help**

=Scratch= Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. It can be used for a number of primary modules including modelling, control and multimedia presentations. It can also be used at Key Stage 3 and 4 to design games and produce films. The Scratch website is well worth a visit, it contains a number of resource sheets including a user friendly guide to getting started and help cards for complete beginners. The scratch site also contains a gallery of user created presentations. Download Scratch [|GettingStarted.pdf] 2.26 MB
 * Teacher's guide**

There are a number of great resources on the web for using Scratch in your classroom. KS3 Scheme of Work =Pivot= A simple, easy to use, stickfigure animator based on the idea of a flipbook. This programme is a great way of introducing children to frame- by- frame animation. Users can load backgrounds including photographs or images drawn using a paint package and create new stick figures. A range of figures come preloaded including animals and the alphabet. Movies can be exported for insertion in websites or to be played as films. Combined with other animation software, Pivot films can be taken to an even higher level. The individual images can be exported and then edited before inserting into a programme such as Moviemaker. Once in Moviemaker it is posible to add special effects and sounds to Pivot animations. Why not give it a try? A programme similar to Pivot is Easytoon in which users have much more control over what they are drawing. Using Easytoon students can create black- and- white animations. It is more complicated to use than Pivot and is not being updated. Download Easytoon here. Video Tutorials
 * Scheme of work**

media type="file" key="Pivot for beginners.flv" width="360" height="270"

Download Pivot

[|Pivot guide.pdf] 94.78 kB
 * Teacher's Guide**

=Audacity= This is the free software used to create audio podcasts on your PC. Using this software you can record and edit sounds. It is relatively simple to use and can be applied to many different curriculum areas. To export the audio as MP3s you will need to download and install the LAME MP3 software. Details on how to do this are available on the Audacity help page.

Download Audacity

This guide has been produced by members of the Northern Grid for Learning [|UsingAudacity.pdf] 388.42 kB
 * Teacher's Guide**