A Web Browser Designed for Kids

This is something I think I'll be trying out with my own daughter. It's a web browser designed only to access 'safe' websites. It's made by KidZui and there is the choice of a free version or you can have a membership subscription. The free version gives you reports on what your kids are using the browser for and what sites they are looking at.
The subscription version gives you the same but a bit more detail. It also gives you kids access to more accessories and Zui clothes!! (Think I'll go for the free option)

Anyway, if you want your kids to have access to 800,000 safe websites without having to look over their shoulder the whole time, then this looks like a good choice. Runs on PC and MAC.

Hope you enjoy it.

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

Microsoft Small Basic - Simple Programming For Kids

Small Basic is a simplified version of Microsoft's programming language Visual Basic, suitable for kids and beginners. It includes dozens of lessons and exercises that explain basic programming concepts in detail. 

 WEBSITE: http://smallbasic.com/

For any child that has an avid interest in computers, one of the most magical experiences is when they write their first program. Microsoft seeks to introduce that amazing experience to students as well as adults with an impressive new programming tutoring tool called Small Basic.

Small Basic is essentially a "small" version of Microsoft's well known programming language called Visual Basic. Visual Basic itself is anything but basic, so by offering Small Basic, Microsoft can make <span class="fullpost">   </span>inroads with younger students. Small Basic may be a training tool, but it is a powerful enough programming tool so that some users have even created highly functional and intricate games such as board games or even simulations.

However, the real value of this software comes from its use in the classroom or in a home-school setting, where each lesson is laid out by Microsoft in a series of instructional lessons followed by exercises where the student can put what they've learned into practical use.


The Small Basic Application


When the student first download and installs the Small Basic application, it isn't really obvious how the software works. There is no instruction set or directory provided where students can just choose from available commands and functions. Instead, the student must actually work through the lessons and learn each of the functions individually. While this is more time consuming than a more visual tool may be, this lesson-based approach may actually provide better retention of that information.


Lessons and Curriculum


The most impressive thing about Small Basic isn't so much the application itself, but the fact that Microsoft put so much effort into coming up with a high-quality curriculum that consists of dozens of lessons. You can find each lesson under the "Small Basic Curriculum" header in the right navigational bar on the Small Basic website. Ideally, students should work through the lessons, starting from Lesson 1.1 and moving forward.


Slideshow Lessons


Each of the lessons are created as a PowerPoint slideshow presentation, so it's a given that teachers or parents will need PowerPoint available in order to work through each lesson with students. The PowerPoint lessons consist of animated slides that work through explanations of each set of instructions. Every lesson builds upon what the student has already learned in past lessons.


A Lesson Slide


Each slide is well designed by Microsoft, and obviously developed by someone with a good understanding of how students learn. The animated nature of each slide will hold the students interest, as actual snippets of code are displayed and the different elements of the sample program are pointed out.


Writing Programs in Small Basic


After each lesson, students can then go back to the Small Basic programming environment and put what they've learned into practice. Once they start typing the commands they've learned, helpful tips will pop up on the right side of the screen, showing the student additional information about the function and the many different properties and settings they can use.


Autotext


You can even see elements of other Microsoft products appear throughout the Small Basic application. For example, all the student has to do is type a letter, and the program will provide a pop-up box of suggestions of words that the student is probably trying to type. This is particularly useful for when students can't quite remember the full name of a function they wanted to use. All they have to do is type the first few letters and they'll see the function listed in the pop-up box.


Running Test Programs


When the student is finished typing their test programs into the Small Basic application, all they have to do is click the big blue "Run" button in the top menu. Small Basic will switch into "runtime" mode, and the application window will appear, displaying the textbox or images that the student programmed.


Advanced Games


For anyone that thinks Small Basic isn't capable of producing anything of any real value, all you have to do is browse some of the sample programs from the forums. Students often post the results of some of their work there, and you'll find everything from simple mathematical programs, to some impressive advanced game environments like tic tac toe or even a graphical driving simulator. The software is really only limited by the level of creativity and imagination of the student.

Source : http://www.educational-freeware.com/freeware/small-basic.aspx 

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Football vocabulary

This is a great free online game called GoalUnited. It isn't designed for education at all but I'm sure anyone who is keen on developing their English and has an interest in football would enjoy it and get a lot of vocabulary and reading practice from it.


The game is played in a similar manner to the popular Football manager computer game and each player builds up a team and plays against other teams online.

As I said it's free. It is available to play in other languages too so make sure your students choose to play it in the language they want to learn rather than the one they already speak.

I'm not really a football fan myself so I haven't really spent time with this, but for students that are, I'm sure it could be very motivational.

English version is here
To choose from other languages try here

Hope you enjoy it.

Best

Nik Read More..

www.Quickbooks.com/support - Intuit QuickBooks Support Online

If you are using QuickBooks 2009 to track and report Sales Tax, now go to www.quickbooks.com/support you can update to QuickBooks 2009 Release 10 before submitting Sales Tax to your tax Agency. You can also get all support for your product.

Hot Topics:

Downloading QuickBooks products
Use Online Backup
Request a product refund
Windows 7 FAQ
Find your license number
Problems creating PDF Read More..

Online Interactive Whiteboard with VOIP

Well the online whiteboard market seems to be heating up with another impressive offering. I wrote about Dabbleboard last week, and now only a week later I've just spotted Scriblink which takes things a step further and includes VOIP, text chat and provides users with link to their online board.

I just created this quick labeling activity using an image from Flickr creative commons



The site has now generated me a link to this page to share my whiteboard online.

Click here to check it out live (Takes a little while to load)

All this seems like interesting stuff for anyone involved in online synchronous tutoring.

Looks like it's free too!
There's a more detailed description of the features here.

Hope you find this useful.

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

Free IWB Software

Dabbleboard is a fantastic whiteboard application which runs in your browser. It has all the usual whiteboard features plus some nice extras.

It's really easy to use and draw shapes even using a mouse. You can embed images from anywhere on the web into multiple pages. When you've finished creating your whiteboard pages you can download them, share them publicly online or email them to students (great way to send your students notes or their lesson).

You can use the software without registering, but if you want to save and share whiteboard flipcharts them you'll need to create a simple account (which doesn't seem to require any personal information beyond your email address).

• You can see a good tour showing you all the features here.

The fact that it runs in your browser (seems to work fine in Firefox 3 and IE7) means that it will run on MAC or PC without any software to download.

At present the public library of flipcharts isn't too impressive and just looks like people testing out the software, but if this takes off there could be a pretty impressive collection of teaching resources there.

If you can use this with a data projector and Camspace controller software, then you've got yourself a pretty cheap interactive whitebaord to use in class.

Great stuff.

Best
Nik Peachey

Related postings:

• Who needs an interactive whiteboard?
• YouTube for IWBs with PicLens

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What can you do with a $100 laptop?

Well quite a lot it seems. If you're interested in those little green and white $100 laptops that have been making the news for so long, but still haven't got your hands on one and are wondering if it's worth the while, well this is the site for you.The Sugar Labs wiki tells you all about the Sugar operating system (as used on the $100 laptop), the kinds of software that have been developed to run on it and the kinds of activities students can do on it.

There's some really nice stuff here and it does seem pretty impressive. Now if only I knew how I could actually buy one!!! Drop me a line if you know.

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

Who needs an interactive whiteboard?

By the looks of this, the need for interactive white boards will soon be a thing of the past. You should soon be able to control your computer using a webcam, a piece of free software, and well just about anything!!



Looks pretty amazing. If it can work on these complex games, I don't see why it shouldn't work on ordinary software and a data projector. Could save on buying those expensive IWBs. I've signed up for beta testing, so I'll let you know how it goes.

The company that produces this is called CamSpace and the product itself is called CamTrax.

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

Free PDF editor

I haven't tried this yet, but I have just seen a free PDF editor on SourceForge.net

Here's what it says; "Free editor for PDF documents. Complete editing of PDF documents is possible with PDFedit. You can change raw pdf objects (for advanced users) or use many gui functions."

Sounds pretty handy. I would also recommend keeping an eye on and having a look around SourceForge.net as there is quite a lot of useful free software there.

Hope you find it useful

Best
Nik Read More..