Images and sound
From FreeICT
Images
For really simple powerful "movies" created from still images, download Photostory for free.
Photofiltre 6 is a fantastic image editing program, allowing a wide range of editing techniques including cutting/ pasting parts of images onto each other and resizing images (eg for websites). The latest version, Photofiltre Studio 9 is available for 25 euros for 50 licences, for schools.
Pivot Stickfigure is a fantastic, easy-to-use, free piece of software for creating little animated stick figures. The figures can then be imported into any presentation software to make children's presentations more interesting.
Google Picasa is another piece of free software to download. Its main intention is for arranging photographs into albums, but it also allows you to edit pictures, exploring different visual effects, and to compress them for insertion into presentations and websites.
With Google Sketchup you can create 3D models which look tremendous but which are really not that difficult. There is a straightforward tutorial program to introduce you to the main features. This is certainly suitable for children at Upper Key Stage 2.
Create your own on-screen dialogues with Bubble Dialogue.
Music composition
Finding Sound
Audio Network will only work in school
Podshow music free to download and use
Converting sound files
Most music composition software (as well as keyboards, etc.) can save music as midi files. Children can't import this into digital video software, Kar2ouche, Audacity etc, without converting it. The demo version of Midi2Wav is free to use for converting up to 10 seconds of sound from Midi to Wav. Most other sound file formats (eg WAV, AIFF, WMA and MP3) can be converted between each other using Free WMA MP3 Convertor.
Editing Sound
Audacity. To save as MP3 (if you want to upload your work to the Internet), download the LAME Encoder.
Podium information, with an introduction to podcasting.
ITunes download site.
Making the News. For Making the News help, go to [1]. To get your school set up on Making the News, contact Suzie Cowley at suzie.cowley@swgfl.org.uk.
Sonic Postcards is a website with some great examples of edited sound files made into compositions.
Some Example Podcasts
Radio Sandaig from Glasgow.
Prince Albert Junior and Infant School in Birmingham. Children have made traditional podcasts as well as putting lesson content in podcast form in home languages, for sharing with parents.
Educate lists school and other educational podcasts.
Wanborough Primary School also includes detailed instructions on how to subscribe.]
Other school podcasts which I have discovered through the ITunes Music Store (for free) include The Downs FM, Guru Nanak Primary School, Podkids Australia and Wigginton Primary School
Some other podcasts (through ITunes) which might be useful are CBeebies Best Bits (Radio 7), Cooking with the Moms and Radio Disney Now. You can "listen again" though not download the BBC children's radio programmes Big Toe Books and Go4It.
