Free/Open Source Software
These are programs that I have
come across, downloaded and used to some extent. All programs are
free or open source software. Check with your district technology
staff to make sure it is ok with them before you use this software on
your school computer.
***I am only listing what has worked for me. No guarantees of
how the program will work on your computer. I also am not getting into the
whole Linux argument either. All of these programs work on my Windows XP
tablet. Some programs also have Mac and Linux versions as well. Check their websites for more
information.***
|
Windows Movie Maker - handout |
Create, edit, and distribute .wmv files using video, graphics, and
audio. For use with Windows XP. A great tool for digital storytelling
with video. But you can only get it if you download service pack 2 for
Windows XP. So probably not technically "free" since you have to buy Win
XP. Creative Fun Pack for Movie Maker Winter Fun Pack for Movie Maker free Movie Maker how-to videos Windows Movie Maker 2 newsgroup |
|
Photo Story 3- handout |
Create, distribute .wmv files using graphics and
audio. A great tool for digital storytelling with pictures. You have to
have Windows XP. Right now it
is a free download that is not tied to anything like MovieMaker is tied
to XP sp2, so get it today.
System Requirements: |
| Sound editing | |
| Audacity- |
Audacity® is free, open source software
for recording and editing sounds. Then export the sound to an MP3, WAV,
or OGG file. Many podcasters are using this program to record. Good online tutorial on how to use Audacity |
| Wave Pad - | Audio Editing Software for Windows. Edit music, voice and audio recordings, cut copy and paste parts of recordings, add effects... Also gives the choice to install an audio converter, cd burner, a cd ripper, and a sound recorder. Just discovered this software so I am checking it over to see how it works. Of course they hope you buy their Master's Edition version after trying this free version. |
| Applications | |
| Format Factory | File conversion tool for movie, audio, and graphic files. |
| Open Office- | An alternative to purchasing other office programs. If you don't have access to MS Office give this a try. It comes with Writer (word processor) Math (equation editor), Impress (presentation), Draw (paint), Calc (spreadsheet), and Base (database). You can open most MS Office document in Open Office and save your Open Office as MS Office docs. |
| Mozilla FireFox- | A really good Internet Browser that is catching on in popularity. |
| KompoZer | A simple WYSIWYG webpage editor similar to FrontPage and Dreamweaver. |
| PDFCreator - | PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application. |
| Wink - | Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users. Then output to Flash, a standalone exe file, a pdf, or html. |
| Video Lan- | A free cross-platform media player. Handles a large variety of file types. Will also play Flash video |
| FLV Player | A free Flash video player. |
| Portable Apps - | Carry most of the software listed here on a flash drive or portable hard drive. Install the Portable apps program and the other software (such as Firefox, Gimp, NVU, Audacity, and Open Office) on your drive and have them when ever you need them no matter what computer you are at. |
| CMap | Concept map/brainstorming software similar to Inspiration. Get help on CMap. |
| Photo Editing | |
| Paint.NET | Intended as a replacement for Windows paint, it has become a free rival to other photo editors. Windows only |
| The Gimp- | An open source alternative to Photoshop. Can be used as a simple paint tool or a complex image manipulation program. Make sure you download and install the GTK+2 Runtime environment as well. |
| Tux Paint- |
For Kids, a paint program that is similar to
KidPix. Download the Windows installer and then the rubber stamp installer. Once installed make sure your run the configure program. Check out the documentation. |
| InfanView- | IrfanView is a compact, easy to use image viewer. More than that, you can also edit images directly in IrfanView, to produce a variety of effects. |
| Photoscape 3.0 - added 2-12-08 | Download the software to use the viewer, converter, editor, gif animator, collage templates, and batch editor (the C/Net download seemed to work better for me). |
| Picasa - | Google's software that will organize your pictures, crop, resize, fix color, add effects... |
| PhotoFiltre- | A better paint program that also will allow the user simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. Free for educational use. |
| Triscape FXFoto- | Free standard version to fix, crop, frame add text, print, and email your photos. |
| AndreaMosaic- | Create Photo Mosaic graphics (a big picture made up of a lot of little pictures. Very cool and free tool.) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Stellarium- | A free planetarium for your computer. Get the tutorial PDF from their website as well. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. |
| Timers- | Classroom timers that you can either use the web-based or download programs. Visit my website for these. My favorite is the Cool Timer. |
| Snippy | Screen capturing tool. |
| ZoomIt | Screen Zoom and annotation tool |
| Build your own Jeopardy game | Create your own Jeopardy game with your own questions and answers. Click the Download button on the top right side of the screen, then the Big Download Now! button. |
| Spyware removers- |
Spybot - free spyware removal program Adaware - free spyware removal program Microsoft Windows Defender - free spyware removal program Spyware Blaster - helps prevent spyware CWShredder - finds and destroys traces of CoolWebSearch Easycleaner - cleans registry files, cookies, and history Stinger -stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. |
|
Files your computer may need-
|
Windows Media Player Quicktime Player RealPlayer Adobe Reader Flash and Shockwave Player |
Last modified on
10/20/2008