While working as a technology specialist, I have found a number of quality free programs on the web for use in the classroom. I have included links to software for science, math, language arts, social studies and more. I hope you find something useful in this list. When this page was created, all of the software listed was freeware or had an unlimited trial version. If you find a link where the software is no longer offered for free, please contact me. In addition, if you know of a free program that would be a good addition to this page, please let me know. Cameron McKinley
| Site | Description |
| Study Dog | StudyDog Basic is a full curriculum software reading program for pre-K through 2nd grade. Available in both Home and Classroom versions, and optimized for PC and Macintosh, this program comes in 3 levels of standards-based reading lessons that are fun for your child. |
| Crocodile Clips Elementary | You can download free software for teaching the first principals of electricity. Students can simulate working with circuits using the software and actually see light bulbs going on when the parts are connected correctly. It is a safe way for kids to practice. The software comes with printable activities, too. Crocodile Clips was established in 1994 in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
| Google Earth | Google Earth is a free download offered by Google and originally designed by Keyhole software. Download this and you can go around the word and see satellite photos. You can also find detailed information on lodging, restaurants and more. Use tools to measure distance between places or to get directions. This is great software for lessons on geography, maps, measurement and more. Try it out! |
| Owl & Mouse
Software
|
You will find LOTS of free educational software here. Use the online interactive maps in addition to free map learning software for learning about geography. In addition to the map software, there are three free language learning programs including learning letters, letter sounds, and blends. You will also find a neat set of programs where students can make a town, village, farm or castle. The program lets you print out various buildings and/or animals for the project and students color and create a paper town. The site has links to pages that describe how you might use these activities in your classroom. The software is provided by Owl & Mouse Educational Software. |
| Tales Animator | Animate your favorite fairy tale with this free animation program. You can add sound, too. This takes a little bit of thought to use but can be quite fun. The program is provided free from DollySoft. |
| Celestia | This is a free 3-dimensional space simulation. It is extremely realistic. Check the documentation link for an excellent users guide. Chris Laurel is the software developer. Though the educational activities on the second link are listed for grades 7-12, the program itself can be used for younger grades. My five year old son loves to explore space using this program. The Motherlode site that includes add-ons and more documentation for Celestia was conceived by Joe Bolte and is maintained by group called the Celestia Motherlode Team. |
| Squeak | This is a media authoring tool used to design and create projects. It involves a lot of different skills which include sequencing-like programming commands. On the site you will find many educational uses. There is a great html page showing an excellent introductory project for 9, 10, and 11 year olds. Reading through this project will help you understand what Squeak is all about. Squeak is open source software, created by a body of individuals. You can read more about the significant contributors on the Squeak site. A new book by BJ Allen-Conn and Kim Rose was published in 2003. It is called "Powerful Ideas in the Classroom - Using Squeak to Enhance Math and Science Learning". It tells of exciting projects created in Squeak with 5th and 6th Graders and would be a useful guide for parents and teachers. |
| 2+2 math for kids-Click the English Flag | This program helps children learn how to count, compare numbers, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. 2+2 can be used for individual lessons as also at school. Interesting exercises, graphics, music and narration make children want to learn math using this program. Marek Andusiak created this program. |
| Community Signs for Windows | Use this free software when teaching environmental print. The program has sound and can be customized. This freeware is provided by Bill Straub |
| Switch Zoo | This site has an online activity where students can create unique animals and also learn facts about animals and their habitats. The site also offers a deluxe version download for educators. The free download ends September 2005 so download now! Only one download per organization. The form to fill out for the school download is here. This will allow you to download Switch Zoo Deluxe. Go to the web site for details on the Deluxe version features.You will also find a link to art, language and science lesson plans on the school download page. The program was created by Tubehead, a multimedia studio and publisher located in New York. Penny Kurtz (artist) and Guy Spataford (animator/musician) are the creators. |
| Sebran's ABC - Free Software For Kids | This is excellent software for preschool and kindergarten. The software is free and teaches letters, numbers, simple math, and beginning skills for reading. One of the programs helps with letter recognition and keyboard letter location skills since dropping letters have to be located and typed before they hit the bottom of the screen. Children will be delighted with the sounds and colorful graphics. The software was created by Marianne Wartoft from Uppsala, Sweden. All of her education software is freeware. |
| Site | Description | How Can I Use It |
| UnFreez | This is an easy to use graphics application to make animations. You can take a series of GIF pictures and turn them into an animation. The site and software are from Whitsoft Development. | Have students draw the steps in any cycle or problem and then animate them for the web. PowerPoint will save slides as gifs so you can use this program. Paint will also save pictures as gifs. |
| Irfanview | This is a FREE graphics program. Work with images with an easy program that can make you look like a professional! You can use this to crop photos, alter, rotate and much more. The software author is Irfan Skiljan from Bosnia. | Have students work with graphics or digital pictures to customize for use on web pages, in presentations or for use as signs around the school. |
| VicMan Photo Editor | This is a versatile image editor with an intuitive interface and a wide variety of features. Just click the download free version link. | Have students work with graphics or digital pictures to customize for use on web pages, in presentations or for use as signs around the school. |
| PIXresizer | PIXresizer is a photo resizing program to help you create web and e-mail
friendly versions of your pictures with smaller file sizes.
The reduced files are saved in a different folder, so your original images are not changed. PIXresizer automatically recognizes image sizes and calculates the best fit. It can also convert between image formats, rotate images, convert to grayscale and resize multiple images all at once. |
You can get all those digital photos ready for the web easily now. You can also send smaller image files to parents through e-mail. |
| WinMorph | This program will let you create a free morph by taking two images and morphing them into one. There are many great options in this free program. The Developer is S. Satish Kumar | Use a before picture and an after picture to show growth or progression. Examples might include seed to plant, baby to child, room before and room after decoration or construction changes. |
| Picasa Photo Organizer | This is a free picture organizer from Google. It will help you find photos on your computer, edit photos and remove red-eye, create and share albums, print your photos easily. | Easily organize and edit class and school photos for presentations and lessons. |
| Photo Story | This program lets you create slideshows with digital photos. The program has many features that allow you to touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures. You can also add special effects, soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. You can personalize the stories with titles and captions. Watch them on your TV, a computer, or a Windows Mobile–based portable device. Microsoft offers this excellent program free. | Have students create a photo story for your lesson. An example might be to research someone who survived the Holocaust and to create a photo story with facts, pictures, music and narration to tell the story. This idea can be adjusted to fit your particular topic. Students can show what they've learned through powerful multimedia Photo Story presentations. |
| Site | Description |
| FireFox Browser | Firefox is a web browser that has a lot of neat features such as tabbed browsing, easier bookmark organization, and more. Try it out! It's free! You can download it at this site. The software producer is Mozilla, an open source developer with many contributors. |
| Moodle | Moodle is free, open source software to allow educators to provide online course delivery. Moodle is a collaborative effort with many contributors. Moodle started with a man named Martin Dougiamas. |
| Site | Description |
| Open Office | This is a free office program suite which includes a word processor, database, spreadsheet and presentation program. The programs work almost exactly like Microsoft Office. The programs can open files with Office extensions. In addition, files created in the suite can be saved as Microsoft Office files.Open Office is a collaborative effort. Contacts include: Jacqueline McNally OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead and Louis Suárez-Potts OpenOffice.org Community Manager CollabNet, Inc. |
| IHMC Cmap Tools-Concept Mapping Tool | This is a free concept mapping tool. Though it is not as colorful as Inspiration, it does create concept maps for free. There is good online documentation and maps can be uploaded to the web. The program was created by Joseph D. Novak. |
| IKeepBookMarks | Be more productive by keeping your bookmarks/favorites online. Wherever you have access to the Internet, you have access to your bookmarks. Set up your free account online. Though there is nothing to download, you can put a link on your toolbar or in your favorites for an easy pop-up menu to add bookmarks. This site was created by Software Designs Development Corp. |
| Timer | Use this online timer for group work or breaks. You can add this timer to your web site by going here to get the necessary files and instructions. If you want a standalone timer, try this downloadable version. Thanks to Vicki Blackwell for the online timer and link to the source. The downloadable program timer is courtesy of Paul Scott. |
| Site | Description |
| SwapMouseButtons | SwapMouseButtons is a free utility program to quickly and easily swap the mouse's left and right button assignments by just pressing the F12 key on the keyboard. This program is for use with Microsoft Windows. |
| Zoom | This is a screen-enlargement utility for those with trouble seeing. It displays a floating window that shows an enlarged view of the area around the cursor. Paul Scott created this freeware program. |
| ReadPlease | Read Please is free software that will read the text on your screen. There are choices of different voices, too. The standard version is free but there is a charge for the Plus version. This software is provided by the ReadPlease Corporation. |
| ClickAid Mouse Helper | This program is for those who have trouble using a physical mouse to double click or switch between mouse buttons. It works will all types of touch devices. This freeware is provided by Polital Enterprises LLC. |
| Additional Accessibility Programs | This is my accessibility bookmark folder. As I find new programs, I add them to this folder on Ikeepbookmarks.com.. Links provided by Cameron McKinley. |
| Site | Description |
| Free Play Music | This site offers free original music in many categories. You can search by style, feel or category. Make sure you read the terms of use. It is free in certain circumstances. For educational, non-commercial use it is limited to student use on school grounds and in the classroom - non broadcast. If you have questions, contact Scott Schreer Freeplay Music, Corp. |
| Sheppard Software Free Online Web Games for Geography, Vocabulary and Trivia | There is nothing to download. These free online games are a great online tool for learning. There are different levels for learners. There are also options for dial-up versus high speed access. These games are high quality. Try them today! Thanks to Sheppard Software for offering these great resources. They do sell computer software for some of the online web games plus other software for home use but they offer them free for schools. Explore the site and you will see how to get software for your school for free. |
| Storyline Online | The Screen Actors Guild Foundation together with its BookPALS program offer this excellent online reading site. Hear famous Screen Actors Guild members read quality books. These videos are free to stream online. However, you cannot download the videos at this time. One of my favorites is No Mirrors in My Nana's House. It even has the song at the end of the book. Each book has free downloadable lesson plans and activities. Enjoy! |
Contact Me: Cameron McKinley |