Free Webware and Software for K-12 Students and Teachers

Did you see that one coming? Most of us have seen Google Earth in action on CNN News as they zoom in on some disaster. But GE's uses for learning are limited only by the imagination of students and teachers. If you're studying Earth Science, I can't imagine doing it without a volcano or mountain tour like those you can download from Google Earth Hacks. History teachers can help students explore Ancient Rome in 3D.

You download the Google Earth software to your desktop or laptop. This is memory intensive software, so if your system is older, check out the minimum requirements to run it first. Be sure to take a look at the User's Guide, because there are features aplenty. Also take a look at Google Earth Lessons to see what you can download from teachers who have been-there-done-that.

Because GE (and the tours/lessons) must be installed and run from each computer it's used on, I found it worked best in my classroom with a digital projector from a class computer.

Secure for student use at all ages when downloaded using a teacher's or parent's email account.

For a global view from a different perspective, try out ePals. Many of you may have heard of its usefulness in foreign language learning as a secure means that a class in one country can communicate with classes in other countries.

But it is so much more than that. It combines secure e-mail and blogging features. (Their SchoolBlog won a 2006 award for "best blog for education.") The collaboration features make it useful for virtually any subject area and grade level. You can create your own project, or choose from several available on the website.

All this, and ePal will match you with a class of students in China, Australia, India, Iraq, Bolivia, Kenya, or even across town -- 200 countries and territories. The email and blogs use translation software in six languages, so don't let lack of proficiency in the other class's language hold you back. And if you're learning a foreign language, I think this is THE place to go to practice it.

ePals is completely Internet-based and nothing needs to be installed on your desktop or laptop. I loved it three years ago when I used it with a class, and it has only gotten better since then. So catch the wave and join the global classroom!

Secure for student use. Student accounts created under teacher account. Outside volunteers working on projects with students have background checks before communicating with class members.

How about a free substitute for Microsoft Office? ThinkFree Office 3 combines wordprocessing, spreadsheet and presentation software into a free software and webware combination. It's compatible with older and newer versions of Microsoft Office and has the look and feel of MS Office.

You can opt to work completely online, or download the desktop version. If you opt to download the desktop version, you can work on documents online from anywhere, and synchronize them with your home or office computer when you return to it.

The wordprocessor, spreadsheet, and presentation software doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of MS Office. But it's very serviceable for student and home use. And so far, it's saving me the need to upgrade my MS Office 97 desktop software, so long as I can stay within the 10MB file size limit for the ThinkFree freeware version.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

If you'll be working just from your desktop or laptop, consider using Sun Microsystem's OpenOffice. Like ThinkFree, it is compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 and earlier. This productivity suite has a wordprocessor, spreadsheet, database and presentation package that all look very similar to MS Office.

In addition to its other features, OpenOffice contains a Draw module that makes it easier to create graphics, organizers, flowcharts, etc. Another module, Math, helps you to create math equations using symbols, then embed the equations in Write, the wordprocessing module.

Aside from these features, OpenOffice.org provides forums where users can resolve problems, study tutorials, and share templates. Many of the add-on templates are free, while some are commercial and will charge a fee. OpenOffice is compatible with MS Windows, Linux and MAC, and it's available in several languages. All together, this highly rated open source software provides lots functionality for teachers, students and parents.

Secure for student use when software is downloaded under adult supervision for students under 13.

Flowgram will be shutting down at the end of June. Look here for review of another site soon.

Flowgram is an up-and-comer webware site that takes presentations to another level. Flowgram makes you the virtual tour guide as you share learning using digital media on the web, such as photos, video, web pages and presentations. As you narrate, you can highlight important information, move around different parts of a website, or pause so the user can watch a video or read a passage. Flowgram makes it easy to share your creation via e-mail, a link, widget, or social web link.

Flowgram takes you well beyond static presentations and explanations. Students can use it to highlight key information they've found during a webquest, then include a multimedia presentation of their conclusions, new insights, etc. Teachers can use it as an interactive method to convey key concepts to students that they'll refer back to repeatedly during their study and test preparation.

All this said, a picture -- or rather a Flowgram -- is worth a thousand of my words. Look at What is a Flowgram? and all will become clear. Here's another example of a flowgram of a World Factbook tour created for teachers and students.

I'm really excited about this one. It may well become my new favorite and you can expect to see me make use of it in future lenses.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

IBM's Many Eyes is a visualization and collaboration tool that puts a whole new twist on your data and charts. It's simple. You upload a data set, then pick a visualization tool.

Among the visualization tools are maps, graphs, bar charts, histograms, scatterplots, pie charts, tree maps, word trees, and tag clouds. Below is an example of a tag cloud that blogger Joseph Miller created from a speech from Secretary of Education, Margaret Spelling. Read what Joseph Miller had to share about the uses of Many Eyes in the K-12 classroom.



You have to be registered to upload data sets and comment on them or to participate in dicussions. However, anyone can view data sets that have already been uploaded, and anyone can change their view of posted data sets by selecting a different visualization tool.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

Teachers and students can now create their own Wikipedia-like space for collaborating on and communicating what they're learning. Wikispaces has announced it will offer another 250,00 ad-free, private Wikispaces for Educators.

You can learn more about it at their Wikispace blog. There's also an excellent collaborative wiki for teachers, Classroom 2.0, with some great ideas for classroom uses of wikis. Create your own "Wikipedia" of classroom learning.

Secure for use by students of all ages, as student accounts are created under teacher account.

Audacity is a downloadable software sound editor. This award-winning sound editor helps students and teachers personalize their projects. The digital recordings can then be used in combination with presentation software or video software.

Cut, splice and mix sounds. Change the speed and pitch. Use it to create podcasts and mp3 recordings and download them to a player or CD. Convert your favorite old records and tapes to digital recordings.

Secure for student use when downloaded using a teacher's or parent's email account.

Flickr is a website where you share and edit your photos. Flickr handles the organization and sharing, and its partner, Picnik, provides the photo editing features. While each of these webware applications is a powerful tool unto itself, the ease-of-use and integration of the partnership has made Flickr a standard link-in in many Web 2.0 websites.

You can create private groups of students and teachers to share and view photos.

Flickr has integrated itself well into established online applications and services, such as blogs, Facebook and MySpace and news ones, such as Flowgram.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

Adobe has created a free webware version of their best-selling photo editing software. It's called Photoshop.com.

They offer a free membership that includes 2GB of file storage, the ability to organize and share photos, and many of the most frequently used editing features. Among these are red eye correction, cropping, focus adjustment, lighting and color adjustment, touchup, and a few special effects.

To guide you through all of these features, Adobe provides a series of How-to Videos inside the Help link. There are a myriad of ways to share your photos. You can upload and download them to your computer or mobile phone, email them, or create an album. Or you can log in to your Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa account to edit share and download photos on those sites. That's a lot of free flexibility from a top-rated name in the photo-editing industry.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

Get creative with your presentations using the cool tools at SlideRocket. This webware eases the task of collaboration on a presentation, as each member of a team can work online on the presentation at the same time.

The feature set and effects go far beyond what is available in PowerPoint. Your presentation can include video as well as the usual spreadsheet documents, pictures and text. Use what you already have by uploading your existing PowerPoint presentations. Then draw from a library of other resources you can make available to any size workgroup -- from a group of students or teachers, to an entire school or district.

Your presentation will have a unique url and you decide can limit who views viewing and editing to yourself or make it available to the "company" -- class, classes, school -- however your've defined it. Take a look at SlideRocket's demo to see what's possible.

Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.

I'll conclude this list with another collaborative webware tool. Using VoiceThread, you combine pictures, documents and videos to create a personal narrative around your theme. Highlight or mark points you want to make about the images as you discuss them.

Then invite other students or teachers to look at your presentation and make comments. Their avatars appear around your presentation with comments they write, speak or record by webcam. Take a look at What's a VoiceThread anyway? to get a good feel for what creative uses to make of this tool.

Brenda's Blog at Education World is an excellent article, describing the potential of this webware and providing examples. And Mrs. Lee's Fourth Grade Art is another example of what can be done in VoiceThread.

Free registration with an email address is required. There are teacher and school options for VoiceThread that charge a small fee. This gives all students a unique secure access to the site under their teacher's email account.

For free account: Because email registration information is required to work online, students under age 13 require adult supervision for use.
For educational account: Secure for use by students of all ages, as student accounts are created under teacher account.