7.++Educational+Software

== Submit your examples of educational software here. Examples may be ANY type of educational software. We don't have to download it. Check page 200-201 in your text if you have questions related to educational software. ==

Monica Maurer – World Wide Telescope [|http://www.worldwidetelescope.org] The World Wide Telescope is a free visualization software program created with the Microsoft corporation. It allows your computer to become a virtual telescope, and you can view the sky from different wavelengths. The homepage describes two of the many ways to view the sky: in x-ray view or Hydrogen Alpha View. Educators have posted tours (from various observatories) of the Milky Way, the moon, and other planets. You can observe the moon and other planets from an aerial view and also pan in or zoom out to see different perspectives. This is a free resource for anyone to use, especially those interested in astronomy. The program encourages individuals to explore and appreciate the universe.

Laurie Peterson - Owl & Mouse Educational Software  [|http://www.yourchildlearns.com/learnletters.htm] Owl & Mouse Educational Software provides dozens of free educational software downloads and online interactive maps for educators K through 12. “Learn Letters” is one of many free software downloads that provides a fun and easy way preschool and kindergarten pupils can learn the twenty six letters of the alphabet. Owl & Mouse also offers free online interactive maps of all seven continents, printable maps, map puzzles and atlases. For educators teaching Medieval History there is a software program that allows students to create their own medieval town. Phonics and other active learning educational projects are also available on this extremely useful and free software download site.

Ness Garland- Caltrox Educational Software http://www.caltrox.com/index.htm This is a unique website that is set up for teachers and parents to use in order to provide tools to help improve the education of their children. One thing that really stands out about the site is they offer a lot of the programs for you to down load for free on to your computer and the others are not very expensive in price. It offers programs for math, arithmetic, English, and music. The programs rage from simple things with in the subject to more complicated, to satisfy a range of needs. They also have a customer comment board so that you can see how the products worked for other people.

Patty Landsly – Leapfrog Schoolhouse [|Leap Frog Schoolhouse] Leapfrog schoolhouse is a division of the popular Leapfrog Learning Company that brought interactive reading systems into millions of homes. Leapfrog schoolhouse offers interactive instructional software and learning systems to classrooms. The systems are being used in early literacy, reading comprehension, ESL, and special education programs as well as regular classrooms across the country.. There are a variety of different products. One example is the Leapster Portable Technology Center. These are ‘handheld personal learning tools” that let the student work at their own pace and assess progress in many different subjects. The Leapfrog product is an expensive investment for the classroom. The company does have grant programs to help offset the costs. They also have a resource center for teachers.

Bonnie Breckenridge-Board Maker/Plus Software http://www.mayer-johnson.com/MainBoardmaker.aspx?MainCategoryID=5419 Board Maker is a computer program that is used for children with intellectual disabilities, such as autism. Teachers and parents can use this program to make life easier on their child or student. The program can allow them to make calendars, horizontal and vertical diagrams, and much more. The point of the software is so the child does not have any surprises. It is used as a learning tool that allows teachers to create engaging activities that make learning fun. Board Maker Plus is an upgrade that gives you voice, sound, animation and video capabilities as well.

Adam Sharp- Merit Software http://www.meritsoftware.com/ Merit software is used for the purposes of reading writing, vocabulary, math and grammar. This software should help students improve on all of these skills. On this site you are shown why and how merit works. For example merit allows for all parties of a students life to be involved, including teachers, parents, or even Tudors. An interesting tool to merit is the built in tracking that allows for teachers and parents to see the specific areas of concern for the student. This opens the line of communication and understanding of what needs to be improved by the student. This program is recommended for elementary up to college prep including special education.

Jake Meyers- Compass Learning http://www.compasslearning.com/Default.aspx Compass Learning is software that promotes differentiated instruction, formative assessment, and targeted intervention. The software is available for k-12 instruction. The goals of Compass Learning are to use technology in conjunction with traditional learning methods. The various programs offered with the software are used in writing, reading, math, social studies, fine arts, and grammar. The various software for each grade level are created to appeal to many learning styles and keep learning interactive and fun. Odyssey is variation of the compass learning software that is a technology based curriculum that begins by assessing students basic knowledge of objectives. From their educators can easily prepare an education path for their students and use the software to log their achievement.

Brianna Duvall-Sheppard Software http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ Is a free educational website with many programs that you can use. The programs are mainly for kids to use to increase their knowledge on many different subjects while having fun. They have quizzes, puzzles, and games that make learning fun. Some of the topics include World Geography, Nutrition, Animals, Puzzles and even Brain Games. There is also a specialized program for preschool and kindergarten students. Teachers have used this website to get their students interacting in these subjects. The reviews on this website are amazing. There are also CD-ROMs that you can purchase with the software downloaded on it. They have a sale going on that you can pick any ten programs and get them all for the price of one, which is $19.99.

Stephanie Colby--Gradebook Software [|http://www.gradekeeper.com] Gradekeeper makes it easier for teachers to manage grades and attendance in the classrooms. Gradekeeper can compute grades, print reports, do seating charts, send email, give progress reports, and post grades online. Gradebook software is for Windows, Mac, Palm, and Pocket PC. A single license for Gradekeeper is $20 and $100 for a school license. It is $500 for a district license and you can also download a version free to see if it will work for you. Many schools and educators like this software and many teachers have praise to give for this software. Gradekeeper also helps parents see their children’s grades online and see how their progressing in the classroom.

Aubrey Findley--Caltrox educational software http://www.caltrox.com/index.htm This website show various different software that can be used to aid students in different subjects. It has a different product for each different subject matter. It uses straight forward methods that all children can understand. There are three different subjects that are used, math, english, and music. The different products make it fun and easy for the students to learn. This is an effective way to catch their attention and keep it.

Adam Padjen- Educational Freeware http://www.educational-freeware.com/ Educational Freeware is a site that has and reviews free educational software. This tells students, teachers and parents what software is good and what software is not so good. Some of the software is on the web and able to use there and some of it has to be downloaded. The software that needs to be downloaded is accessible on this page. It takes you through and list favorites and has other categories of the software so you can find what you are looking for. This site is very user friendly and a good site to find software that you are looking for as a teacher or student who wants to find a new program to learn.

Corey Heisel--educational math software http://www.educational-software-directory.net/math

This site is a great resorce for upcoming teachers because it is a free site that offers a quick way for anyone to get help with the problems they're having in any math class. Also, this site has several different sub catagories for math ranging from baisc math to all forms of algebra and geometry. It also gives a link to meijer.com for different software you can buy there for students or teachers needing math suplies. I would recomend this site to anybody that needed some extra help in math. The site also offers help in trigonomitry and calculus. Every student who needs help should use this site.

Crue Harmon - Math software  [|__http://www.mathrealm.com/Nav/Software.php?AdID=49&gclid=CJ2y58Lou5YCFRsRagod1WzsLQ__] This website is great because it has a lot of different materials and if you ever needed a couple of quick questions answered this would be a great site to go to and see a quick overview of a lesson. It would be great for a teacher to take a look at to get a basic things out of it and is perfect for a student because the website guides you through a lesson in one single page, giving you the different categories to choose from. It is easy and free which is saying a lot because software now days is not very often free.

Timothy Thrasher- Algebra Solve http://www.algebrasolver.com/features.shtml Algebra solver is the easiest way for a student to do and learn algebra. This software is really unique. You can type in basically any type of algebra problem, and Algebra Solver will not only solve the work but also show you how to get that answer. Now in the wrong hands this can be really bad, because students might begin to solely rely on this software to answer all of their algebra question without doing anything. Algebra Solver works for all types of algebra, even college algebra. This software costs 74.99. This can be great for the students who are having trouble with their algebra and just want a little help. Teachers will definitely benefit from this software when they have those students who don’t quite understand how to get an answer, you can have them look at this software to help step by step without taking away from the other students.

Steve Cavaligos - Interactive Resources for teachers http://www.downloadlearning.com/ Download Learning is a website that offers supplemental learning tools through the internet. Their software covers a wide range of topics including Fine Art, Geography, and "Utah." I thought that was kind of funny. You do have to subscribe to the website but the software is free. Some of the software follows a specific format like a game or activity for students which range over a broad range of topics but there are also some activities for specific topics like "The Tuskegee Airmen." I think this is a good website to explore and find that hidden gem.