Jounal 6: Software Reviews

Kidspiration Review
I thought that the Kidspiration program was really cool and well put together. I think that it is a good resource for teachers to make hand-outs. However I think that this would be a much more useful resource for students to use to make their own documents and projects. I think that by asking students to use this resource to complete an assignment teachers can not only help the students to accomplish their ordinary learning tasks for their particular subject, but they will also be able to help the students to improve their build on their technological skills. I also think that this program takes into account audio, visual, and kinesthetic types of learners which is a great advantage.
As far as using the online tutorial, I also liked it. I have a very short attention span and I really liked that I could skip ahead if something was too mundane or already felt confident with my knowledge. I think that on-line tutorials are a great way to provide information to people that need extra help understanding something. I have actually recommended it to my parents and have subsequently had to spend much less time arduously explaining things to them.

iMovie
So iMovie is really cool. I found it super easy to use, not to mention that the capabilities are off the hook. It was so basic that I was able to jump right in and take some of my own footage to create a fun and exciting film. I loved this program and had a great time with it. I think that the ease of the softwares platform makes it a great tool for new users. This would be a fantastic resource for K-12 students. Just remember to save every so often because the program has a tendency to up and quit for no reason. This can destroy hours of work and be extremely frustrating.

I think that I could quite easily incorporate this program into the classroom. The film I made was done with a simple point and shoot digital camera that has a video function. I think that this software makes it possible for the most novice of users to become a film maker. It's GREAT!!!