I never cease to be amazed at how brilliant some free stuff is out there. Pixlr is an online painting and photo editing tool. You just go to the page and start painting, or you open a picture from your computer and start editing. All the tools are the ones you will recognise, then you just go File: Save as usual, and save the new version back to your computer. It’s fast, it’s totally free, and you don’t need to register. Superb!
Pixlr August 28, 2008
SwindonWiki launched August 27, 2008
Announcing a new site: SwindonWiki! This is to replace my previous links site, freeict.com. The purpose is for me to be able to share links and documents easily, as the previous site was, but also that any Swindon teacher or TA who wants to can contribute too. Please have a look, and if you would like to contribute, please contact Anna Fairhurst (afairhurst@swindon.gov.uk).
Yenka 3D Shapes August 27, 2008
For quite some time, I’ve been a big fan of Crocodile Clips Elementary, the free electricity simulation. Now the company which does this, Yenka, has produced a Maths version, Yenka 3D Shapes. You can combine 2D Shapes, create nets, drag the sides of the nets to make 3D shapes (and play this backwards and forwards as a film) and stack shapes. It’s very appealing and easy to use. They have been cunning and stopped the free version from having rectangles, though you can get round this by pulling a triangular pyramid net apart. However, if you like it, the full version is only £200 for a site licence for schools with under 600 pupils, including free home access. To install, you will need to download a basic Yenka program from here and then download the 3D Shapes bit from here.
