Photostory 3

Photo Story 3 is a free Microsoft program that allows you to create stunning multimedia presentations from digital photographs. You can add effects such as zooming into a photo or scanning across a scene similar to what you can do in PowerPoint. It is very easy to use as it uses a wizard format to create the photostory.

Transistions between pictures can be added as well as text and special effects. You can add music or narration  (using external microphone) to your presentation. Majority of image files and sound files work with PhotoStory 3. The presentation is compressed so allowing emailing or uploading to a website.

However PhotoStory requires  XP  as well as high end PC. As with any program in Digital Content creation, it needs the processing power and graphics capability to create the end result. Otherwise it will run quite slowly.

Photostory3 Evaluation

Minimum specification (recommended) 

PC
P4  1Ghz processor
512 MB RAM
SuperVGA color display
40 Gb spare HDrive space
Windows Media Player 10

 Content Generator

ContentGenerator.net enables anyone to generate their own interactive e-Learning materials - games, quizzes and activities.

Content Generator is a downloadable program that allows the user to enter their own questions and then instantly generate the Flash (.swf) file. There is a mixture of games and tools available, some free and some purchasable. 

Titles available include Interactive Diagram, Penalty Shootout, Walk the Plank, Multiple choice, Match-up, Hoopshoot, En Garde, Grade or No Grade and Fling the Teacher. No ICT skills are required as teachers just fill in the blank spaces with content and it will generate the activity automatically. It just requires an Internet Browser that is Flash enabled.

The games are generic and can be used for any subject. The tools are designed by a full time teacher and are very popular with students   

Minimum specification (recommended) 

PC
P3 233MHz processor

requires IE 6, Firefox 2, Opera 9

Flash 8 plugin 

 One Note

Other features allows you to save narration and link it in directly to the document you are working on. It is also easy to share and collaborate information.

 Google Earth

Google Earth is an application that uses satellite images of the world to make a fully zoomable globe

To get you started, and to explain how Google Earth works, there is a preloaded tour. Interesting spots are marked around the world, ranging from the Grand Canyon to the Taj Mahal. By clicking on the play button you are flown from place to place, zooming in and pausing at each amazing view. There are various layers that can be turned on, such as roads and borders. However as it uses satellite images some parts of the world suffer from been cloud covered on the day that the image was taken. Also the image resolution is very uneven through out the world. Cities are covered in greater detail than rural areas.

This is a great resource for Geography teachers but other teachers can find this useful. There are also loads of educational resources out there which you can find using a search engine. Finally to get the proper effect of Google Earth, you need a good broadband connection. This is not for dialups!