ICT Teaching ideas for KS2 KS3 Primary Middle and Prep schools

ICT software resources (mostly open source, free or low cost)

Software for the KS2 and KS3 IT / ICT curriculum

Specific IT skills, coding and programming

• Adventure Games Studio | Free programming app to create games. Suitable for KS2/3
• Alice.org | 3D programming environment. Suitable for KS3 upwards. Free.
• BASIC-256 | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Teaches students to programme they way it was done in the 1980s. Strangely more applicable than it might at first appear. Would work well with KS2/3 – as long as the outcome was interesting. Avoid using it for logo style activities. The 1990s gorilla/exploding banana game from MS DOS or a simple bat/ball game would be a good starting point.
• ePals Global Community | Free moderated and completely secure educational email. Ideal for in school use and penpals.
• Free Basic | Free programming app using BASIC. Similar to BBC B programming from the 80s. Would need extensive teacher input. KS3
• JCrypTool – Eclipse based Crypto Toolkit | Free Security & Utilities software downloads at SourceForge.net | Simple introduction to cyptography. Could make an interesting alternative unit for KS3 programming.
• Klavaro Touch Typing Tutor | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Another useful touch typing application.
• LOGO & Control  | Slightly more interesting use of LOGO programming, with examples and suggested activities.
• Logisim | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Great free software to design logic flow diagrams, edit, output and print.
• Macro Recorder, Macro Program, Keyboard Macros & Mouse Macros | Simple visual macro programming to automate common computer tasks.
• Microsoft Research FUSE Labs – Kodu Game Lab | Realistic visual programming which creates games. Lots of examples and impetus. Stimulating for KS3.
• MSWLogo, An Educational programming language | Simple programming software. KS2 and KS3. A little dull.
• Prezi – The Zooming Presentation Editor | Create interactive presentations with cloud software. Works well on IWBs
• Programming Without Coding Technology | Free Science & Engineering software downloads at SourceForge.net | Faily realistic visual programming solution suitable for KS3.
• The RoboCup Soccer Simulator | Free Science & Engineering software downloads at SourceForge.net | Introduction to AI programming as simulation software. Would work well with a bright KS3 / KS4 group.
• RoboMind.net – Welcome to RoboMind.net, the new way to learn programming | More stimulation programming software suitable for upper KS2 and KS3.
• Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share | Visual programming suitable for Primary and Middle students. Can be used to create simple games.
• Tux4kids » Tuxtype » Home | Very child centered touch typing app. The word lists can be editing, so you can include your English  / Literacy spelling lists and teach spelling and typing art the same time.
• Weebly.com | Easy website based web design software suitable for upper KS2. Education sites are free – http://education.weebly.com/ and can be moderated.
• Windows Live Essentials – Download Windows Live Essentials | Live Writer is good for teaching HTML, and can also be linked to edit WordPress blogs. Photo gallery creates good interactive slideshows and also stitched panoramas, and merged images.
• Windows Live Movie Maker – Time-Lapse Tutorial | Great if you want to create something like this: http://youtu.be/p5cxzHqlGB0
• Wink – [Homepage] | Create your own visually programmed macros to automate computer tasks. Simple programming and control
• WordPress.com and WordPress.org (if your school has free webspace) | Why bother with sub 1990s technology like NVU and use industry standard CMS instead. HTML, javascript, php can be taught in WordPress with the advantage of instant previews. CSS is easy to teach using WordPress.org. Teach them how to design a 2012+ website, not a 1998 one! Suitable for Y7 up.

Curriculum integration:

Art, animation and movie making

• Artrage Home | By far the best and most realistic free painting application.
• Blender | 3d modelling. Similar to After Effects. KS3.
• Gimp | Free image manipulation software.
• Go Animate | Very colourful and attractive animation software. Easy to start with. KS2
• Microsoft Photo Story – Download | Creates movies from still images. Captions and music can be added. Very easy to use. Will output to Youtube / WMV / DVD.
• Pivot stick animator | Great free stick figure animation program. Great for KS2-Y8
• Shape Collage | Free collage design software which works well with photos. Great for displays or presentations.
• Animation Education | Toon Boom Animation | Industry standard animation software, also available in education formats and pricing structure.
• Windows Live Essentials: Movie Maker | Great movie compositor and editor which produces output suitable for Youtube and DVDs

Design & Technology

• Room Arranger – Design room, floor plan, house | Great cheap software for graphic modelling. Designs can be outputted to png or jpg. The software also offers VRML walkthrough simulations (covers simulations) which can be saved and added to VLEs or websites.
• West Point Bridge Design Contest | There’s now an Open Entry (although only US citizens can claim prizes) . Great for simulation and modelling activities, and use of trial and error heuristics.

Early Years

• Tux Paint | Great interactive paint application for Early Year and KS1

English and drama

• Blurb.com Booksmart | Great make you own book website and free software. Suitable for Y7&8.
• Bobs Books | Another create a book service. UK based with quick delivery. More expensive than Booksmart but slightly better quality.
• Book Database Software, catalog your home library by ISBN | Fantastic affordable library software which works well for Primary / Middle school libraries. The software will cope with up to 10000 books with no problems. Self updating. Can also output and sync your stock to your website / VLE to allow students to browse library stock at home. Automatically grabs cover shots of the books from online sources – no scanning required!
• Bubbl | Free planning / Mind Mapping software. Good on IWBs.
• Countdown game | The letters game from Channel 4.
• Freemind | Free mind mapping software.
• Glogpedia – the best of Glogs | Glogster | Create virtual and interactive ‘scrapbook’ style pages or mini websites. Very good for ICT integration in English and Arts based subjects.
• Mind42 | Free mind mapping software.
• plasq.com | Creator of “Comic Life” greate storyboarding software. Works well for story planning and also for dyslexic students.
• PodProducer | Great free sound effects  / jingles push button cart – just like a radio station. Use for pod casting, or wirelessly remote control the sound effects for your school drama productions.
• Tagul | Very attractive tag cloud app – similar to wordle but has the facility to produce shapes. Good foe shape poems and calligrams.
• Wordle.net  Make fantastic calligrams, word clouds and and shape poems.

Geography

• Google Earth: Download Google Earth for PC, Mac or Linux | Can be used for geocaching, visual modelling and simulating activities on the ground, and uploading GPS data to handheld devices.
• Google Maps | Free mapping online application from Google. Can be integrated into office documents and websites.
• Geoguessr – guess your location on Google Earth. Great for IWBs.

History

• Dipity | Create a free interactive multimedia timeline. Great on IWBs.
• Glogpedia – the best of Glogs | Glogster | Create virtual and interactive ‘scrapbook’ style pages or mini websites. Very good for ICT integration in English and Arts based subjects.

Maths

• CIMT Plymouth Interactive Maths test for Y8 | Brilliant interactive mini site covering entire Year 8 syllabus. Great  resource with explanations, interactivity and quizzes with answers and scoring. Very suitable for Common Entrance Maths revision.
• Create a graph | Great looking graphing software for KS2/3
• Countdown game from Channel 4 | A good free version which can be used on the IWB
• Geograbra | Great geometry software. KS2/3 and upwards.
• graph | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Good mathematical graph modelling software.
• Tessellations | Free software to create tessellations.

Music

• ACIDplanet.com: Free Downloads: ACID Xpress | Free version of industry standard recording studio software.
• Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder | Free sound editing suite.
• Music Games | A selection of free educational music games
• MuseScore | Free software downloads at SourceForge.net | Free music score creation software.

PE / Sport

• Kinovea | Free video analysis software for PE and Sport.
• Sports Tactics Board | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Wow your PE department with this AVB style tactic board. Works well on IWBs. Doesn’t do Rugby (unless you rewrite the templates. )

Science

• Crocodile clips | (Now rebranded as Yenka) A selection of free software geared towards science and electronics.

SEN

• Sebran | Free multisensory software.
• SENTeacher.org.uk | Repository of useful software for SEN teaching.

Additional utilities

• AB Tutor Control | ABTutor | Remote Control Software | Features & Functions | The best thought out network/ICT suite moderation, help, monitoring and management software. Also considerably cheaper than the competitors.
• Adobe – Adobe Reader download
• Adobe Education Exchange | Free lesson ideas
• Camtasia | What the pros use to create screen recorded how to guides and instructional videos. Interactive quizzes can be used. A must for any VLE. Adobe Captivate is the alternative, but Camtasia is intuitive enough to use with KS3. Captivate has a steeper learning curve.
• Edmodo – Webinars | Help Center | Whole school / class solution for pushing homeworks/resources. An alternative VLE experience.
• Flickr: Creative Commons | Millions of free to use photographs and graphics – just credit the author.
• K-12 – Google Apps for Education | Free and works on a network
• Microsoft UK Education – Home | Free lesson ideas
• Moodle | Free Communications software downloads at SourceForge.net | VLE and CMS software for education. Getting rather dated. I’d use WordPress and lateral thinking  rather than this.
• OpenOffice.org – The Free and Open Productivity Suite | Free ‘Office’ style suite.
• ProQuiz V2 | Free Home & Education software downloads at SourceForge.net | Create bombproof multiple choice quizzes for your website / VLE.
• Teachit Timer | A visual interactive time for the IWB.

Educational licensing deals

• Educational software, academic software | Adobe | Edu prices for industry standard photo editing, graphic design, page setting, creative and video software.
• Microsoft in Education: Academic discounts, education resources, and IT solutions | Edu prices from Microsoft, and lesson ideas.
• Sony Creative Software – Resellers – Academic/Non-Profit Pricing | Edu prices for industry standard sound and video software.
• Technology curriculum software and solutions | Adobe | More from Adobe

Curriculum documents, activities and white papers

• NAACE Primary: Classroom Activities | Safe, but often less than stimulating.
• NAACE Primary: Curriculum Support | Some useful support documents.
• ICTCPD4Free: Free Courses | Good quality, and free, online inset. Lots of opportunities for collaborative learning.
• Activities | Computer Science Unplugged | Some very promising programming based activities.
• Khan Academy | Now that’s how to do a VLE!
• ning.com | Fed up with your boring looking Moodle VLE which only one member of staff uses? Use a ning – a really simply to use and visually attractive networking CMS which can easily be adapted to act as a VLE. Fully customizable with comprehensive moderation and access levels. Extensive guides and user groups describing how Nings can be used in education. Here’s an example: http://www.classroom20.com/ . Suitable for age 13 up.
• Naace: Naace KS3 ICT Curriculum | If this white paper goes through, it will mark the end of creativity in ICT.
• Pricing | Prezi | Educational pricing for Prezi – liven up your IWB use.
• Students – Dropbox | Find active directory and home/school logins annoying? Don’t bother  – use cloud sync applications instead. There isn’t a ‘perfect’ educational solution yet, but this comes close.
• Emerging Top 100 Tools | A useful list.
• ICT Inspirations | Some interesting ideas.

Related articles

• How changing the subject title from ICT to Computer Science in the National Curriculum won’t fix anything (postdesk.com)
• ICT Department Structure – what’s yours? (edugeek.net)
• ICT Experience Center De Verdieping by Studio 1:1 (karmatrendz.wordpress.com)

Tom Tolkien is a qualified teacher with senior leadership experience as a prep school Head of ICT. If you require consultancy and curriculum advice, or you are looking to fill a part time or full time vacancy for an ICT teaching position, please contact him via Linkedin.

See also:

• English teaching resources for KS2, KS3, Common Entrance and Scholarship
• 13+ Common Entrance Maths revision | Revision for Mathematics: 13+ Entrance Exams & 13+ Common Entrance (CE)
• Using film and media in KS2 and KS3 Literacy, English and Creative Writing
• 10 Creative uses for your user-used classroom computer