I came across Anithings at a visit to BETT a few weeks ago. It is a fantastic piece of software which allows children to create their own animations on screen. They can design their own characters and backgrounds or use the ones provided. Recording the animation simply involves pressing the record button and then animating the characters by moving them around.

Here are some demonstrations of how to use the software. The first shows how to make a simple animation:

This video shows some of the more advanced features, such as drawing tools, storyboards and speech bubbles.

Any animations created using the software can be posted online and then embedded into school websites or VLEs.

UPDATE – This offer is now closed.

The team at Anithings have kindly offered visitors to Teaching Ideas and Teaching News a 10% discount on any orders of the software during February. To receive this discount, simple quote ‘Teaching Ideas‘ or ‘Teaching News‘ when you place the order. Schools and teachers using either of these codes will also receive a pack of 90 Anithings stickers featuring characters from the program… great for a display or as a reward for children who create amazing animations with the software!

Lots of primary schools in the UK use software by 2Simple. They offer a wide range of ICT tools which are incredibly simple and easy to use, whilst offering lots of creative opportunities. The company have just set up a blog which is worth following if you use their software.

http://2simpleblog.wordpress.com/

The blog has examples of the programs being used by children, ideas for activities to try, as well as sneaky peeks at up and coming developments.

I recently received an email with a link to this useful blog post. It features a list of 100 open source applications for educators to use. Open source applications are free, and often have specific uses which can be extremely useful for schools.

Take a look at the list and discover some exciting new software to use in your classrooms!

As featured on the Kent ICT blog recently, Sherston have an amazing deal which is only available until 30th November 2009.

They are offering over 100 of their best multi-award winning software titles for £1099. All titles come with full site licences so you can install them across your entire school networks. Visit TAG Learning to find out more and to take advantage of the offer.

If you work at a school in Kent in the UK, read the Kent ICT blog to find out how you can get this deal for £799 (but you have to order before 23rd October 2009).