Two new software progams on the web

Here are two quite different but both amazing on-line programs have caught my eye this week. I can see schools being able to make very good use of both. The first, an online art creator will be a dream for primary schools to add to their collection and the second, a data handling program should be advantageous to secondary education.

Myoats - an on-line art program

I would have loved to have access to this on-line art program whilst I was teaching in school. I can think of several children over the years who would have risen to the challenge and produced some amazing creations. No-one can fail! The tools are intuitive and very easy to use, the whole program is a treat for creative use.

Once your picture is finished you can download a high resolution copy of it, make it your desktop wallpaper or save it on the site for other people to see. Some of the works created there are undoubtedly the work of artists, the rest of us produce symmetrical patterns which is made incredibly easy by the program.

Apart from the artistic view I could see it being used to teach symmetry.

To create visit http://www.myoats.com/create.aspx

Dabble DB

Dabble DB helps you create online databases on the web. It’s easy to use yet extremely flexible and powerful. It can

· Create reports

· Sort and group

· Be used collaboratively

· Enable powerful filtering

· Be used to create formulas and subtotals

· Be used to make pivot tables

· Be used to make calendars · Charts · Maps

· Be used to design forms

· Be used to share and collect data

There is a cost involved for Dabble DB – but it is hard to determine from the web what that is for education. It is possible to use it under a creative commons licence so long as you do not mind the data being available to the public. For many exam classes this may be really useful, pupils can work on their data base in school and at home.

http://dabbledb.com/ Follow the link to find out more, sign up and watch an eight minute video clip demonstrating what it can do.