Patty Chiles
Douglas School
444 W. Reynolds
Springfield, Illinois
List of technology resources for my school
Three years ago Douglas operated out of mobile units. The technology available was almost nil. When I came to Douglas three years ago the building had just been remodeled and opened up. The first year there we had six new Macintosh LC580s. My second year at Douglas we purchased some software. This school year at Douglas we obtained twelve new Macintosh 5400s with monies from the Safe Schools program.
Our school does not have a PTA or PTO so we are dependent on district money. We have a smaller population so the percentage of money naturally is smaller too. We are slowly growing and adding to our technology resources. The ONLY good thing about this is that it probably makes this assignment a little easier for me.
Computers and peripherals
Six Macintosh LC 580s
Two Apple IIs
Twelve Macintosh 5400s (Purchased with Safe School monies. Should we lose Safe School monies we would also lose these twelve computers.)
One Visioneer Scanner
Two Quikcams - (One purchased through Safe Schools)
Two LTVs - (One purchased through Safe Schools)
Software available at Douglas
Each District 186 school has a CD available which contains all the district licensed software. That will be the first portion of this list followed by a listing of the other software we have available.
District Licensed MECC Software for the Mac
The Amazon Trail - version 1.0- This is simulation software. It is similar to Oregon Trail. The students do not find it near as interesting as Oregon Trail. You canoe down the Amazon viewing things along the way. The user can take pictures and find out information about the Amazon.
BodyScope - version 1.0- Contains various, simple activities that will help your students learn about human anatomy.
Dino Park Tycoon - version 1.1- Students use many skills to run a theme park full of dinosaurs. They decide what to purchase for the park, what to charge for admission, what to pay employees, and so on. My students love this. The only problem is that you can play forever. Students always need to stop and save.
Easy Color Paint - version 3.0- Students can draw and paint. They can use a variety of utensils.
The Geometric Golfer - version 1.1- Students use reflecting polygons that they flip all around to try to get the ball in the hole using as few "strokes" as possible. This has also been popular with my junior high students.
Number Munchers - version 1.2- This is a skill and drill. A little monster runs around and "eats" factors or multiples of numbers. You have to keep alert and watch out for the bad monsters running around too. Students enjoy it. Great if you only have a few minutes leftover.
Odell Down Under - version 1.0- Students explore the ocean. They select a fish and swim around finding the right things to eat to stay alive. They have to watch out for predators. Pretty enjoyable.
Oregon Trail - version 1.1- A simulation where students need to make a variety of decisions to cover the Oregon Trail. A record of scores is kept which encourages students to keep playing to do better each time. It uses a variety of skills and problem solving. An old favorite.
The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary - version 1.2- A little man runs around an island and must solve different tasks. He has to move tires from three poles to stack in order. He has to do tangram puzzles. Several math problem solving skills the students enjoy.
Storybook Weaver- A fun writing program. Students enjoy changing the story illustrations around.
TesselMania-Students can manipulate tessellations around.
USA Geograph- Contains national maps and data.
Word Munchers - version 1.2- A little monster runs around and "eats" words with certain vowel sounds. Skill and drill, but good practice.
World GeoGraph II - version 1.0- Maps and data of the world.
Troggle Trouble CD- Math skills for grades 1 through 6.
Writing Along the Oregon Trail - version 1.0- Writing activities to supplement the Oregon Trail software.
The software just listed should be on every computer in our building. If it is not the classroom teacher should go to the office, check out the CD, and load it up. For the Macintosh 580s Patty Chiles has the floppy disks you can use to load up. They are her personal copies that she purchased from the district so please see that they are returned to her.
Our district has software that is available for purchase at very reasonable prices.
I'll list what is available and then what our building has.
At Ease ----- 19.00
Claris Home Page -----35.00
Claris Works for Kids ----- available on K-12 CD
Claris Works 4.04 ------ available on K-12 CD
Disinfectant (3.7) ----- available on K-12 CD
Filemaker ----- 48.00
Flash-It ----- available on K-12 CD
Hyper Studio ----- 38.00
J & S Grade Book ----- 5.00
Kid Pix ----- 19.00
Microsoft Excel ----- 26.00
Microsoft Office '98 ----- 49.00
Netscape 2.0 ----- available on K-12 CD
Netscape 4.04 ----- available on K-12 CD
Power Point ----- 26.00
Quick Time 3.0
Stuff-It Expander ----- available on K-12 CD
Some teachers in my building may have software on their computers that they have purchased on their own through computer services. I will list all the software that has been installed by our school.
At Ease -This has been installed on every computer at Douglas. It is a tool for teachers that allows the teacher to select what software is available for the students to use. It keeps the students out of the hard drive. This keeps your grade book fairly safe and will save many headaches from things getting accidentally moved around by students.
Claris Works for Kids- A simpler version of the Claris Works word processing program.
Claris Works 4.04- Everyone needs this! It has word processing, data bases, clip art, slide shows, and numerous other features.
Disinfectant (3.7)- To protect the computer from viruses.
Flash - It
Hyper Studio - A multimedia program. It has word processing, graphics, slide shows.
Netscape 4.04- Provides access to the Internet.
Stuff-It- Expander
Other available software at Douglas
We have three Apple Education Series Elementary Reference Bundles and three Apple Education Series Secondary Reference Bundles.
At this time I do not have access to the Secondary Bundles to list, but I do have the Elementary Bundle which is listed below.
My First Incredible, Amazing Dictionary CD
Four word games that teach about word sounds and their meanings.
The San Diego Zoo Presents ... The Animals! from Mindscape, Inc.
Experts from the San Diego Zoo teach students about animals through video clips, stories, movies, pictures, and exhibits. Lots of info.
Dinosaur Adventure from Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
Learn about dinosaurs through text, movies, games. Voted the "Best Elementary Education Program".
Electronic Arts 3D Atlas from Electronic Arts
Has a 3D interactive globe to let students explore geography in a new way. Has lots of geographical information.
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia from Mindscape, Inc.
Resource software that includes text with added video and animation. User friendly.
Guinness Multimedia Disc of Records from Mindscape, Inc.
Like the Guinness Book of Records, but better. Has all the information plus QuickTime movies and numerous photographs.
HyperStudio from Roger Wagner Publishing,Inc.
This is on each computer in our building. Can be used to create multimedia productions incorporating text, video clips, and pictures.
Macmillan Dictionary for Children from Simon & Schuster Interactive
Learn words, definitions, spelling, pronunciation, and more.
Microsoft Art Gallery for the Macintosh from Microsoft Corporation
2,000 painting masterpieces from the National Gallery in London. 700 artists. Animation demonstrates artists' techniques.
The Rainforest: ZooGuides from REMedia, Inc.
Detailed information on the rain forests. Information on saving the rain forests.
The Rosetta Stone PowerPac from Fairfield Language Technologies
A multimedia tool for learning five different languages.
Small Blu Planet: The Cities Below - The Aerial Atlas of America from Now What Software
Relief maps, aerial maps, and cities almanac.
Space Adventure from Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
Space exploration, solar system, rockets, robotics. It uses video, photographs, and illustrations for better comprehension.
Time Almanac: Reference Edition from Compact Publishing, Inc.
A fully indexed collection of Time magazine.
The Way Things Work from Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.
All about inventions. Lots of cute graphics and sounds. Learn about inventors and inventions. Helps with understanding how various machines work.
Last year our school purchased additional software. In doing this project it has brought to light the need to list all software and its location in the building. Software was distributed to different teachers and I feel many teachers are unaware of what the other teachers have. The principal and technology support teacher from Douglas have been made aware of this problem and we will be correcting it this August.
Two that I am aware we have are Super Science Show and Where in the World is Carmen Santiago. Several software programs were ordered at the end of this year. We have requested Gold Medal Math , Sim Ant, and GeoSafari.
We are going to create a cabinet for our software where it can be checked out. This will allow access by all. We have also discussed listing a brief description and review of each piece of software. We believe a descriptive list would increase usage of the resources we have available.
"There's no place like home. There's no place like home."