Region 2 Digital Library

Freeware & Shareware Sites for Education

 
 

Freeware sites

Freeware Games for Fine and Visual Motor Skill Building

http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/tangram.html

http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?500000007415

http://www.fierz.ch/4inarow.htm

http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/draw.html

Links to Online Sources

http://www.littlefingers.com (at the bottom of page - mostly for older Macs)

http://www.schoolexpress.com/compsoft/software.php (free software)

http://www.freeworksheets.com/ (free activity sheets)

http://familygames.com/freelane.html

http://www.adders.org/freeware/

http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/#kidsw (A few are free)

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/owlmouse.htm

http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/

http://www.kindersite.org/Directory/Games.htm (these seem to be online games)

http://www.cogcon.com/gamegoo/gooey.html (online games)

http://www.schoolhousetech.com/products/products.htm (has two free programs

http://www.switchintime.com/FreeStuff.html (free switch based activities for MACs)

Typing Websites

Teacher Resources

Freeware, Shareware and Demo

Programs on the Internet

updated in 9/04 compiled by

Glenda Hampton Anderson
Assistive Technology Consultant
Butte County Office of Education

Cursors

Windows

http://rbx.de/big-cursors/

http://www.anicursor.com/special.html

http://joescursors.tripod.com/HVCurPg.ht

Macintosh

http://allmacintosh.xs4all.nl/preview/204209.html

Demos

There are many free 30-day demos available on-line and by requesting a free CD version of software. Be sure to ask before you purchase so that you can provide a trial for students! A couple of my favorites that provide full feature products for trial are:

www.rjcooper.com has many demos of software for switch users and low abilities kids. This can also be requested in CD format.

www.inspiration.com has full-feature demos of their graphic organizer programs.

http://www.wordq.com/ provides demo software, which is a writing tool; used along with standard Windows word processing software to provide spelling, English grammar and punctuation assistance. It uses advanced word prediction to suggest words for you to use and provides spoken (text-to-speech) feedback.

http://www.premier-programming.com/ has Trial (Demo) Versions for the Following Products: Scan and Read, Text Cloner, Scan and View, Complete Reading System, Talking Word Processor, Text-to-Audio, Talking Calculator, Universal Reader, Ultimate Talking Dictionary, PDF Magic Pro, Talking Checkbook. You may also request a CD with all of their Demo versions.

Kurzweil offers demo CD’s of two assistive technology products. Their products help to empower students to take control over their reading and writing disabilities and establish their independence. Kurzweil 1000 is an advanced scanning and reading solution for the blind or visually impaired. Kurzweil 3000 is their scanning, reading and writing solution for people with learning disabilities or reading difficulties. http://www.kurzweiledu.com/

Drawing, Coloring and Creating programs

* http://www.priorywoods.middlesbrough.sch.uk/kidsonly/colour/colour.htm

* TuxPaint
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

* Drawing for Children
http://www.cs.uu.nl/~markov/kids/draw.html

* Doodle
http://www.adders.org/freeware/doodlepad.html

A simple drawing and coloring program which includes stamps (small pre-drawn pictures to color) of Winnie The Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Gopher, Roo and Kanga to add to your pictures.

* Rub a Dub
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/rubadub.html

Teach kids to mouse with this fun art application! Beginning mousers sometimes have trouble with the "click and drag". This fun little coloring book is designed with the tiniest tykes in mind. Kids can color pictures by dragging the mouse over them. The rubbing reveals colorful surprises underneath the black and white features!

* BlockCAD is a freeware program for building virtual models with Lego-like bricks.

You can save your models, or save pictures of them (.bmp, .jpg), even reuse a complete model as a part in another model. Everything can be controlled with the mouse, but it's also possible to use the keyboard for most of the commands, making 'routine building' more effective, and there is a minimum of text involved, to make it easier for kids.

http://user.tninet.se/~hbh828t/proglego.htm

Educational Games and Programs that you can play on-line or download to your computer

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/funandgames/

* http://www.kidsdomain.com/games/

* http://www.funbrain.com/

* http://www.riverdeep.net/edmark/ go to “Free Demos”

E-Text (Electronic Text) free books online - Electronic text provides access to digital materials for students with learning, sensory and physical disabilities. The Internet provides many sites for gathering e-text. Here are just a few:

* http://www.bartleby.com/

* http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/index.html

* http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/%7Edkbrown/rteacher.html

* http://www.gigglepoetry.com/

* http://www.childrenstory.com/tales/index.html

* http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/

* http://www.cast.org/udl/index.cfm?i=1300

CAST e-Text Spider: Searches e-Text repositories that index public domain materials and are free of charge. The e-Text Spider will pass a search term to the various on-line libraries and then display the returned results. If nothing else, bookmark this one!

Graphics

* www.google.com

Select the “Image” tab and type in your image search request. To copy just hold down the mouse on the graphic and there will be a little pull down menu that has Copy to Clipboard as an option. Select that and return to your document and select Paste. You can also select to download the image to a disk or your desktop and then insert picture from the pull down menu.

* http://pics.tech4learning.com/ includes “copyright friendly images for education” including American Sign Language. The Pics4Learning collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers.

* http://trainland.tripod.com/pecs.htm includes pictures that you can use for communication systems. May be used with Boardmaker or on its own by using a cut and paste method. Includes real pictures of many items, such as food, fast food places, stores, etc.

Graphic Organizers

* Math Graphic Organizers, All-Subject Graphic Organizers, Problem and Solution, Venn Diagrams and Webs, and Language Arts Graphic Organizers

http://www.teachervision.com/ go to Lesson Planning Center then to Graphic Organizers.

* "A picture is worth 1000 words." This is so true, and when students are juggling new concepts, a graphic organizer can be an excellent teaching aide.

http://www.freeology.com/graphicorgs/

* www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer provides PDF files of many graphic organizers. With the hit of a button they are available in Spanish also!

Internet sites that have listings of many programs listed by category with direct links and/or downloads:

* Educational Programs

http://www.adders.org/freeware/ then go to “Educational Programs”

* Math Support including basic addition to Geometry, Ratios and Statistics.

Hundreds of pages of Basic Math Skills. Interactive Practice on every page. An Explanation of the math topic on each page. Several Challenge Games on every page. Math Problems are randomly created.

http://www.aaamath.com/

Whether you are looking for developing critical thinking, letter names and sounds, adjectives, an algebra calculator or a virtual lab, Edmark has provided free downloads to support your educational programs.

http://www.riverdeep.net/edmark/

* Teach-nology.com offers teachers free access to 19,000 lesson plans, 5,600 printable worksheets, over 200,000 reviewed web sites, rubrics, educational games, teaching tips, advice from expert teachers, current education news, teacher downloads, web quests, and teacher tools for creating exciting classroom instruction.

http://www.teach-nology.com/

Keyboarding

* http://www.customsolutions.us/keyboarding/index.htm

* http://www.nimblefingers.com/

* Al Bunny's Typing Class- Type the letters and see if the bunny can beat the turtle http://www.sunmoonusa.com/TryAl.htm

* Flash Typing- Attempt to vaporize asteroids (letters) before they hit your space ship: http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/flashtyping.html

* Five Finger Typist- This site will provide information and allow you to download a demo version to try before you buy: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~softdawn/software/fft.html Versions available for both Mac and PC!

Math Support

* Calculator Home Page for Windows high functioning calculator. Free download.

http://www.calculator.org/

* Wide assortment of all types of calculators, ranging from 1885 Felt & Tarrant “Comptometer” Adding Machine and a Vector Calculator to an Astrophysical Calculator and a Linear Algebra Matrix Calculator. http://www.middleschool.net/MainFeatures/caculate.htm

* National Library of Virtual Manipulatives encourages active engagement in mathematical thinking and learning – helping students visualize relationships and applications. http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/index.html

* Flashcards for Kids

http://edu4kids.com/math/

http://fly.hiwaay.net/~palmer/mathflash.html

* Graph Paper- never buy it again! There are many sites that offer free graph paper or programs to develop your own. Great to use with students who struggle lining up their problems!

http://www.mathematicshelpcentral.com/graph_paper.htm

http://www.rocketdownload.com/Details/Home/4831.htm

* MathType™ is an interactive tool for Windows and Macintosh that lets you create mathematical notation for word processing, web pages, desktop publishing, presentations, and for TeX, LaTeX, and MathML documents. 30-day trial provided.

http://www.mathtype.com/en/

* Edmark Algebra Calculator - Download a free algebra calculator which shows its work as it solves its problem. Other on-screen calculators are available also.

www.edmark.com/free/

Modification Checklists

* http://www.createdbyteachers.com/modchecklist.html

* http://www.addcentre.co.uk/modificationchecklists.htm is specific to ADHD and ADD

Mouse Skills

* http://www.customsolutions.us/mouse/Internet_Resources.htm

* A fun exercise for developing a click http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf

* http://www.lawrencegoetz.com/programs/mousepractice/

* http://www.intelore.com/reflex/ provides a game that is available to download

On-Screen Keyboards

* http://www.ahf-net.com/reach.htm is an on-screen keyboard software that comes with a vast assortment of assistive technology tools. It was designed to help a person use a computer more easily and augment their speech if that is needed. Designed for people who have trouble using a standard hardware keyboard but can use a mouse or other pointer. Also provides support for single switch or two switches users by using a REACH keyboard in "scanning" mode.

* Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed for anyone with a disability that prevents him or her from typing on a physical computer keyboard. As long as the person can control a mouse, trackball or other pointing device, he or she can send keystrokes to virtually any Windows application or DOS application that can run within a window. Click-N-Type is a 32-bit application that requires Windows 95 or later. Freeware http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

Sign Language

* For $5 a month you can have access to: over 2,150 signs, Baby Sign, International Sign, Stock Trader Sign, Animal Sign sections and Sign Stories Articles at http://www.handspeak.com/

* http://where.com/scott.net/asl/ for learning fingure spelling.

* http://www.lessontutor.com/ASLgenhome.html ASL Lesson Tutor

* Here are a few American Sign Language terms to help those of you who are trying to communicate with a person who signs. Also included is the basic alphabet and numbers 1-10. http://www.masterstech-home.com/ASLDict.html

Symbol Support

* http://www.symbolworld.org/ has many on-line stories, some recipes, poetry, news stories, etc. written and supported with picture icons.

Text-To-Speech

* Please Read 2003
English, Spanish, German, French, UK English

For Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Freeware. Works in word processing programs and in e-mail.

http://www.readplease.com/

* Talk-To-Me

For Windows

Read your E-Mail to you, Instant Messages, web pages, your letters and documents. Send Animated Messages to friends. Greet you daily with the date, time, and a personal message and set alarms to remind you of events. http://www.talk-to-me.net

* Mac Users try Text-Edit Plus

Tex-Edit Plus is a scriptable, styled text editor that fills the gap between Apple's bare bones SimpleText and a full-featured word processor. It's fast, efficient, and has a clean, uncluttered interface. It's also great for cleaning up text, which is transmitted over the Internet.

http://www.tex-edit.com/

Tools

* WordWeb is a Thesaurus and dictionary for Windows

It includes a comprehensive English thesaurus and dictionary, and can be used to look up words from within most programs. WordWeb works from a small icon in your system tray. To look up a word in almost any program just double-click on the word to select it, then click the WordWeb icon or use the keyboard shortcut. If you are editing a document you can select a synonym and replace the look-up word.

http://wordweb.info/free/

* Fact Monster- Atlas, Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia on-line

http://www.factmonster.com/

Ø Visual Support

* Zoomtext (Enlargement and screen reader for Windows) Download and Trial CDavailable. http://www.aisquared.com/index.htm

* Bavisoft has changed the computer gaming industry. In place of graphics, audio games are powered purely with sound imagery, opening a world of entertainment for the blind and visually impaired. Bavisoft provides game players with music and sound quality, creating a gaming experience. http://www.bavisoft.com/index.htm

* http://www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/ecnweb/Helpdesk/FAQ/Visual_Impaired.htm Provides a listing of Resources for the Visually Impaired.

Final Word: Don’t forget that each operating system comes with its own supports, “To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.” To learn more about the built-in solutions that are available on your computer:

* http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/default.aspx for PC computers using Microsoft products.

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A Demonstration of Freeware for Students
With Learning Disabilities

World Congress on Learning Disabilities
October 11, 2004
Kristi Voelkerding, BS, COTA/L
Assistive Technology Specialist
Easter Seals Massachusetts
kristiv@eastersealsma.org

 

1. Doodleworks http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

2. Lofty Confetti http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

3. Kiddo http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/kiddo.html

4. Basic Mouse Skills http://www.adders.org/freeware/gomouse.html

5. Tidy Up http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

6. Facetoon http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

7. Memory http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

8. Shape Game http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

9. Sunstar http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

10. Press a Letter http://www.adders.org/freeware/index.html

11. Letters & Numbers http://download.com.com/3001-2051-7438267.html

12. Rebecca’s Bash http://download.com.com/3001-2051-7438268.html

13. Jellybean Hunt http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

14. Edmo & Houdini http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

15. Ultimate Math Practice http://download.com.com/3000-2053-10129786.html?tag=lst-0-22

16. Calcul http://download.com.com/3000-2053-8177076.html?tag=lst-0-21

17. Math Brain Builder http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

18. Alan’s Fractions http://www.greatfreeware.com/Games/Educational_Games/11426.html

19. IDaily Diary http://download.com.com/3000-2124-10211309.html?tag=lst-0-25

20. E Text Reader http://download.com.com/3000-2279-10285674.html?tag=lst-0-1

21. RnR Spelling http://www.download.com/3000-2051-9466057.html?tag=lst-0-25

22. Point-N-Click http://www.polital.com/pnc/

23. Break Time http://www.littlehummingbird.com/software/BreakTime/

24. CobShell http://www2.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobshellplus.htm

25. Spell the Fruit http://www.humboldt1.com/~hope4all/software.htm

26. Spell Most Common Words http://www.humboldt1.com/~hope4all/software.htm

27. Zero http://download.com.com/3000-2279-10146324.html?tag=lst-0-20

28. Kid Pad http://download.com.com/3000-2132-7420510.html?tag=lst-0-12

29. Kid Type http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/

30. Click-N-Type http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

31. Word Search http://www.coolfreesoftware.com/wordsearch/index.shtml

32. Jarte http://www.jarte.com/

33. Abi Word http://www.abisource.com/

34. Open Office http://www.openoffice.com/

35. Yeah Write http://www.yeahwrite.com/yw_downexe.shtml

36. Typing Master Pro http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10196577.html?tag=lst-0-25

37. Typing Test http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10196577.html?tag=lst-0-25

38. Rapid Keys http://rapidkeys.netfirms.com/en/index.htm

39. 10 Finger Breakout http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10168703.html?tag=lst-0-1

No Budget, No Problem!
More Freeware for Use With Students with Learning Disabilities

Closing the Gap 2004
Kristi Voelkerding, Assistive Technology Specialist
Easter Seals Massachusetts
kristiv@eastersealsma.org

1. Rebecca’s Bash http://download.com.com/3001-2051-7438268.html

2. Doodleworks http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

3. Lofty Confetti http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

4. Kiddo http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/kiddo.html

5. Basic Mouse Skills http://www.adders.org/freeware/gomouse.html

6. Tidy Up http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

7. Facetoon http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

8. Shape Game http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

9. Memory http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

10. Sunstar http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

11. Rebecca’s Letters & Numbers http://download.com.com/3001-2051-7438267.html

12. Ray’s Letters and Numbers http://www.rayslearning.com/

13. Zero http://download.com.com/3000-2279-10146324.html?tag+lst-0-20

14. Jellybean Hunt http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

15. Edmo & Houdini http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

16. Calcul http://download.com.com/3000-2053-8177076.html?tag=lst-0-21

17. Ultimate Math Practice http://download.com.com/3000-2053-10129786.html?tag=lst-0-22

18. Math Brain Builder http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

19. CobShell http://www2.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobshellplus.htm

20. Kid Pad http://download.com.com/3000-2132-7420510.html?tag=lst-0-12

21. Yeah Write http://www.yeahwrite.com/yw_downexe.shtml

22. IDaily Diary http://download.com.com/3000-2124-10211309.html?tag=lst-0-25

23. Open Office http://www.openoffice.org/

24. E Text Reader http://download.com.com/3000-2279-10285674.html?tag=lst-0-1

25. Kid’s Typing http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/

26. Typing Tutor www.aspex.force9.co.uk/ae/

27. Bruce’s Unusual Typing Wizard http://typing.qcalculus.com/

28. Typing Master Pro http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10196577.html?tag=lst-0-25

29. Typing Test http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10196577.html?tag=lst-0-25

30. Kiran’s Typing Tutor http://typingsoft.com/all_typing_tutors.htm#Kiran

31. SES Type Freeware (Spanish) http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~pmh/Type/features.php

32. 10 Finger Breakout http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10168703.html?tag=lst-0-1

33. Gabe’s Typometer http://www.informatics.no/

34. Click-N-Type http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

35. Point-N-Click http://www.polital.com/pnc/

36. Instant Poetry http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

37. Road http://www.en.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/vs-primary/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=7951

38. Lettris http://www.tigme.com/