Our mission here at Kidz Online is to make technology a viable tool in your classroom for both you and your students. In an ideal world every school would have an unlimited budget with access to all of the industry standards of hardware and software. Unfortunately, we all know that just isn't reality. When we present technologies we aim to show the industry standard tools along with free or almost free alternatives. Check out the list below for ideas on how to get started with a limited or no budget. For additional resources, check out our project materials information.

  1. Digital Imaging - Instead of using Adobe Photoshop, you can edit images on MS Paint,a free tool that comes standard with Microsoft Windows. It is located on any PC under the start menu, then programs, then accessories. Or for more features, download Irfanview at www.irfanview.com.


  2. You can view any "doc" or "txt" file in a free program named, Wordpad or Notepad. It is located on any PC under the start menu, then programs, then accessories. OR you can use Open Office. For more information go to www.download.openoffice.org


  3. Not an html wiz? No problem! Use Microsoft Word to create webpages. Just save your document as a ".html" or ".htm" file. Click here to download a free trial version of FrontPage and see the Office videos in the Kidz Online course on Webpage Creation


  4. Ready to enhance your lessons with a bit of 2D Flash animation? You can get a 30-day trial version of Macromedia Flash by completing a simple registration form on the Flash Web site. Follow this link. 


  5. It might be hard to believe but our entire unit on 3D animation utilizes an outstanding software package called Caligari trueSpace3.2 and it's absolutely FREE. Click here for your own copy.


  6. Want to do some simple video editing on a PC? Try the free PowerPoint extension, Producer. See the video for more information.


  7. Collaborating online is easy and free with Yahoo. Try it out here and find the details in the Online Collaboration Unit.

As we add new solutions to this site we will continue to add more links to free or nearly free tools. You can learn and use some of the latest technologies without breaking the bank or jumping through hoops. Give it a try.