Anne+Lay

1. **Art Site Net** The purpose of Art Site Net is to expose students to artwork that can be selected from over 200 museum pages, which are organized into categories. Students can build their own collection and write descriptions and interpretations about the selected artwork. They can also contribute to a student portfolio. The program can be tailored to accommodate grades 1 through college level. This program is a drill and practice program because it provides practice for recognizing, writing about, and analyzing artwork. Since this program includes practice in writing about art, as well as identifying art, it could be used as a cross- curricular addition to art class, and used in English and literacy areas as well. This software would be useful in studying art history, as well as learning about specific movements in art history. It also helps students to learn how to analyze art and put their thoughts about it into words. Strengths of the program: 1.Students write interpretations and descriptions, which is helpful to help students learn about different work and artists. 2. This program can be teacher customized. 3. The program has project suggestions and customizable portfolios. 4. The program helps to teach art history, as well as critical thinking and writing skills. 5. There are different products suited to meet different teaching needs. 6. There is online technical support. Weaknesses of the program: 1. Going beyond the provided 200 museum pages means that students have to search online and be aware of what information is legitimate or not. Cost: Basic (1 teacher and students) $99 Classroom (2 + teachers and students) $199 Network (school site license) $299 Home school (1 family) $59 How purchased: online, [|www.artsitenet.com], or fax/mail order form System Requirements: Compatible with Mac OS X, Windows XP/Vista, or Linux

2. **A Love of Art** The purpose of this program is to explore art history, from ancient to modern. This program could be used with high school students. It is a drill and practice program, because it reinforces what would be taught in class, so students could look up anything that interested them and get more information. This program would be helpful for teaching and exploring art history and different artists and movements throughout history.

Strengths of the program: 1. A wide range of artwork is covered. 2. The program is easy to use. Weaknesses of the program: 1. The program is not really very interactive. It just presents the information. 2. No technical support. Cost: Around $30 How purchased: online on sites such as Amazon System requirements: Windows 98

3**.Creativity Express** The purpose of Creativity Express is to use interactive activities to teach the fundamentals of art and the principles and elements of design, strengthen creative thinking and problem solving skills, and provide cross-curricular learning. The program can be used in grades 1-6. This program is in the instructional game software category because it has interactive activities and lessons. This would be a fun way to reinforce the elements and principles of design, which is an area that usually receives a lot of focus in an art program. This could be used in addition to hands-on projects, and is a fun way to get the students excited about art fundamentals. It is also cross curricular, so could reinforce certain ideas from other subjects too, such as music and science.

Strengths of the Program: 1. The program is cross-curricular and meets National Standards for Visual Arts. 2. There are teacher lesson plans that relate to the information taught in the program. 3. The program is interactive and fun. 4. There is online technical support.

Weaknesses of the Program: 1. It only covers the principles and elements of design. Cost: Have to contact company for school pricing. Personal use: $24.95. How purchased: online for personal use, [|www.madcaplogic.com], or fax/phone orders for schools System Requirements: Mac OS X/ Windows XP

4**. Tux Paint** The purpose of tux paint is to encourage creativity and drawing skills with an interactive program that provides tips, hints, and information to aid in virtual creative painting and drawing projects. It is a drill and practice program because it provides practice for creating art. This program can be used in grades K-6. This would be a program that could be used in addition to hands-on projects or for after school activities. It could also be used for specific class projects as a supplemental tool.

Strengths of the Program: 1. This program can be used to get creativity flowing. 2. The program is easy to use. 3. It has many creative options for creating art.

Weaknesses of the Program: 1. It is not really cross-curricular. 2. This program is not as interactive as others. 3. The program is not especially designed to reinforce lessons taught in the classroom.

Cost: Free, open source shareware How purchased: Download program at [|www.tuxpaint.org] System Requirements: Mac OS X, Windows, Linux

5.**Jump Start Artist** The purpose of Jump Start Artist is to teach art appreciation, as well as to learn about different artists, artwork, and the principles and elements of design through interactive games. This program also teaches basic concepts and introduces famous art, folk art, and cultural crafts. This program is for younger students, grades K-4. It is an instructional game software option because it uses interactive games to teach art fundamentals. This program could be used in the classroom to reinforce certain lessons and introduce students to basic art concepts, artists, and artwork. It could also be used in after school art programs.

Strengths of the Program: 1. It is interactive and fun for kids. 2. The program introduces other art focuses, such as folk art and cultural concepts. 3. The program meets the National Standards for Art Education 4. It has printable art activities.

Weaknesses of the Program: 1. There doesn’t seem to be any online support. 2. It is geared towards only younger kids, so could not be used with all classes in elementary school.

Cost: around $15 How purchased: online, various online retailers, such as Amazon or [|www.alleducationalsoftware.com] System Requirements: Windows or Mac

Kevin Davenport I really like the Love of Art program because it has a good database for art. When I was in art we always had trouble finding art to mimic because all we had was google and didn't really know what to search for. With this program students can search for anything they want if they have an assignment on a certain period of time it seems this program will have a large ammount of pictures from that time. I also like Jump Start Artist because most students at a young age are not introduced to many artists or much history and with this I think students will be interested in learning the history of art. The program seems like something elementary school children would really enjoy. Good job on the reviews I can make good judgements on the programs from your reviews.

-- Lacey harrison Most of your programs are so cheap! all of mine started at $50! these sound really interesting. I am going to look into the Creativity Express one more. It sounds interesting!