TITLE: Kid Pix Studio Deluxe
PUBLISHER: Broderbund
DATE PUBLISHED:  1998
PLATFORM:  Windows and MacIntosh
CONTENT AREA:  Technology and language arts
RANGE OF GRADE LEVELS: Preschool through 8th grade

CONTEXT DESCRIPTION:  Kid Pix is primarily a clip art tool.  Children can use the stampers, fonts, sounds and paintbrushes to enhance their work.  On the main page there are six options to pick from such as Moopies, Slide Show and Digital Puppets.  This is arranged to supplement teacher’s lessons.  In the teacher’s guide there is a list of lessons that incorporate Kid Pix.  This resource is flexible because it allows teachers the choice of using or not using the activities in Kid Pix.  Teachers may use their own lessons and just work Kid Pix in how they choose.  It offers abilities to improve and add to student’s work rather than being the center of a lesson.  The package did include five discs that help make Kid Pix more accessible.  Time needed to implement Kid Pix would depend primarily on if you already had your story or assignment completed and were ready to use Kid Pix to spice it up.  Kid Pix would best be used individually or in small groups.  Whole groups would be too overwhelming and students wouldn’t grasp the main functions of the program if someone else did all the work.

INSTRUCTIONAL TYPE:  Tool, Tutorial

STRENGTHS:

*It comes with a teacher’s guide full of instructions and ideas of how to use Kid Pix in a class.
*It comes with more than one disc as well as a resource disc.
*It not only has teacher’s section but a user’s guide, in general.
*Graphics and pictures are provided to clarify instructions and ideas.
*The use of color and options are very appealing to children ( titles, colors, etc.)
*It not only comes with directions regarding using the program, but actually installing the program.

WEAKNESSES:
*The activities are geared more toward making students work more visually appealing rather than focusing on the education aspect.
*Students could be taught these basic computer skills without this program.
*Although it comes with directions, it may be a lot to take in to make Kid Pix as effective as it is meant to be.

WHY USE IT?
The graphics and activities such as Moopies and Slide Show would offer a creative way to approach language arts.  Students could write a story and then turn it into a slide show to appeal to visual learners.  It is fun and students could have fun doing a basic lesson on writing or social studies.  At the same time students could improve their computer skills.

WOULD YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE WITH YOUR STUDENTS?
I probably would not use this program with my class because although it is cute and has a few good ideas, I feel I could create my own ideas that would make student work more interesting.  If I already had it in my classroom I would implement it occasionally because I think the slide show would be an interesting way to have students turn their writing into a unique product.

RATING:  5, because it does have some good aspects but does not offer the best approach to dealing with core subjects.  It is mostly a tool that can be used to enhance work.  It is not the best and it is not the worst.

USER COMMENTS:
“For those of you thinking this is Kid Pix, forget it, Broderbund’s Kid Pix software is a good paint program, but Kid Pix Studio is darn near perfect!”  --Tina Velgos
“A hand of applause to Broderbund's Kid Pix Studio for the slickest painting and creativity program ever. Your kids will play this software over and over again!” –Tina Velgos

RESOURCES:
http://www.classroom.com
This is a site by the organization, Classroom Connect and it offers lesson ideas on how to incorporate the Internet and curriculum. It also provides other resources.