Canvastic!
© 2005 Canvastic, LLC
Created by a former technology teacher, this product attempts to bridge the gap between "toy-like" student publishing tools (i.e., KidPix) and their too-sophisticated counterparts aimed for adults. Canvastic! is a graphics and publishing tool specifically designed for K-8 grade students and teachers. It is customizable in that the tools and capabilities grow with the user; in other words, menus can be turned on or off to increase or decrease the program's complexity. While this is a very nice feature, the program is flawed in other ways. For instance, we couldn't figure out how to resize a graphic once we inserted it (this basic task should be obvious), and when we clicked on Help, we were directed to Help resources outside of the program itself-- not child friendly at all! Other problems include clunky and limited clip art options. Until Canvastic! is improved, we plan on staying with our KidPix.
Win 2000, Win XP, Mac OS9, OSX
Teaches: creativity, art, publishing