PC Mac Software Comparisons

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0197b7e3.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kuglins Educational Web Resource Page"><U>Start Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Web Links"><U>Web Links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.jkuglin.blogspot.com" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.jkuglin.blogspot.com"><U>Blog</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Keynote Presentation Descriptions"><U>Presentations</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><U>Biography</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Files and Downloads"><U>Files & Downloads</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Odds and Ends"><U>Odds & Ends</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://web.mac.com/jkuglin/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://web.mac.com/jkuglin/iWeb/Site/Pod"><U> </U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><A HREF="http://web.mac.com/jkuglin/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://web.mac.com/jkuglin/iWeb/Site/Pod"><U>Podcasts</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/browse.asp?account=31234" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/browse.asp"><U>Online Bookmarks</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="00500003.jpg"> <div> <B>PC Mac Software Comparisons</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Converting BVSD Video Production, Photo Editing, and Music Creation Resources to the PC Platform</B></div> <div> <B>A Special Thanks to Stevan and Len from the Boulder Valley School District</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In-Depth Research Survey</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> May 16, 2006</div> <div> Prepared by:</div> <div> Steven Vanek</div> <div> Len Scrogan</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Introduction</B></div> <div> The Boulder Valley School District is planning a strategic move toward converting the existing Mac platform in schools to a PC platform. In light of that change, the Instructional Technology department at Boulder Valley sought input to help ensure that teachers would receive the best possible information related to software choices that are reasonably comparable to what they have been using on their Macs. The following areas were the focus of this study: <B>video production</B>, <B>photo editing</B>, and <B>music creation</B> at all grade levels K through 12, with an emphasis on identifying an entry-level product and an advanced product.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Process</B></div> <div> A diverse sampling of educators and technology savvy professionals from across the nation were contacted by e-mail and phone. They represented:</div> <bR> <div> video teachers; </div> <div> technology directors; </div> <div> administrators from various school districts in Colorado; </div> <div> teaching and industry professionals from out of state; </div> <div> University of Colorado ILT video instructors; </div> <div> Lesley College video instructors from around the nation; </div> <div> local Colorado graphic designers and broadcasting specialists; and </div> <div> record producers and professional video editors. </div> <bR> <div> Our process involved reaching teaching professionals that teach in both platforms or have recently switched to PC platforms from the Mac, so as to gain their experience and broad perspectives. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Discovery</U></B></div> <bR> <div> Video Production </div> <div> Microsoft's <B>Moviemaker</B> (free) or Adobe's <B>Premiere Elements</B> (at cost) are adequate replacement options for <B>iMovie</B></div> <bR> <div> Adobe <B>Premiere </B>is an adequate replacement option for <B>Final Cut Pro</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Photo Editing</div> <div> Adobe<B> Photoshop</B> at the higher grades and <B>Photoshop Elements</B> at the lower grades are adequate replacements for <B>iPhoto</B></div> <bR> <div> Consider <B>Picasa</B>, a free Google piece of software that has the same properties as iPhoto plus other editing features and is free. A number of other educators have used <B>GIMP</B>, and <B>PhotoStory3</B>, free image editing software.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Music Composition</div> <div> <B>Super</B> <B>Duper Music Looper</B> is an adequate replacement for <B>Garageband</B> at the lower grades. </div> <bR> <div> Either <B>Cakewalk</B>, <B>Acid Music</B>, <B>Sebelius, </B>or<B> Finale</B> are effective replacements for <B>Garageband</B> at the upper grades.  Preferences were split in this category, which will likely necessitate a thorough comparative analysis by a review team.</div> <bR> <div> Consider <B>Audacity</B> for editing, sharing and discussing music compositions (free)</div> <bR> <div> A few of the teachers sampled said that they hope to <B>find online solutions</B> for many of the tasks associated with music composition and editing and look forward to a time when students can find all or most of their software needs online.  </div> <bR> <div> BVSD is now in the process of acquiring copies of each of these tools for further evaluation.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>