SCRATCH Your Animation Itch

Are you itching to do some computer animation? Check out SCRATCH, a free downloadable program provided by MIT. It is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art — and share your creations on the web.

SODA Pets

Want a quiet pet that you don’t have to clean up after? Try this online pet creator – animated models made from virtual springs and masses. You can build your own creation or choose one from the zoo, then experiment with how it moves in different gravity conditions or with different friction settings.

IT Jargon

Do you know what “wikinomics” means? What does it mean to “egosurf”? Look it Up is an online encyclopedia specifically for terms related to computers and information technology.

Can You Guess the Computer?

Think you know your computers. Test your knowledge with PBS’s “Can You Guess the Computer?”.

Master Your Typing Skills

Getting good at typing takes practice. Here are some fun interactive online games that also help improve your typing skills: Bubble Typing Game and Meteor Typing Blast.

Hidden in Plain View

A technology that can “hide” information in plain sight on printed images has begun to see the first commercial applications. The technology can encode data into a picture that is invisible to the human eye but can be decoded by a mobile phone with a camera. Read more about the connections to 2,500 year-old coding practice calledsteganography.

DigiBarn Computer Museum

A quirky site with photos and stories tracking computer evolution through a large collection of vintage computer systems, manuals, videos, and interviews. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?!

How Computers Work

When you mention the word “technology,” most people think about computers. Find out how computers work and what the future may hold for these machines.

Pivot

Software that allows you to create stick figure animations easily and without any artistic skills. You can move the sections of the sick figure and easily create a chain of animation frames that can be previewed as you go. You can use more than one stick-figure in the animation, and even create your own stick figures using an easy to use visual editor that lets you assemble objects out of lines and circles. Fun, free and easy to use!