Dazzle 03

www.indigolearning.com/dazzle

KS2 (Years 3 - 6)

Art & Design, ICT & Design & Technology

Description

Dazzle 03 is Indigo's latest version of their practical and user-friendly art and design package. It enables pupils to draw and paint with a variety of tools, use and create stamps, rotate or create symmetrical shapes, add text and create pictures of their own, built up from independent layers.

Supporting Documentation

Dazzle 03 was easy to install on a standalone machine. It starts automatically when the CD-ROM is inserted in the drive and the onscreen instructions are clear.

The package consists of a CD-ROM and a Quick Guide to the program. The guide is a handy, easy-to-use, ring-bound pocket book that contains all the relevant information you need to start using the software. Information includes installation instructions, features of each of the tools (which are clearly explained), details on how to customise the software to suit individual needs, tips on loading, saving and printing and an 'Activities Guide' which contains 14 practical ideas and activities for using the software in a variety of Curriculum areas from Foundation Stage to Year 6.

Technical Support

The CD-ROM contains help files as well as eight tutorial videos to help the first time user get started. (You will need to view the videos in Internet Explorer and have a recent version of Microsoft Media Player installed.) The videos cover customising the program, colour ranges, fill tools, layers, stamps, text and using the program with a graphics tablet. There is also a useful website (www.indigolearning.com) demonstrating ways in which the program can be used, as well as links to sites which contain practical suggestions and examples of how the program can be used by teachers or has been used in the classroom.

Purpose of the Program

Dazzle 03 is a drawing and paint package that can be used by children of all ages and abilities to support the requirement for using a paint package to produce images and develop drawing skills. They can also create pictures in the style of well-known artists and create tiles and images and translate them or make patterns by rotating shapes. Dazzle 03 can also help to reinforce children's understanding of shape.

Curriculum Relevance

Dazzle 03 enables pupils to develop familiarity with paint and object-based drawing software. ICT skills covered include: select, drag, drop, re-size, rotate, layer, zoom, undo, redo and clear screen, as well as select and use spray tool, flood-fill tool, painting stamps, copy and re-size pictures and use visual effects such as reflection or symmetry.

Extent

Dazzle 03 covers programmes of study for Foundation Early Learning Goals and Key Stages 1 and 2. The ICT skills developed by Dazzle 03 also link to uses in Art and Design, History, Geography and Numeracy. Children can use Dazzle 03 to organise and communicate their ideas through pictures and combine graphics and text to communicate information.

Appropriateness

Dazzle 03 develops mouse skills and early drawing skills and has ample standard features to cover both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 requirements. The toolbar has a good range of tools (pencil, brush, chalk, airbrush, spray can, as well as fuzzy, wash and smear brushes). The children liked the colour cycling which involves using a range of colours (either preselected or created) that can be dragged to create various effects and the way pictures are built up in layers that can be adjusted before ultimately being combined as a final composition. Using an image from a file or the Internet as the first layer meant they were able to trace the image onto the second layer and then build up their own diagram.

Quality

This package enables the user to create a variety of work of an impressive quality, including simple visual presentations, making patterns using symmetry, tessellation and translation, and creating diagrams. The graphics produced by the software are clear and of a high standard. The available stamps are fun and can be easily expanded by copying and pasting or children can design their own. Using the layer feature to trace any image pasted from file or the Internet to create diagrams or templates is a useful feature for precision drawing – especially for less able students.

Toolbars can be simplified by removing unwanted tools. The icons are simple and clear and can be enlarged. Tool spacers can be used to make mis-selection unlikely. Toolbars and windows can also be locked. The Foundation and Key Stage 1 screens are uncluttered and therefore suitable for young children or the visually impaired. The videos are spoken and can be paused by clicking, although there is no facility for the help option to be spoken.

Dazzle 03 is an excellent, flexible paint package which lives up to it's publisher's claim 'to inspire creativity'. Children were enthusiastic about experimenting with colour, size, stamp images, symmetry, rotation, auto shapes and text in order to create their own designs using a computer.

Read KS2 Classroom evaluation...

Product Overview

This product is published by Indigo Learning Ltd (Tel: 01480 354335)