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Kerpoof - All that and MORE!
October 2, 2007

At first glance, Kerpoof Studio may seem to be just another online playground for kids. In truth, it is one of the most powerful online resources I have seen in quite a while. When you "play" Kerpoof, the site loads Flash that welcomes you to a deceptively simple content creation engine.

Friendly controls provide an easy interface for creating images, books and even movies. Using a selection of characters and objects that can be placed in your selected backdrop, you can tell a story. Characters and objects can be resized, flipped (resize it into the negative space to flip), rotated and provided with speech bubbles. Characters in movies can move, say things, and perform other pre-coded animations.

This site reminds me a great deal of the very old MECC program, Storybook Weaver. It also has tinges of Kid Pix, that other incredible content creation suite. Kerpoof has a few things going for it that push it past these two other programs, however. First, Kerpoof is online and free to access. Second, I like how Kerpoof limits choices for objects. Instead of spending half their computer time flipping through all of the possible objects, students can get right into the creation. In a sense, that is one of the aspects that makes this into a game.

After creating an image, book or movie, you can save it, print it or e-mail it to friend. On the main screen, by going to the More tab, you can also share your creations with the Kerpoof community.

In all, this is a very highly recommended site. I am very impressed with how it works and the potential for creative instructional use in school libraries. More information on using Kerpoof in schools, including lesson plans and ideas, the site provides a teacher page. 

 

Posted by Chris Harris on October 2, 2007 | Comments (4)