5 Amazing Downloads for Educators and Students 

Category: Microsoft Research
Submitted Date: 1/29/2010

Ideal for students in the classroom or at home, these downloads were selected in honor of National Computer Science Education Week 2009 and are offered to the public free of charge. Explore some of the amazing things you can do with software in your home or school today.

Kodu
Kodu is an exciting new visual programming language designed to be accessible to children and enjoyable for anyone who wants to create cool games. It runs on Xbox, allowing rapid program design iteration by using only a game controller for input. A PC version is available in beta for schools.

Photosynth
Photosynth creates an amazing new experience with nothing more than a bunch of ordinary photos. Creating a “synth” allows you to share the places and things you love by using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the mind-blowing detail of the real world.

Robotics Developer Studio
Robotics Developer Studio (RDS) is a Windows-based programming environment for academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers to easily create robotics applications across a wide variety of hardware. Included is a set of visual authoring and simulation tools, as well as templates, tutorials, and sample code to help you get started.

WorldWide Telescope
WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interesting places in the sky. Run it in a browser window or as a standalone application.

XNA Game Studio and XNA Creator’s Club Online
The XNA Creators Club Online is a community all about games made by you and creators like you. Create your games by using the XNA Game Studio, submit them for review by the Community, and sell them on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Games can be made for Xbox 360, Windows, and Zune.