Picasa

This is a picture of Thailand I found on google image search and then cropped using Picasa. 

I really liked using Picasa!  I found it really easy to use.  I can't remember how many times I've seen stuff people have created on the internet and thought, "I wonder how they did that," or "that must have taken them a long time!"  I do not take many pictures, and the extent of my photo editing is.... well, I don't edit photos.   I think with a program like Picasa I could really begin to be more interested in doing more with photos.  It's really easy, and not nearly as time consuming as I had imagined. 

The first thing I really liked was the collage option.   It automatically used all of the photos in the folder I was in, but it was easy to add/delete the photos that were included.  You can change the angle and placement of each photo, change the borders on individual photos, and change the background color (or even use another photo as the background).  You could also change the page format of the collage, depending on how you planned to display it.  It could be a 4 x 6 photo, a square CD cover, or a widescreen monitor.  You can also add "shadows" to make it look 3D and choose whether to add captions or not.  Another nice thing is that you can immediately set it as your desktop background, or just save it.  And I really like the "shuffle picture" and "scramble collage" buttons.  It was an easy way to try different arrangements without having to move each picture.  There are also arrangement options like scattered, mosaic, and grid for different looks. 

The second thing I really liked in Picasa was the movie maker.  Again, it used all of the photos in a particular folder and arranged them randomly to start with.   It was really easy to delete/add/rearrange pictures.  There were lots of options for different transitions, just like power point or other presentation software.  You can add captions easily.  Another really neat thing was that there is the option to upload your movie directly to youtube.  This was so easy to use!

I think both of these would be useful in an educational setting.  You could make a collage of students, or have them make a collage for the class.  The movie making feature is great for presentations, and would be a great way for kids to tell stories.