Hi Lisa

I'm doing a special feature on this for the ICT Special Interest Group on this site. It will be a couple of months before it appears - but hopefully, worth waiting for!

Keep revisiting their page....

Hi Lisa
I am using Garageband on Mac but it can be downloaded for PC (as part of iLife) from, say Amazon - about £30 for one licence last time I looked. I have an Apple Mobile Me account and online technical help is excellent when you don't have any other support; gives you online storage, email, web hosting, mobile syncing (which does work across other phones' apps too with isync it's worth knowing - you don't need the proverbial iPhone!).
I use a remote wireless network and Desktop Manager to be able to observe / showcase / control pupil Macs. Great for modelling on a pupil's mac via projector on the big screen. Not sure if this is possible to work on / with PC but worth talking to Apple for advice.

Groovy series is great - I use it for visually impaired & SEN but mostly use Garageband. Easy to record audio / digital. Lots of effects can be added, we use it higher up the school for Media music projects such as Film scores, adverts .... I record whole class performances to get them to evaluate their progress / suggest rehearsal points (e.g. Gamelan as a class). Podcasts can be made very easily or creating music for a photo slideshow in iPhoto (comes with iLife) Easy to link with iTunes as Garageband assumes you want to easily 'share' (export) your work - either as MP3 or Wav.

Biggest benefit in my opinion is its accessibility for all ages. Visual learners really helped by the simple representation on screen / editing grid (either in block grid notation or standard). Can't think of an easier way to introduce multitrack recording discipline. Hope it is as easy on a PC - don't see why not.

Hope that helps? Be good to hear how you get on!

Caroline