Educational programs on linux

The time is not sure before that I take care myself of educational programs on linux, enough to control the category educational of this site in order to become of account, however, taking cue from an article mailed on poshlinux, they are decided to me to riaffrontare the argument being tried to offer possible the most complete trattazione. I do not certainly hide the difficulties of an aspiration of this type, however I will try to use synthetic most possible the simple approach comunicativo and putting all the engagement and the passion to us that necessarily must possess one that ago my type of job.

It leave - Reflections generate them.
I would define a program of type educational like an application turns to help the normal process of learning, or under the aspect of the acquisition of new contents, than as support in order to remember things already learned. The educational programs can commonly be uniforms for the age of the target of customers. Such applications in particular those for the young students, often are planned with the idea of `learning through the gioco', while the oldest programs for (enough aware of the importance of the acquaintance, but still under parentale protection), are thought in order to prepare a student to a examination of maturity, a test, or other types of acquaintance test, in relatively fast and pleasant way. A consideration to part the more popular language deserves the didactic applications in the field of the instruction of the foreign languages (obviously is English, then the German), from simplest like the thematic dictionaries us, to most complex with human voice and acknowledgment systems vowel, all supply an important support for young people and less young people in the difficult task of learning of a foreign language.
We know all, the children are bored easy, therefore an educational program turned they must absolutely maintain to an equilibrium adapted between the learning and the game. If the child notices that the application is boring puts, it from part and will have lost its attention, while the programs that possess the just compromise between learning and game succeed to capture the interest of the children for long times much. However some applications demand a glut of tasks to execute during the game that the learning thus becomes secondary to be at the end neglected. For this reason a good idea could be that to create an adventure game that it offers several is made that they demand the completion, before the passage to the successive phase, or a game of race arcade, with an exchange of acquaintances between subjects in order to increase the power of the car. While for the larger boys, perhaps, some FPS, in which the access to a distance it will demand the student to supply corrected answers to questions in mathematics, physical, geography, or Biology. Perhaps also some easy RPG in which the development of a personage it will depend from the assimilated acquaintances.
The approach of the educational programs for the students of the medium and advanced schools instead is changed. The old tactics “you resolve a problem with the fractions, and will see a beautiful animation” is not more sufficient. Today, the students come to more and more often knock to the door of the “reign” of Internet, and here the king is Google and Queen Wikipedia. The majority of the necessary information to the test overcoming, if it is not assimilable with the aid of the similar books of text and, can be found on Internet. If the educational programs must compete with Internet, are necessary that they have a greater cognitive value (somewhat difficult, since on Internet it is possible to find literally of all: from the mathematical theorem to the philosophy treaty, from the descriptions of chemical experiments to solutions of physical problems). Various it is the speech in the event in which points to a greater interactivity of the application. As an example, we consider the program of Kalzium; its functionalities in comparison to the periodic table of cartaceo type are inarrivabili. Moreover, a program does not exist a static sottosezione of Wikipedia as well as works them how much in which, with little movements of the mouse, the temperature of boiling titanium can be discovered not only (that it can easily be found in every chemical table, or in Wikipedia), but also as some elements will become 1000 liquids to C, or how many elements were known in year 1885.

PART II - Description of educational programs
The educational programs can be uniforms in groups according to some pointers. The division more commonly used (made exception wraps for it of age target), is:

1. Branch of the doctrine of the acquaintance (mathematical, chemical, geography, etc)
2. Method of instruction, and we are here in a position to distinguishing the successive types of applications:
   • Introductory - those which stretch to make to familiarize the customers with a argument, to introduce new ideas, and to supply acquaintances.
   • Enciclopedica - it introduces all on a determined argument.
   • Esercitativa - it teaches through the repetition of the material, often in form of text, phrase, or made.

In this article, the thematic criterion is used mainly.

Multifunctional programs for children

GCompris (of it I have already spoken here) - It is with of educational programs and you play for the children of age comprised between the 2-10 (ages of the employee development). This program is divided in various categories (as an example, computer science, mathematics, plays), in which there are various tasks. Many of these have also a practical scope, like as an example explaining the mechanics of a sluice or of instruction, like using the money in a grocery. The interface of the program answers to the visual need of wraps of age which it is destined as colorful, full of large icone and with a animation enough gradevole (is, as an example, the happy face of a clown). Even if the program is still in phase of development, contains currently approximately 80 exercises and is part of a called plan “Friends of the World Treasures”, under the sponsorship of the Unesco.

Childsplay - Similar to GCompris, Childsplay offers tasks and plays for the students more little ones. The majority of they is oriented for the learning of the mathematics or a language; it is available single in English, as not still localized. The diagram and the audio are enough pleasant and in many tasks, the children are assisted from animals (their sounds recorded in nature). There are games like Pacman, where eating letters in the correct order a word is formed, or the train of the memory where the position of two papers must be remembered in order to bind together them in brace.

Mathematics
KBruch - This is a planned program in order to learn the fractions. The exercises are uniforms in 4 groups: easy operations on the fractions (addition, removal, multiplication and division of two fractions), comparison of fractions: (greater/smaller), conversion of fractions decimates them in gross fractions (also that is decimates them with infinite expansion) and factorization of numbers (, to find the product of more the dividing little ones).

KmPlot - This application allows to make a bag of diagrams on function studies (is had a free one chosen: diagrams of ordinary and parametric functions, in Cartesian coordinates or polar). Moreover, made exception for the design of the diagrams, there is the possibility to determine the end of a function and its integral in a data interval.

Kig - a focus on the interactive geometry that concurs to design to circles and ellipses (without to specify the parameters of the function, only determining its fire), parabolas, and hyperbolas. We are in a position to modifying, rotating, to calibrate, to construct images to mirror, and to make many other operations of creation of figures. The program is thus simple that also a pupil of elementary school is in a position to using it, but is mainly destined to students of secondary schools, that they can work with arguments like the conic sections.

KPercentage - This application previews exercises uses on it of the percentages: the calculation of the percentage from a given number, the calculation which percentage of X is number X, or one combination of these tasks.

OpenEuclide - This software concurs to design to geometric figures (circles, carriers, triangles, etc). To make a triangle with solo two clic of the mouse is not a problem.

Lybniz - a program easy to use that it concurs to design function diagrams, in maximum of 3, on a coordinate system.

Dr.Geo - This is an other program planned for interactive geometry, thought in order to construct several geometric figures.

C.a.R (Compass and Rule) - apt program of dynamic geometry for all the levels of learning, from the primary school to the university (on the site is present also a demo in flash).

TuxMath - Mathematical for more the little ones. It teaches the four fundamental operations with an approach of ludico type. If the operation comes executed correctly, the asteroids come destroyed, in contrary case will be the asteroid to destroy our city.

Chemistry
Kalzium - a periodic table that is not second to nobody. Besides the typical table of the elements with number and mass, we as an example have also other information (, ionization energy, the image of an element in free state), and, with the sliding bars we can mark on the periodic table only the elements that correspond to determined parameters (can themselves be visualized the year of the discovery and the state of the matter to a date temperature). The program contains also a Module that is in a position to scindere the molecular mass of a compound from its formula.

Gperiodic - the equivalent of a periodic table; a little less complicated than Kalzium, but scientifically it completes.

Geography
KGeography - a program for the learning of geography from package KDE-EDU. Selecting one of nearly the 20 maps, we can see if we are in a position to finding a data country on the map or to bind together the country/region to happens them/flag or viceversa. This application hardly puts to the test our acquaintances (who knows happens them of Gibuti? Or the flag dell `Afghanistan), and it is therefore enough impegnativo.

GoogleEarth - Certainly, this application has not been conceived like closely educational, but sure it represents a good didactic instrument for all the fans of geography. The programmatori of Google are resolutions to create a program that joins satellitari maps and photos so as to have a complete vision of the landscape. With Google Earth we not only are in a position to seeing every region of the world, but also, through the search of data for name, finding hotels or restaurants all over the world, or to find the short distance between two Locality.

Astronomy
KStars - KStars is a simulation of a planetarium. It extension a segment of celestial diagram with stars, planets, and the associate galaxies. Moreover, it contains many instruments, as a calculating of the time and a diagram of the solar system.

Stellarium - Other simulator that extension also seen of the sky in real time. There are options that concur the effects fog or the modification of the brightness of the sky during the day.

Celestia - Simulator 3D of the space. It is in a position to makes to see us like several objects of the universe, from more near we, the Moon, to more far away, a nebula, appear in the sky. This application is in possession of a rich one database on many celestial bodies and the better way in order to visualize them is that one to move inside of the 3D. We leave for a walk towards the galaxy of Andromeda?

Sun Clock - This application is a map that extension the illuminated or not illuminated world from the sun like in a travel around the earth. The map is much scalabile so that we can see like the dawn begins, in every angle of the globe, every detail and to see, at the same time, as the night falls in an other part of the world. Ulterior options in concur us to the program to show the local hour in various cities, theirs of the same cities, and the time of the dawn and the sunset.

Foreign languages
Programs from package KDE-EDU (KAnagram, KHangMan, Kiten, KLatin, KLetters, Kverbos, KVocTrain, KWordQuiz) - With of applications that support the learning of foreign languages like English, German, Japanese, and even Latin. The different programs are a lot; some are games in order to extend the dictionary, others are quiz, and some are great thematic dictionaries us or programs that help the ripasso.

Anagramarama - a simple game in which we must make an anagram on a letter series. To find new anagrams sure can encourage the children to learn new words in English.

Programming
Little Wizard (also this already recensito here) - a program that teaches to the young difficult art of the programming, in particular for that it regards variable, cycles and instructions condition them.

KTurtle - a program planned with the objective to make scoccare in the children the spark of the interest towards the programming. A by-product of Lisp, a didactic language of invented programming in 1967 is based on Logo (). Logo is based on simple instructions (to move the turtle a data number of steps in any direction, spin, etc…) with which the turtle controls itself.

Other programs
TuxTyping - a program for the children in order to teach to type fastly.

KTouch - Application for the learning of the fast digitazione without to watch the screen.

TypingTrainer - As mentioned above.

This list is not in some way a complete description of the applications (only little lines for every program), of it has the pretension of being in some exaustive way of the panorama educational, is only a modest contribution for the creation in the readers of a sure interest towards this type of software that, however, can carry out an important role in the cognitive development of our students. Tried therefore these applications and fatemi to know your opinion. It is possible that many succeed to find something of profit for same they or for their sons.