Kids across the U.S. are going back to school. This seems like the right time to look at some
educational software. Today, I reviewed a math trainer
for elementary school students and some software to help middle and high
school students practice their English. Also, a tool
for students of all ages shows us the entire world in a new way.
Rewards Multiply is a very
simple program to help young learners practice their multiplication
tables. It's well-designed to help kids learn. At first, it
actually shows the answer, then prompts the child to type the answer
that was just displayed. In later rounds, the student has to pick
the answer from a list (shown above). In the last round, the answer must be
typed, without any prompting. The “rewards” in the title are
things a kid likes, such as a can of soda, a ribbon, or a quarter.
The wizard character you see above flies around on the screen and
congratulates the student for correct answers.
The interface for the game is designed
for younger, less-experienced computer users. The buttons are large and
clearly labeled. The program takes up the entire screen, with no
window controls to make it easy for a new user. It also uses speech
synthesis so that students having trouble reading can still learn
their multiplication tables. You can also opt to play background music while
working. One disconcerting thing—on our test PC, the bearded wizard
speaks in a high-pitched feminine voice.
Higher English Workout
lets more advanced students drill on English subjects, including
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and comprehension. Like Rewards
Multiply, it presents a series
of questions to the user and says which answers were right and wrong.
Because it's aimed at older students, it doesn't have the flashy
animation and speech and music.
The program is a useful practice tool
for students who have already studied the material, and can probably
reduce nervousness during tests. I think it would be even better if
the software explained the reason why a particular answer is right,
instead of just saying “Right” or “Wrong” to the student's
choice.
Maker BetterGrades currently
offers 4 quiz programs through FindApp: English,
Higher English, Mathematics, and Higher Mathematics.
EarthBrowser is different
from the other programs I've written about. It isn't designed to
teach any particular subject or any specific facts. EarthBrowser
lets you play with the world. Just by clicking and dragging, you can
see the positions of satellites, weather maps, radar images, road
maps, webcam views of cities, fires … an enormous amount of
information, updated in real time as you watch.
Want to see the other side of the
world? Just drag the globe with the mouse. Photos of a city?
Choose “Panoramio photos” and they're one click away. Track the
course of a hurricane, or see the site of an earthquake—they're
shown right on the display. Zoom in to show your own street.
EarthBrowser is really fun to play with—it can even be used as a
cool screen saver. The best part is, you can't help learning some
geography, meteorology, and earth science just playing with it.
Educational and fun: what more could you ask for?
So whether your back-to-schoolers are
entering first grade, middle school, or high school you can help them
learn faster and easier with the right software. And even if you're
done with school, EarthBrowser is a fun way to learn more about the
planet we live on. You can find much more learning software in these
FindApp categories:
Misc Education Software
Kids Education
Math Software
Teaching and Training Tools
Science
Software
