On Nov 29, 2006, at 10:41 AM, Arthur wrote: > Over the years, what I have discovered about "educational software" is > that most of it is junk, and the really useful things to connect kids > with are the open-ended packages which provide an avenue for their > creativity and sense of mastery over aspects of the real or digital > world -- so, for example, learning to write with a word processor is > much better than playing some silly flash-words game, and using > Photoshop or the GIMP is probably much better than using some silly > math-blaster game or even the award winning Oregon Trail (which is > pretty good as those things go). > """
I definitely have to agree with Arthur on this point. I'm working on some "educational software" at the moment, but it's really a simple development environment for people learning Python. I.e. an open- ended tool, not a product that teaches. I've been pondering the question of what is good educational software full time for half a dozen years now, and I still don't know how to answer it. Furthermore, Bert's question about why aren't people writing for OLPC right now when it is open software, I might ask the same about my tools, which are freely available with an MIT license at http:// stratotools.python-hosting.com. I'm giving it away for free, why isn't anybody using it? But that's not a fair question. There's so much free stuff out there now, it is really up to the developer to sell their platform. But I presume your question was rhetorical, and for the purpose of selling your platform? -Winston ______________________________________________________________ Stratolab - http://www.stratolab.com - (646) 827-2242 learning by creating - video game courses for kids in new york _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig