Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Week 9 - SMART Exchange Review

I reviewed Smart City posted on the Smart Exchange by Jaime Donnally.  This program allows students to select points of interest on a map to answer math-based questions.  The audio feedback related to correct and incorrect answers adds interest and excitement to the virtual gaming experience.
Ms. Donnally has done a wonderful job creating a highly interactive quiz for young learners.  View for yourself!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Week 8 - StarDict Open Source Software

I downloaded and previewed StarDict from the Source Forge website.  It is an online dictionary with a pronunciation feature and full text language translator.
As best as I can tell, there are/were at least six collaborators on this software.  The author, Hu Zheng, developed the software and is supported by an organization called Gnome.  Here is a link to their Documentation Project.
What is impressive about this software is that when the program is opened (from your hard drive) you can actively scan text from other programs and web pages to receive pop-up prompts in order to get translations/definitions.  You simply place your cursor over a word or group of text and a window opens with the words already populated in the box.    A tool bar is available to select whatever task you wish to perform.
Granted, it appears not to recognize all words or grammatical syntaxes; and  there is no clear instruction on how to change the default language in the results pane when using the dictionary option.  However, I see an educational benefit for this program for ESL and Special Education students.
Overall, I’d say it is a great 3-in-1 program!