Codepad – The ClassHelper.org™ Blog

Teachers are always on the lookout for educational software that can actually hold a child’s attention. Instead of cutting the kids loose on the Xbox, why not give GCompris a try? It’s an educational software suite, with the full version available for Linux-based operating systems like Ubuntu at no cost. It’s also available for Windows 2000 and above, but the free Windows version comes with a limited number of activities (you can buy the full version for 20€). Comprised of tons of simple and engaging learning games, GCompris is designed to establish and reinforce basic skills like counting, word recognition, and more.

The GCompris startup screen.

To give you a basic feel for the application, here’s the reading activities category screen. There’s quite a few games to choose from, each designed to address a specific aspect of reading skills development. To start a game, you simply click on an icon.

GCompris reading activities screen.

The game shown below teaches words based on pictures of objects. Here’s the screenshot:

GCompris reading practice game.

Another game helps children learn to identify letters. A narrator asks the player to click on a letter, and provides positive reinforcement upon receiving the correct answer.

GCompris letter identification game.

There are tons of math-based games as well. The example shown below requires the player to press the appropriate number key for the numeric total of sets of dice.

GCompris counting numbers game.

Everything in the application is accompanied by professional soundtracks and sound effects. The graphics are quite appealing as well, especially considering the free, open source nature of the suite. Who says great software has to be expensive?

If you’re a software developer who wishes to add new functionality to the application, it’s designed to make the process quite easy. The GCompris source code is available via SVN, and adding “boards” is easily accomplished through C or Python scripting. The whole system is fully documented to make development as painless as possible.