Having looked at some interface enhancements in the previous article, it’s now time to turn our attention to some pieces of educational software on PocketPC. Again, I have not chosen to focus on software that is being provided and supported directly by the Learning2Go project (e.g. the GoKnow applications and Espresso content).
The market for educational software on PocketPC is still relatively in its infancy; the devices were, after all, originally targeted at business users, and have only more recently begun to appear in classrooms and lecture halls. Nevertheless there are some interesting applications available. All of the applications that I discuss below are freeware or donation ware (where you pay only if you like it and the money goes to charity or to support further development of the software).
For a comprehensive listing of other pieces of educational software, try visiting the PocketPCCity Educational list.
Revising for examinations - Portable NoteCard
Portable NoteCard is a very simple PDA implementation of using flash cards for revision. Once you have installed the software, you create simple text files in NotePad in the format Question (NEWLINE) Answer (NEWLINE) Question (NEWLINE) Answer (NEWLINE):
Transferring this file to the PocketPC and opening it in NoteCard then allows you to test yourself:
Questions can be asked in the order they appear in the file, or can be presented in random order. NoteCard could be used for revision in any subject - vocabulary tests in Languages, facts for a History exam etc. Got a spare five minutes? Take out your PDA and quickly test yourself for forthcoming examinations . . .
Download NoteCard from pocketpccity.com
The Periodic Table - Packed Periodic Table
Key Stage 3 and 4 science students are introduced to Mendeleev’s elegant periodic table of elements and are taught to interpret the relationships between elements. Packed Periodic Table gives the student all of the traditional information they might obtain from a paper-based table, but also includes information about electron structure, uses of the elements and the history of the elements:
Download Packed Periodic Table from Pocket Gear
A Dictionary in your pocket - WordNETCE
WordNet is an excellent free dictionary that includes over 140,000 words, a scrabble (anagram) search tool and even the ability to search with wildcards (i.e. where letters are missing from a word in a crossword).
Download WordNetCE from . . . . . http://www.ebswift.com/PocketPC/WordNet/
Study the night sky - Orionic
Orionic is a sky viewer program. By configuring the program with your latitude and longitude, you can see a map of the sky as it appears at any given time at your current location.
Download Orionic from PocketPCFreeware.
Test your arithmetic - Arithmetic Tutor
Arithmetic Tutor tests students with basic arithmetic questions in multiplication, addition and subtraction. It features four increasingly difficult levels of questions:
Download Arithmetic Tutor from http://www.geocities.com/shussainakbar/downloads/atutorppc.html
In the next article, I intend to look in more detail at another piece of PocketPC freeware - FeederReader. FeederReader is a piece of PocketPC software for receiving newsfeeds and podcasts.
