GPL Edutainment Software 190
haxot writes "I'm the technologist at a local library. In our lab, I've managed to get some recognition for tools such as GIMP and Open Office, and even such toys as Bomberman and BZFlag. Now I'm turning towards the children's computers, which are mostly filled with ancient, buggy, rather boring games that try to be interactive TV shows rather than something entertaining. I'm looking for good OSS games and education suites (preferably multi-platform — I want to be ready for an OS switch to Linux). I'm not picky about the license; I'd just like the software to actually have that 'neat' appeal. Some examples I've found already are Gcompris and Tux Paint. My focus is the 2-year-old to 8-year-old range, but I'm happy to hear teen-oriented suggestions too. Since it's a public library, however, I can't have any software on the computers that is risqué, gory, or violent."
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Mindrover (Score:5, Informative)
There's a demo available online, I recommend at least trying it out: http://www.mindrover.com/ [mindrover.com]
Oh, and there's a Linux version too.
Take a look at MIT Scratch (Score:5, Informative)
Going back to my youth (Score:5, Informative)
Disclaimer, I haven't actually tried the software in the links above.
Re:Mindrover (Score:2, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Going back to my youth (Score:3, Informative)
What about Phun (Score:1, Informative)
It is really intuitive to use and the name just about says it all. It is however perhaps slightly heavier on system requirements than other 2D educational games out there (more so if you start playing with large volumes of water)
KDE Games, KDE-EDU (Score:1, Informative)
Physics and Software (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.vrlab.umu.se/research/phun/ [vrlab.umu.se]
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming experience.
http://www.alice.org/ [alice.org]
Re:Take a look at MIT Scratch (Score:3, Informative)
try K12LTSP (Score:2, Informative)
Re:You can't. Really? (Score:2, Informative)
OpenDisc and OpenEducationDisc (Score:5, Informative)
Re:educational games suck (Score:2, Informative)
Online emulator for all Apple II and Apple IIgs games. Includes Oregon Trail, Number Munchers and lots others.
Re:Media production for Linux (And OSX, And Window (Score:4, Informative)
Roborally (Score:1, Informative)
Botsnscouts [sf.net] is a Java version of Roborally (though without option cards).
But use the CVS version, it's way better than the ancient release.
KDE4 Education and Games (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Free alternative (Score:3, Informative)
For astronomy (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Media production for Linux (And OSX, And Window (Score:4, Informative)
Just get KDE (Score:4, Informative)
You don't really need individual suggestions, as most of the decent open-source educational programs out there are part of KDE. The latest version of KDE will hopefully be installable on Windows this year.
Just install the full package, and you'll have stuff like KLatin and KVerbos for learning languages, as well as star-gazing software, plus KTurtle, KTouch and a load more.
Edutainment - games (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.food-force.com/ [food-force.com] Made by the U.N. Free, MacOS X or Windows. (sorry no Linux afaik) Probably the best one in my list for the 6-8 years old.
http://www.tqworld.com/ [tqworld.com] - Tranquility. After years and years, this game has something no other game offers. Well suited for the youngsters. Free, but not open source.
http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/ [stopdisastersgame.org] U.N. too. Free and web-based. Excellent. Probably best for 8 years old (older ones of your range). Surprisingly informative.
http://www.stepmania.com/ [stepmania.com] Not sure that ones counts as edutainment, but it sure is good for the children! Open source and available for all platforms.
http://www.openttd.org/ [openttd.org] A railroad tycoon open source clone (gosh I'm getting old
For the curious ones, here's the other worthy (subjective) open source games I discovered with time. http://del.icio.us/Satri/game+opensource [del.icio.us]
SimCity / Micropolis (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/ [donhopkins.com]