G Compris
G-Compris is a high quality educational
software suite, including a large number of activities for children aged 2 to
10. The purpose of G-compris is to provide a developmental platform for
educational activities. G-Compris is a part of GNU-project and is placed under
GPL License.
The first version of the game was made in 2000
by Burno Coudoin, a French software engineer. Since the first release it was
distributed freely on the internet and was protected by the GNU General Public
License. The motivation behind the development was to provide native
educational application for Linux. Since then, the software has seen continuous
improvements, in terms of graphics and number of activities.
Some
of the activities are game oriented, but nonetheless still educational. Here is
the list of activity categories with some examples;
1. Computer
discovery: Keyboard, Mouse, Touch screen etc...
2. Reading:
Letters, words, reading practice, typing text etc…
3. Arithmetic:
Numbers, operations, table memory, enumeration, double entry table etc…
4. Science:
The canal lock, the water cycle, renewable energy etc…
5. Geography:
Countries, regions, culture etc…
6. Games:
chess, memory, align4, hangman, tic-tac-toe etc…
7. Other:
Colours, shapes, learn to tell time etc…
G-Compris includes several activities
grouped activities grouped on a yellow bar to the left of the screen, from
which the child can choose as soon as the program is started. Such a design
makes it easy to add new activities or to adapt the program to specific needs.
The interface is designed for easy use by small children. G-Compris is
controlled with a mouse; it cannot be used without a mouse or pointing system.
When you start the program, G-compris shows a graphic interface which presents
a list of activities with control bar at the bottom. Each icon represents an
activity. When the mouse is set on it, the activity is highlighted and the
name, description and author of the activity are displayed. The program itself
and all the activities are available in many different languages.
WHO IS USING IT AND HOW
·
G-compris
activity-based design makes it highly and easily adaptable to particular
environments.
·
G-compris is a powerful
tool to improve the communicative and motor skills of mentally challenged
persons like children with autism.
·
The insight team
implemented a training module for teachers that provide instructions on how to
use different activities of G-compris when working with children with special
needs.
·
A small handbook was
also distributed to parents and special educators to help them understand how
to use the software to improve children’s skills.
WHY G-COMPRIS IS USED
·
Teachers report that it
is extremely easy for them to implement G-Compris in their curriculum since
children find it intuitive and fun to use.
·
The program is also an
excellent resource for mentally challenged children and adults.
·
G-compris has become an
important resourse to speed up the child’s learning process in the context of
developing countries like India, where the only chance for getting accustomed
with computers is during school time.
·
G-compris is easy to
use and intuitive, so it is particularly no time spent on getting to understand
how the program works.
·
With G-compris children
develop quickly the motor skills required to use computer.
G-compris respects the user’s fundamental freedoms and this
permitted the insight developers and specialists to adapt the software to the
children’s needs, creating new activities, and proposing the innovative use of
the program to help autistic children and their parents. The insight team is
also free to distribute copies of the modified version to teachers and parents,
who can use the program at home without restrictions. The modified version has
proved effective in improving the academic and functional flair of
intellectually challenged children.
