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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Educational software: Towards interactive learning by Ranga Kamaladasa Learning the old fashion way with blackboards, chalk, and of course
memorising every word in the textbook like a parrot may not be the best way
to learn, but that's what most students put up with, even in this day and
age of modern technology. Chalk dust that flies around
That's why a group of undergraduates from the University of Moratuwa in collaboration with the Secondary Education Modernisation Project (SEMP) of the Ministry of Education are working on developing computer software based learning material for schoolchildren. In schools there are computer learning centres which were upgraded recently. But they don't have enough applications to make the learning experience worthwhile. We are providing that for them, says Sumith Gamage the president of the Computer Science and Engineering Society. The real barriers come from the schools. They are afraid of computers. When they get new computers they pack them up and keep them somewhere and don't allow students to go there So, we want to give a proper training to teachers and students on how to use technology for their benefit. We've already done some programs in a couple of schools and we'll be glad to help any school that wants our help." With the collaboration of the Education Ministry they've started something bigger, the development of free educational software. For their first stage they have organised a competition inside the University to develop the software and the feedback has been great. "We didn't expect this much of participation. At the beginning we got 52 applications and after evaluation, we listed 24 software products to be sent to the schools. We already sent these to the NIE and they'll be giving the approval soon," says Sumith. The senior lecturers of the Computer Engineering Department will evaluate the integrity of the software, since most of them will be written in object-oriented languages making them easier to debug and develop further in the future. The NIE will be setting the standard for the school education curriculum, so the synergy of both institutes will no doubt be a relief for students who are fed up with poor quality software and are anxious to get their hands on meaningful educational software. The majority of the programs were done using Flash, 3D Studio Max, and Maya which makes them more graphical and interactive. Java and Visual Studio were also used in the developing. The distinctively interactive programs that the undergraduates have developed are filled with eye catching pictures, soothing background music and also links to additional information besides the main chain of the program, so anyone can investigate their subjects further. Some of them included virtual experiments which are graphed automatically showing the relation between the measurements taken, like an actual experiment. "The other interesting thing about our software is that they are multilingual," said Alex Dilan, a Project coordinator. Most commercial software you get in the market is in English, but here you can choose your language. The students had a limited time to come up with the programs but even the non-multilingual programs are written in a way that they are expandable for the three languages." Most importantly, the software is developed by undergraduates, who are talented and know what A/L students need because they were also in the same position a couple of years ago," added Sumith. The undergraduates, have also been asked to consult their old teachers and brothers or sisters who are doing A/Ls this year, to get their ideas, and according to their views, modify the programs for to suit the latest trends in A/Ls. "The other main difference between our products and commercially available software is that we are doing this as open-source", commented Sumith. "We distribute the software freely and anyone can improve on it. Next year we are planning on associating with the Faculty of Computer Science in the University of Colombo as well." The project is also a great chance for the undergraduates in training, as they get free technical advice from their sponsors -David Pieris Information Technologies- to develop their software. Also as Dilan points out, the outcome is not something that they will keep for themselves. It's a product of their education, and they'll be happy that someone else will be using it. "The main thing, that got me going was the lack of facilities I had when I was an A/L student," said Prabodha Gabadage, a second year student who took part in developing software. "I'm from Matara, and those days we didn't have electronic equipment or books and it was very hard. So I'm enhancing my programming abilities while giving something for the A/L students who are facing the same difficulties as me." The students were motivated in doing some research as well. They were encouraged to build their own way of presenting so that they would be able to create their method of portraying something. "If you are writing a program for a software company, it's quite easy. On the other hand, writing an Educational Software is quite hard," said another competitor. "Since it's not for adults it must be really user friendly. It should be like made for people who never touched a computer before. So I asked different students and teachers and it took me more than a whole week to decide what sort of an interface I was going to use." As tough as the project maybe, this initiative taken by the University is only a stepping stone for future development of technology based interactive education. Learning something new for the first time is one of the most fulfilling things anyone can experience in their life. Education can be brought to that level of learning where students can just enjoy every aspect of their schooling rather than sitting with a book, trying to figure out the type of questions the next exam would have. Though this maybe just a small step forward in creating a culture of 'learning for fun', it's definitely an admirable pursuit and a worthwhile investment for anyone who's concerned about future education of the country. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
everywhere and
endless stacks of short-notes piled up in a heap are not the only things
that dampen the hearts of students. It's the lack of proper guidance to
interactive and enjoyable methods of teaching even when resources like
computers are at hand. 
