Alicia wrote me a few days ago asking me to research some free educational software. She asks: “I am on a limited budget and would like some recommendations for free (or limited cost) educational software for my nine year old son.” Alicia, I’ve put together a handful of useful and free programs and operating systems which are openly available on the internet. I’m going to start with the operating system and move down my list of cool freebies.
Edubuntu is a complete operating system offered by Canonical, the same company that authors Ubuntu. I like getting the bad news first so I’m going to present what I feel is the bad first; then I’ll highlight some of the good. Edubuntu replaces Windows in most cases and would be best run on a dedicated computer. Although you could do what is referred to as ‘dual booting,’ I strongly suggest not.
Edubuntu does include a huge number of educational games and software on the CD. Included with the package are games and suites for all major educational categories: science, math, music, art, and many more subjects. If you’re not happy with the included titles, downloading and installing new applications is free and easy. To get Edubuntu simply go to www.edubuntu.org.
I found many websites with free educational software. A couple of the notable sites include www.shoolforge.net and www.intrastar.net. Neither seems to nag users with tons of advertisements and both have many subjects to pick from. Schoolforge’s website seems to be laid out very well with both parents and teachers in mind. If you are unhappy with my selections then simply Google “free educational software” and try out a new site.
Suzanne has accumulated a pile of DVD movies and would like a convenient method of organizing them using a computer. She asks: “I have heard Media Center PC’s are an easy solution for organizing and playing DVD movies. Can you explain what they are and how to connect them?” Suzanne, Media Center computers are generally connected to a television or large monitor for playing media of all sorts. One can playback music, pictures and movies from one central location.
Most versions of Windows 7 include a program called Media Center (MCE). The interface is very similar to a high-end DVD player with options to play all sorts of media plus watch on-demand and streaming videos over the internet. Although most computers do not include remote controls, MCE remotes are similar to DVD remotes and connect easily to the computer. Once connected users can easily control most functions of the computer without a traditional keyboard or mouse.
Connecting the computer to a television and sound system is fairly straight forward. Usually all that’s needed to connect directly to a modern television is an HDMI cable. For my own setup I use an S-video cable. The beauty of HDMI is that both audio and video are transferred. S-video or VGA will require separate audio connections to the television.
The most difficult part of your project is converting the DVD movies to a format that can be read and played by the MCE. Most movies will compress to around 700MB which is a fairly small file size. However, your biggest contender will be dodging the anti-piracy software installed onto most commercial DVDs. I suggest taking a look at Magic DVD Ripper (www.magicdvdripper.com) for a convenient tool to do this very task. There are a ton of these out there and all will pretty much do the same thing.
Once you’ve setup your Media Center PC, take a look at some of the on-demand movie sites and subscription services. Netflix is one of the neater on-line services you can purchase. For under $10.00 per month you can watch unlimited movies directly over the computer. If you want to opt for the free and easy stuff, you can also use www.hulu.com and watch old TV episodes completely free.
Tech-Tip of the week: I suggest dusting your computer inside and out every three months.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at Jeromy@LocalComputerWiz.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)