[kde-edu]: Re: KMathtool

[Surabaja Johnny]

Trenton,

thank you for taking the initiative and not being deterred by the size of the task. I am not in software development really, but I volunteer for the italian translation.

As a father of a child with ADHD (http://www.chadd.org/fs/fs1.htm) I spent some time looking for software that would make life easier for my kid, but I did not find anything really satisfactory.

I found many tools written by programmers with little or no experience in teaching, or the other way 'round. It would be great if kmathtools succeeds in bringing together the best of both worlds.

I agree with the plug-in approach, which proved successful in many large project. Still, the whole thing should be kept coherent. I also favour the "tool mode" option, to be used in conjunction with the "teaching mode" when the pupil wants to "take the initiative".

Language is an important issue. I was surprised to find out how many teachers would dismiss a software tool on the basis of language only. 

I would leave the costly "voice option" out for now.  I realize that when I help my kid I need to continuously adjust my voice (what I say and how I say it): keep eye contact, check the feedback, adjust to it, make a joke with numbers, and so on... I am not sure you can do that with a recorded voice. 

Animations on the other hand are very useful, and I have seen many good ones that I would have never thought of. Controllable step-by-step execution would be a must.

Also, I would (optionally) run the "teaching application" in a parallel window, along with the "teaching theory" windows, so that you can occasionally check the two against each other.

As for exercise & test, rather than having a multiple choices quiz, I would go for interactive animations, where the tools are there (shapes to drag, scales to load, etc...) but it is up to the pupil to use them in the proper sequence.

thank you,

SJ