[kde-edu]: ESL Software Proposal

[Albert Astals Cid]

A Divendres 28 Novembre 2008, Chris Crook va escriure:
> Hi,
>
> I've been an English teacher in China and Japan for around three years
> now, and have amassed quite a library of English exercises. and have at
> least two complete curriculums that I use to teach English as a second
> language from complete beginner to advance students.  As I've seen,
> especially in China, that computer based self-sudy is becoming more and
> more popular (and large money spinners too, given the success of Wall
> Street Institute's English Online programme) I've come to the conclusion
> that an Open Source alternative is needed in the market.  Products from
> companies like Wall Street, DyEd and Rosetta Stone essentially promote the
> idea that quality English education is only for the super-rich, which
> effectively keeping English education out of reach of the people who need
> it the most.
>
> I've looked at the English education software available from KDE
> Education, and can't really find anything that gives a complete course to
> adult learners.  I have a course, comprehensive grammar activities and
> conversation exercises that can be used freely.  I feel that while no
> software can really replace a good teacher, it will be able to provide a
> standardised course for volunteer teachers working in the poorest parts of
> the world.  The software could be used in the classroom, as a complement
> to students already enrolled on an existing ESL course, and as a framework
> for training centres and other English teaching institutes to base their
> curriculum on.
>
> The only problem is...I can't program for toffee and I really will need a
> lot of help from talented KDE/QT coders to help me to realise my vision.

Looking for coders to help is a difficult task, good luck!

Albert

> The software will be quite complex, as ideally I want to focus on speaking
> and listening rather than reading and writing/typing - I imagine this to
> involve a lot of voice recognition.  I've used Linux since the heady days
> of SuSE 6.2, and I think that a KDE based project would be ideal for
> English students throughout the world.
>
> I look forward to hearing critique and comments from anyone interested.
>
> Chris Crook