[Web Pack] 318: The best education software
In this Web Pack we’re taking a look at free software for students. Our research revealed some interesting finds, from software to manage their schedules to applications to aid learning and support their research studies.
We stumbled across many excellent programs, but alas with limited time we’ve had to pick our top ten for the Web Pack. So if there is a particular student oriented utility or application that you can’t live without, feel free to let us know in the comments below.
Lingoes
Translation websites can be useful, but they often return results that don’t quite fit the input text. Lingoes is a very accurate translator program with features for zoned word/selection and cursor translation within browsers, text translation and pronunciation for over 80 languages and many fully-featured bi-directional dictionaries are available to download. It has won multiple awards across the major file sites, which is testament to its power.
Precise Calculator
Precise Calculator is a potent Windows replacement. It knows all the usual mathematical functions, statistical functions, prime numbers, PI, matrices, complex numbers, and fractions. Frequently used formulas or scripts are savable as macros, ideal for working with complex calculations.
TheSage English Dictionary and Thesaurus
This feature packed electronic dictionary and thesaurus and it’s instant search lookup will make your paper variety completely redundant. It’s sophisticated phonetic word search capability provides access to the word rich database containing over 210,000 dictionary definitions, 1,400,000 thesaurus relationship definitions, plus thousands of examples of usage.
An essential dictionary and thesaurus for your desktop
pElement
The scourge of all chemistry classes; the periodic table, and it’s many elements labelled with easily forgettable symbols. Coming to the rescue is pElement, an interactive version of the periodic table, packed with a wealth of added information on each element and their unique properties.
Calibre
Calibre is a polished eBook reader and manager for your desktop. The software supports many eBook formats, including the ability to convert between formats. The Calibre website hosts details on a selection of DRM free eBooks, but a quick inrernet search reveals many other sources such as Project Gutenberg, FreeTechBooks.com, FreeBookSpot, and FreeComputerBooks among the best for students.
Converber
I couldn’t tell you why Converber looks like Converter, only misspelled. More so, as the program is an actual unit converter. Spelling aside, it’s a valuable bit of kit to have handy, able to convert between 2078 different units of measure, laid out in 53 categories.
OpenTeacher
Learning a foreign language from scratch is all about practising – the more you read, write say and hear the words, the deeper into your knowledge they will go. OpenTeacher, as the name suggests, is an Open-Source Teaching program, which allows you to input lists of words and their translation, then tests you on them. It’s like an automated flashcard system, yet it saves you the time and effort of creating the cards allowing your focus to stay on the language element.
RekenTest
The only way to learn mathematics is to solve real problems – many times. RekenTest is an excellent option in this respect, generating maths questions for all levels from the simplest of sums to more challenging questions covering fractions and percentages. The user runs through a wizard before each session to set the difficulty and of question types. During the test, the software monitors the students aptitude while activity adjusting the difficulty.
Get Organized
Get Organized is a free scheduler developed to aid students students plan their course work deadlines, classes, and record grades throughout the term. On first impression it looks like any general purpose office calander-based scheduler, but dig a little deeper and you’ll discover the useful wizard that makes short work with adding all your course details including class dates and time, and location. Tracking course work deadlines is also simplied with the interface quick view switches for highlighting unfinished, complete, and overdue assignments.
Now there's no excuse to miss a class or coursework deadline!
Anki
This application enables students to make up flash card style notes to help learn facts. It’s not just restricted to text, images and audio can be incorporated just as easily. Besides making your own, Anki gives students access to dozens of free decks, all downloaded through it’s online database and search tool built right into the software.
Posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 7:48 am under Education, Web Packs. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: calculator, dictionary, ebook reader, free software, language program, student, thesaurus, translation, Web Packs
