ClicNAct Intro

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ClicNAct (clic and act) - Offline computer learning for young children

 “Hundreds of free educational activities which will run on old computers”

 ClicNAct is a project that began in 2006 in Morocco. More than 150 applications containing 1000 educational activities have been collected, organized and tested in a framework for children and young people with mental disabilities. These activities are now used in several countries in traditional school program or adapted.

Why computing activities ? From a teacher who has used these activities in the classroom :

"Computing is not just a subject to study, the computer is also a powerful tool to accelerate the awakening intelligence of a child. In our workshop we use the computer to move children on from their starting point. We have installed very simple activities so that the weakest children can succeed in their learning.

While the child works the computer explains (in English, French or Moroccan dialectal Arabic) what to do. This improves the child's understanding of their work and enables some to work independently. The audio explanations also empower adults present to help a child when they are lost. The variety from more than 200 programs enables all children to work at their ability level, we record their progress using an evaluation sheet which records their performance.

We have found that the computer helps children a lot. It helps them grow in self confidence, it enables them to repeat exercises until they have mastered them, it does not say negative things which would judge and discourage them. The children enjoy working on the computer and over time they gain computing skills that they can use outside of school. "

Key learning areas

. . . art, finding your way around, general knowledge, languages, maths, memory, music, reactions, recognising shapes and colours, strategy . . .

Physical re-education :

Training of reactions thanks to the suitable software with adjustable speed.

Motor Reeducation: Manipulating the mouse, joystick, keyboard.

Mental reeducation

Pattern Recognition; Reperage in space (labyrinths); Calculation (as fun); Coloring Games; Memory; Strategy (problem solving in visual form)

Education

Languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Berber); Geography; Geometry; Telling the time

Emotional reeducation

An opportunity to regain self-confidence by gradually mastering the tool. Step by step.

 What makes ClicNAct different? ClicNAct was made for children who are . . .

offline : whose homes do not have Internet access

oral culture : who speak dialects such as Moroccan Arabic (though it also works in French and English)

modest : whose families may not have the means to purchase expensive educational software but who may have access to a cheap second hand computer

ClicNAct's features :

Audio-visual: made for oral cultures (explains everything with a voice for non-readers)

Comprehensive: contains more than 1000 learning activities (maths, languages, colouring in, etc).

Extensible: designed to include new activities and languages

Flexible: Can run from CD/DVD, USB device or Computer hard disk

Free: Can be used with anyone anywhere, freely distributed, given away

Groups: Customised for classroom use

Informative: contains model lessons to help the user work towards a goal

Lightweight: Can run with as little as 128MB RAM and 2GB hard disk (suitable for old computers).

Ludic: The majority of the learning activities are presented as games

Multilingual: runs in Moroccan Arabic, French and English

Offline: Does not require an internet connection to function (all activities are installed on disk)

Operating system independent: A Linux boot system will enable it to run on any machine independent of installed operating system

Solid: Interface specially designed for use with children with special needs

Consult us for more information:

Email: Andrew Jones at clicnact@free.fr