Educational Software

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Labdoo.org uses:

  • Educational software suitable for students of all ages (from preschool to high school)
  • Add-ons to provide barrier-free access for blind or handicapped users
  • Offline wikis and manuals so that educational content can be accessed even without Internet connection
  • Virus scanner ClamAV and other tools

Labdoo laptops are not limited to the default programs and tools provided by the Ubuntu operating system. By installing the prepared Labdoo images for Cloning or the installation scripts you can add more useful educational content. You can also download additional software by using the Ubuntu Software Center if your laptop is connected to the Internet.

If you have any questions on how to use these applications, please ask them to the Labdoo Global Support team as explained in the following page: https://www.labdoo.org/content/what-if-i-want-receive-aid-lgs-support-teamu.

  1. Educational software
  2. Each Labdoo device comes with educational software for children of all ages. There is educational materials for levels from preschool to high school. The computer is also equipped with barrier-free access to help handicapped or blind users.

    Edubuntu is a collection of free educational programs that volunteers and developers around de world put together. Below you can find a brief description on some programs. You can find more detailed information at www.edubuntu.org and at http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Edubuntu.

  3. Game Collections
  4. GCompris, Childsplay and Omnitux are educational game suites for children aged 2 to 10. The suites contain arithmetic, spelling, letter, word-finding and memory games. The goal is to promote learning through game playing.

  5. Gcompris
  6. Gcompris contains more than 100 games and educational programs to help children learn in a fun way. There is a brief description of some of its key features below.

    Icon Menu Description
    Discover the computer Learn computer parts in different games.
    Go to the discovery games Discover colors, sounds, the world and more.
    Puzzles Learn logic, memory, puzzle, tossing, and patience.
    Games panel Pastimes like chatting, drawing games...
    Mathematics Learn how to count, how to calculate and about geometry.
    English Learning English alphabets, reading, hangman game and more.
    Science activities Learn electrical circuits, the water cycle, the operation of a lock...
    Strategy games Pastime like chess, tic-tac-toe, Oware and balls in a line.

  7. Astronomy and Geography
  8. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Celestia Celestia is a program which allows you to move virtually through space and visit other planets, stars and galaxies. celestia-gnome
    Marble Marble is a desktop globe. The program is similar to Google Earth. It is simple, yet very sophisticated and powerful. It supports a variety of other programs including OpenStreetMap and can reproduce it on its globe or on map view. marble
    Stellarium Stellarium is a planetarium program. stellarium
  9. Graphic and Construction Software
  10. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Dia Dia is a diagram editor that provides a variety of options available to create attractive charts. Besides being able to place the objects scale-free, graphics can be included. dia
    FreeCAD FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeler made primarily to design real-life objects of any size. Parametric modeling allows you to easily modify your design by going back to your model history and changing its parameters. FreeCAD is open-source and highly customizable, scriptable and extensible. FreeCAD
    Freeplane Freeplane is a program to create mind maps. freeplane
    Gimp GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image retouching and editing, free-form drawing, converting between different image formats, and more specialized tasks. [Update 20.04 LTS] gimp
    GnuPaint GnuPaint is a simple paint program, which is based on xpaint. gpaint
    Inkscape Inkscape is a vector-based graphics program like Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw or Xara X. The application provides a very user-friendly interface, which remains intuitive and clear in spite of its many functions. inkscape
    LibreCAD LibreCad is a very powerful free program for two-dimensional CAD drawings. You can create various technical drawings such as plans for buildings, interiors, mechanical parts or schemas and diagrams. librecad
    Pencil Pencil can create traditional hand-drawn animations (cartoons). It supports both bitmap and vector graphics. pencil
    PLM Practice how to program in Java, Python, Scala etc. PLM
    TkGate TkGate is a digital circuit simulator. Manuals in ~/Public/manuals-ubuntu/English/TKGate_2_0 TkGate
    Tux Paint Tux Paint is a simple drawing program for young children. Images can be painted using stamps, brushes etc. tuxpaint
    VYM VYM (View Your Mind) is an easy-to-use application for creating mind maps. vym
  11. Mathematics and Statistics
  12. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    GeoGebra GeoGebra is a free geometry software with which the mathematical properties of geometry, algebra and calculus can be drawn. geogebra
    Jfractionlab Educational program to practice fractions Jfractionlab
    KAlgebra KAlgebra is a mathematical computer program. Its basis is the language of content MathML, which can be used to describe the structure of a formula. It can run arithmetic and logical operations and two-and three-dimensional graphs are shown. kalgebra
    KmPlot KmPlot is a program to visualize mathematical functions. kmplot
    Lybniz Lybniz is a simple program for visualizing mathematical functions. lybniz
    TurtleArt A LOGO-like tool for teaching programming TurtleArt
    Tux Tux of Math Command, also known as TuxMath, is a math coach, with which basic arithmetic can be practiced. The gameplay is based on the arcade classic Missile Command. Tux must save cities by solving mathematical problems before the destruction. tuxmath
    Xabacus Simulation of the ancient calculator XAbacus
    XaoS XaoS is a program which creates fractal graphics in real time. XAbacus
  13. Physics
  14. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Step With Step you can learn and feel how physics works. You place some bodies on the scene, add some forces such as gravity or springs, then click "Simulate" and Step shows you how your scene will evolve according to the laws of physics. step
  15. Games
  16. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Atomix Atomix is a game to preassemble molecules from individual atoms. The gameplay is based on the AMIGA game Atomix. atomix
    biniax2 Colorful Logic game with arcade and tactics modes. atomix
    Bumprace BumpRace is a simple arcade game. You have to get from the start to the finish line without crashing into the blocks. atomix
    eBoard, Gnuchess, Crafty (chess) eboard is a graphical chess program which can function as an interface to Internet chess servers such as FICS and to chess engines such as Crafty. Gnuchess and Crafty are the matching chess engines. eboard
    Frozen-Bubbles FColorful 3D rendered penguin animations. The game idea is similar to Tetris. frozen-bubbles
    gbrainy gbrainy is a platform to train memory, arithmetical and logical capabilities with many sorts of different exercises of many difficulty levels. gbrainy
    GCompris GCompris is a collection of games for children. It combines a variety of games on various topics for different age groups. Thus, it contains for example GCompris Games on mathematics (small 1x1), colors, skill, working with computers etc. Recommended age 3 +. gcompris
    Kanagram Kanagram is a word game in which it is necessary to solve a mystery. A word is decoded by clever conversion of the given letters. kanagram
    Kartoffelknülch KTuberling is a program with several background images (tuberling, Egypt, the moon, Christmas, etc.) available so their designs can be modified. ktuberling
    Ltris LTris is a very polished Tetris clone, which offers three types of games. The classic mode, a figures mode, where different figures appear every level, and a multiplayer mode. LTris is highly configurable through its menu system. ltris
    lbreakout2 lbreakout2 is a game similar to the classic breakout, featuring a number of added graphical enhancements and effects. You control a paddle at the bottom of the playing-field, and you need to destroy the bricks at the top by bouncing balls against them. ltris
    minetest Minetest is an open-world game, inspired by Minecraft. In a randomly generated world, raw materials are used to create tools and shape the environment. minetest
    Neverball Neverball is simple: you have to collect all the coins using a ball, but you control the floor, not the ball... ri-li
    Ri-li Ri-li is a skill game where you have to move a wooden train set by following the right course of different rail networks. The goal is to collect the different cars distributed throughout the level. ri-li
    Scratch With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. sratch
    Supertux SuperTux is a classic 2D jump 'n run side-scroller game with a style similar to the original SuperMario games. supertux
  17. Language Learning
  18. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Parley Parley is a vocabulary trainer. The vocabulary is extensive and the game offers a variety of settings around the goal of creating word lists that will allow you to learn. parley
    Anki Anki is an alternative tool to Parley. Ready to use vocabulary and learning decks can be downloaded from here https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/ anki
  19. Keyboard trainer
  20. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Tux Typing Tux Typing helps children to learn how to write through playful touch. Recommended age 5 +. tuxtype
  21. Music
  22. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Gtick, KMetronome Gtick and Kmetronome are a software metronomes. Gtick, KMetronome
    Tux Guitar Program to edit and view sheet music, especially for guitar. Tux Guitar
    Solfege Ear training software to help you practice intervals, chords, scales and rhythms (manuals in Public/manuals-ubuntu) Solfege
    Piano Booster Piano Booster is a new way to learn the piano just by playing a game. Piano Booster
    VMPK Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard VMPK
  23. Office Applications
  24. Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    Microsoft Teams for Linux [Update 20.04 LTS] Microsoft Teams for Linux is a client that includes chat, meetings, and video for home learning. The service is integrated into the Office 365 Office suite with Microsoft Office and Skype. Teams is part of the Labdoo image for cloning and was included in 2020, during the corona crisis, to make home schooling easier since many schools use Teams for distributed lessons. Microsoft Teams for Linux
    Skype [Update 20.04 LTS] Microsoft Skype has been preinstalled on Labdoo computers since the release of 20.04 LTS. Skype also provides instant messaging services. Users can text, send videos, voice messages and images. Skype also allows video conference calls. Skype
    LibreOffice Suite LibreOffice is a powerful office suite; its clean interface and powerful tools allow you to unleash your creativity and grow your productivity. LibreOffice embeds several applications that make it the most powerful, free and open-source office suite on the market: Writer, the word processor; Calc, the spreadsheet application; Impress, the presentation engine; Draw, our drawing and flowcharting application; Base, our database and database frontend; and Math, for mathematical equations. LibreOffice Suite
    LibreOffice Writer Writer has all the features you need from a modern, full-featured word processing and desktop publishing tool. It's simple enough for a quick memo, but powerful enough to create complete books with contents, diagrams, indexes, and more. Feel free to concentrate on your message, while Writer will make it look great. writer
    LibreOffice Calc Calc is the spreadsheet program you've always needed. Newcomers find it intuitive and easy to learn. Professional data miners and number crunchers will appreciate the comprehensive range of advanced functions. Wizards can guide you through choosing and using a comprehensive range of advanced spreadsheet functions. You can also download templates from the LibreOffice template repository, for ready-made spreadsheet solutions. calc
    LibreOffice Impress Impress is a truly outstanding tool for creating effective multimedia presentations. Presentation, edition and creation is flexible, thanks to different editing and view modes: Normal (for general editing), Outline (for organizing and outlining your text content), Notes (for viewing and editing the notes attached to a slide), Handout (for producing paper-based material), and Slide Sorter (for a thumbnail sheet view that lets you quickly locate and order your slides). impress
    LibreOffice Draw Draw lets you produce anything from a quick sketch to a complex plan, and gives you the means to communicate with graphics and diagrams. With a maximum page size of 300cm by 300cm, Draw is an excellent package for producing technical drawings, general posters, etc. Draw allows you to manipulate graphical objects, group them, crop them, use objects in 3D and much more. draw
    LibreOffice Base Base is a full-featured desktop database front end, designed to meet the needs of a broad array of users. But Base also caters to power users and enterprise requirements, and provides native-support drivers for some of the most widely employed multi-user database engines: MySQL/MariaDB, Adabas D, MS Access and PostgreSQL. In addition, the built-in support for JDBC- and ODBC-standard drivers allows you to connect to virtually any other existing database engine as well. base
    LibreOffice Math Math is the LibreOffice suite's formula editor, that can be invoked in your text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings, to enable you to insert perfectly formatted mathematical and scientific formulas. Your formulas can include a wide range of elements, from fractions, terms with exponents and indices, integrals, and mathematical functions, to inequalities, systems of equations, and matrices. math
    Firefox Firefox Internet Browser is also useful to read local, off-line educational content. Firefox is the default browser. firefox
    Netsurf Fast and easy to use internet browser netsurf
    pdf Split and Merge PDFsam is our free and open source desktop application to split, merge, extract pages, rotate and mix PDF files. pdfsam
    pdf shuffler PDF-Shuffler helps the user to merge or split PDF documents and rotate, crop and rearrange their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface. pdfshuffler
    Thunderbird [Update 20.04 LTS] Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source[11] cross-platform email client, news client, RSS, and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Thunderbird is an email, newsgroup, news feed, and chat (XMPP, IRC, Twitter) client. The vanilla version was not originally a personal information manager (PIM). However, the Mozilla Lightning extension, which is now installed by default, adds PIM functionality. Additional features, if needed, are often available via other extensions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Thunderbird Thunderbird


  25. Kiwix, Xowa, Kolibri Offline reader and tools for educational content
  26. Labdoo computers come with preinstalled programs to read offline content, such as Kiwix. It allows you to access offline wikis and learning content without being connected to the Internet. Depending on the language, availability and size of the hard drive, Labdoo will have already preinstalled some learning content. Using the tools a lot of additional OER - Open Educational Resources, license-free learning content can be downloaded in different languages.

    The programs mentioned below are already preinstalled on "cloned" Labdoo computers, mostly in the language of the target country. There may be more or less content, depending on the size of the disk-drive. They can be found:

  • locally on a Labdoo computer in the folder /home/labdoo/Public
  • online on the server of the tools developer
  • on our FTP server http://ftp.labdoo.org/download/install-disk/wiki-archive/
Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
kiwix (since end of 2020) Since end of 2020, cloned IT donations are coming with the Kiwix tool. In the folder /home/labdoo/Public/kiwix/wikis you will find preinstalled learning content (zim and meta files). Further learning content can be downloaded from the web. Note: All users these saved in the aforementioned folder, but these new folders must be opened once or else theis content will not appear on the list. To activate new contents for another user, click on the folder symbol at the upper right corner, navigate to the above folder and click on the content to activate it.
A great feature of Kiwix - if you click on the 3 dots (...) in the upper right corner, you can start the Kiwix server. An IP address is displayed and it can be used by other computers, cell phones or tablets to get connected, read the learning content on their devices and learn using it.
kiwix
kiwix Add-On for Firefox (since end of 2020) The preinstalled Kiwix add-on in Firefox will display zim archives for Kiwix. This allows you to access the zim archives with learning content in the folder /home/labdoo/Public/kiwix/wikis. However, this browser extension does not offer all the functions of the Kiwix app; the browser plug-in is still in beta phase. kiwix plug-in Firefox
Xowa (until end of 2020) Until the end of 2020, Labdoo used Xowa as a tool to display offline wikis http://xowa.org/. Since then, Xowa was replaced by Kiwix to clone images.
If you want to continue using Xowa, you can install it, set it up manually and load wikis from the Xowa server yourself. Labdoo also removed the Xowa archives from its FTP server at the end of 2020. Instead, the most common zim archives for Kiwix are still available on our FTP server.
xowa
Kolibri Another tool for offline content is Kolibri, based on mySQL database. It comes preinstalled, but not configurated.
Download content from: https://catalog.learningequality.org/#/public
kolibri
  • Additional Programs
  • Program Descriptions Program name Screenshot
    alsamixer The program alsamixer is a tool to access all ALSA settings provided for the sound card. Frequent settings, which cannot be directly accessed with the X-user interface, are deactivated or down-regulated. With Alsamixer you can quickly find and activate these settings. alsamixer
    calibre Calibre is a cross platform program to manage and convert e-books calibre
    Laby Laby is a program to learn the programming in OCaml, Python, Lua, Ruby, Prolog, C or Java. An ant has to be moved safely through a maze without stepping into spider webs or other traps. laby
    Nanny Nanny Parental Control is an application to monitor and control what children are allowed to do on the PC. nanny
    Kino Kino is a simple video editor for GNU / Linux, which also offers the ability to directly program the videos from the camcorder to take screenshots ("capture"). kino
    ScolaSync Graphic tool to copy data to or from a set of USB storage media ScolaSync
    Scribus Scribus is a desktop publishing program. It is used to create professional layouts, and it is similar to Adobe PageMaker, QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign. scribus
    ARandR ARandR is a tool to configurate the monitor settings, e.g., a second monitor or a Beamer. ARandR
    Audacity Audacity is a free, open-source and easy-to-use graphical audio editor and recorder. audacity
    KRDC KRDC is a VNC client / desktop sharing application, compatible with RDC Remote Desktop for Windows. A remote computer can be operated using VNC. The screen content of another computer is displayed on the local computer. Mouse and keyboard entries are sent back from the local computer (here the client, also called the viewer) to the remote computer (the VNC server runs on the host). krdc
  • Virus scanner ClamAV (ClamTK)
  • Linux doesn’t normally need a virus scanner due to the Linux security concept. There are very few (not to say - none) viruses in Linux desktop. Nevertheless, some companies still offer virus scanner for extra security, for example to protect the file server being used by Windows clients.

    Some edoovillages also request a tool to be able to scan a USB drive and remove any possible virus from it. ClamAv is recommended for this purpose (ClamAV is automatically installed if you are using the installation scripts or cloning images).

    To serve the purpose, we recommend the license free, open-source virus scanner called ClamAV
    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ClamAV (You can use ClamTK to start the program).

    More modules and the virus signatures may need to be installed in order to run the program smoothly. Therefore, please run either the installation script for Labdoo FTP site ( http://ftp.labdoo.org/download/install-disk/installskripts/installscript... ) or use the cloning images since all the programs are already preinstalled in the images.

    Parts of this wiki content is based on text and graphics taken from www.edubuntu.org and http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Edubunt


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