ScienceMan.com - Review - Crocodile ICT

Software Review: Crocodile ICT

ScienceMan Rating:

Relevant Links:	Home Page
Company/Vendor:	Crocodile Clips Ltd.
Price:	$400 US - 5 Computer License, site licensing available
Platforms:	Windows, Mac OS X
Latest Version:	5.0.9

Pros:

Who would ever think that learning computer programming could be fun? Captures the imagination of students, even those not interested in programming.

Cons:

None

The Review:

More schools would likely offer computer programming courses as part of the their CTS (Career and Technology Studies) offerings if there was a more interesting way of presenting the material. Unfortunately, learning about computer programming, especially for beginners, can be incredibly dull.

What is really needed is an application that makes computer programming more approachable and fun to learn. Is such an approach possible? You're darn right it is!

Right from the appearance of the welcome screen, I realized that this was going to be a different type of programming experience!

Starting up Croc ICT presents you with the choice of starting a new model from scratch, or using a large list of example models to help you get started.

If you are more the step-by-step learner and don't want to fiddle with the pre-made models, you can open one of several tutorials that will walk you though the creation of your first model.

The html-based tutorials are very clearly written and allow for several different approaches to programming. There are tutorials for:

creating and monitoring flowcharts

constructing dance routines

presentations - creating animations

setting contexts

Some of the tutorial pages refer to movies that can be watched, but clicking on these links led to a Crocodile Clips page that was under construction. No worries though, the tutorials themselves should definitely do the trick for you.

In my case, I decided start with a character tutorial that would allow me to do a litte dancing! Crocodile ICT offers the very unique approach of providing an environment where programming processes and decisions can be used to make an onscreen character dance.

After a very short tutorial process, and some intuitive dragging and dropping, I had created my first dance routine:

The uncanny thing is that soon after I got my bearings in the Crocodile ICT program, I became engrossed in making my character move and dance the way I wanted to.

Perhaps it is because I already have a bit of programming experience - but I think it is more due to sheer fun of manipulating the character. I was absorbing the programming priniciples without even giving them much thought!

This is exactly the kind of approach that is needed to bring the abstract nature of programming to young minds. Some students have difficulty getting interested in learning programming actions, decisions and variables, but will get very excited about learning the logistics of making a dancing animation. Little do they know that learning programming basics!

In repeating the character tutorial with a test group of students, it was immediately evident that students were very excited by this program. The loved controlling the dancers, and quickly understood how to control them. Very little instruction was necessary for students to find the programming elements they wanted, probably due to the excellent design of the Croc ICT interface.

Whether you are teaching introductory programming or doing something more advanced, Croc ICT's interface is beautifully designed for intuitive use (click image for full screen view):

Getting the parts and models you need is as simple as opening the relevant menu on the left. Clicking on folders reveals the programming elements contained within. Then it is just a matter of dragging, dropping and configuring.

Using the program is so very simple - you can work with previously saved files, or start a new one. The toolbar at the top has popup instructions if you forget what the buttons do, but they are very straightforward - cutting, pasting, undo, redo, printing your simulation, zooming in and out, pausing or running your simulation, and controlling frame rate are all just a button click away.

Importing art for background images is no problem with Croc ICT - in fact, the program includes many background images to spice up your simulation environment. The program uses the included backgrounds as contexts for programming environments. For example, one of the backgrounds is the outside of a home:

Context parts such as doorbells, keypads (see picture!), security lights, pressure pads, alarms, windows, doors, allow students to create simple or very complex security systems. Amazing!

Croc ICT is loaded with thoughtful touches that make it easier and exciting to use. Students can make their characters talk, flowcharts can be hidden or can be popped up to make maximum use of screen space, sections of flowcharts can be copied and pasted from simulation to simulation, all sorts of onscreen controls can be added to run simulations in many different ways... the well-thought-out list of features of this program is endless.

Conclusion:

Crocodile ICT is a ground-breaking program for teaching computing controls and programming. Hidden in a fun a delightful interface is a powerful and flexible programming tool that grabs and holds the interest of students.

Due to its ability to make complex programming accessible and entertaining for any student, this amazing program has massive potential as an educational tool. School CTS/ICT coordinators need to take a serious look at Crocodile ICT - this program could easily serve as the basis for several computer programming instruction modules.