ScienceMan Review - Yenka

Pros:

• Easy and fun to use
• Affordable
• Powerful
• Intuitive

Cons

• None

Note - many images are clickable for a larger view.

It's easy to get jaded over software, there are many promises of great function and ease-of-use out there, but often I'm disappointed when it comes to actually using the software. In that respect, Yenka is both a pleasure and a treasure - it delivers on all promises of ease-of-use and functionality.

ScienceMan is so excited about this software that we're going to feature a series of tutorials to give Yenka the attention it deserves. There's no way to cover all of the wonderful functionality in a single review, so watch for our series of tutorials (coming soon!)

First Impressions - Interface

Starting up Yenka yields a "blank canvas" - what would normally be intimidating is made very intuitive by palette items that make perfect sense:

To the interactive whiteboard user's delight, clicking the Yenka logo makes the entire interface disappear, freeing up your board for whatever your instruction requires. Want to use Yenka again? Just click the logo, and the interface reappears - a very classy feature. The "File" menu item gives you access to all the basic open/save/export functions.

The whiteboard mode is extremely forward-thinking in the sense that it assumes that some teachers will want to use Yenka as a major part of their instruction, therefore toggling the whiteboard icon spreads the Yenka interface to take up the entire screen.

The zoom, pause and simulation speed buttons do exactly what you would think they would do, allow you to view and control the simulation exactly the way you want. The Yenka help menu is also excellent, providing for a very intuitive help interface.

Function - Making Simulations

Depending on the Yenka bundle you have purchased, you'll have access to a variety of simulation objects and content:

Example Topic - Electricity

Let's take a look at the topic of electricity - like all of Yenka's topics, the software provides fantastic tools for experimenting in the subject at hand. But it should be noted that the topic menus in Yenka present the user with both "Content" and "Objects":

The Content tab presents the user with many pre-made simulations and interactive tutorials, so theoretically, Yenka could be used just as a interactive instruction module:

But the real fun comes when you choose Yenka's "Objects" menu, which provides you with a variety of objects that you can use to build any kind of simulation that you want. Building the simulation is as simple as dragging and dropping components onto the workspace and then connecting them:

Right-clicking any of the objects reveals a pop-up menu that allows access to a "properties" menu. The properties menu allows users to make a wide variety of changes in the appearance and function of the objects.

Final Thoughts

Yenka really belongs in every classroom. This intuitive and easy-to-use software would be a bargain at any price, but considering the very reasonable licensing costs, Yenka is truly a revelation. It's frustrating to think about all of the teachers and students out there that are struggling with inferior products. Considering Yenka's flexibility and power and interactive whiteboard prowess, I'd recommend teachers move to Yenka as soon as possible - you won't regret it.