Selected GBA Projects

I have completed quite a few projects in my 40 years or so as a designer and developer of educational software and web environments. Here are a few of the most recent. For additional projects, see my Resumé.

Citizenship Status Point System

A tool for behavior management in schools. Teachers use the Status client (see figure) to enter student behaviors as 'infractions' or 'kudos' -- behavior that disrupts or enhances the learning environment of the school, each with a negative or positive point value indicating severity. This data is uploaded to a MySQL database, allowing the review of individual student cumulative records in the Status client (as shown) as well as a total behavioral 'score' for each student. Student scores are posted on the school intranet website, where they are available to students, families and administration staff. Detailed student records, including graphs of point scores over time, are available to teachers; a companion student program provides a student access to his/her own data.

Roles:
Original concept: the faculty of Codman Academy Charter Public School
Design and programming (client and web reporting module): George C Brackett
In collaboration with: Codman Academy Charter Public School
Installation: Codman Academy Charter Public School (2005-)

PhpWebSite Modules

A set of four open-source modules enhancing the content management system PhpWebSite , developed by Appalachian State University. The set includes

staffman (for listing staff bios and pictures -- see figure at left),
jobman (for listing available positions),
jobwantedman (for listing positions sought), and
uplink (for uploading files through a simple interface)

Roles:
Design and programming: George C Brackett
In collaboration with: PhpWebSite Community Development Project
Published: on Sourceforge (2003-2005)

Graph Action Plus

A CD-ROM containing three programs helping middle-school children explore the mathematics of motion: Graph Action, Action Analyzer (pictured here), and Multi-Viewer. In Action Analyzer, students track objects in QuickTime movies to create graphs of their vertical or horizontal motion, which can then be played back synchronously with the video as the measured points are displayed for comparison. Multi-Viewer permits the simultaneous comparison and annotation of up to four movies and distance-time graphs.

Roles:
Design: George Brackett, Laura Albert & Glenn Kleiman
Graphics: Laura Albert
Programming: George Brackett & David Neill Juitt
In Collaboration with: Education Development Center
Publisher: Tom Snyder Productions, Inc. (1995)

Graph Action

First of three programs on the mathematics of motion for middle-school. Students move a mouse to record or sketch a motion graph, and use playback to relate their kinesthetic experiences to qualitative distance-time graphs, stories, and animations describing the motion. .

Roles:
Design: George Brackett, Laura Albert & Glenn Kleiman
Graphics: Laura Albert
Programming: George Brackett
In Collaboration with: Education Development Center
Publisher: Tom Snyder Productions, Inc. (1996)

Chance Encounters

A laboratory for performing a variety of probability experiments with games and game pieces (e.g., coins, number cubes), extending prior experiences with real objects to very large numbers of trials, and displaying the results in several different representations for comparison with theoretical expectations. One of a series of exploratory laboratories in middle-school mathematics, to accompany an NSF-supported curriculum developed by Education Development Center, Inc..

Roles:
Design: George C Brackett, Amy Brodesky & Glenn Kleiman
Graphics: George Brackett
Programming: George Brackett
In Collaboration with: Education Development Center
Publisher: Creative Publications, Inc. (1996)

What If Britain Falls?

An interactive history simulation for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York. The visitor takes FDR's place behind his desk in June, 1940, considering actual documents (e.g., a telegram from Joseph Kennedy in London, a note from Winston Churchill) and an advisor briefing (the appointment-book entry is pictured) before deciding whether to send material aid to England. Depending on the visitor's choices, alternate histories, based on FDR's own thinking, are played out..

Roles:
Design: George C Brackett
In Collaboration with: The Interactive Factory, Ark Studios
Installation: Franklin D Roosevelt Library (1994)

Geography Search

A simulation of voyages of discovery, engaging up to six crews of middle-school students in the navigation and decision-making needed to discover a New World. Each crew-member is an expert in some knowledge essential to success; all must work together to return safely from the rumored City of Gold.

Roles:
Design: George C Brackett (adapting an original concept by Tom Snyder)
Programming: George C Brackett & Sean Nolan
Publisher: Tom Snyder Productions, Inc. (1993)
More Info: Geography Search Information