Yes, it is finally here! Significant improvements were made across the entire platform, but most importantly, NCLab’s model of operation has changed.
New Model of Operation
Here is an overview of the most important policy changes:
- All modules are free to use for anyone.
- Generous quotas in Free Plan include 100 MB disk space, 2 GB RAM, 8 weekly hours of CPU time.
- Files of free users are private by default.
- Educational materials (tutorials, textbooks, interactive exercises…) will be available from now on starting with Basic Plan, and for NCLab Partner Schools as before. Interactive courses with class management tools and parent controls are in preparation. These will be offered as individual units.
Overview of Module Changes
Karel the Robot:
- New graphics design.
- Programming modes 2 and 3 available in Free Plan.
- New object Tray introduced to mazes, and new keyword
trayto the language. This makes it possible to formulate and solve many exciting new problems. - New game goals added to Game designer.
- Educational resources collected in new Course menu.
Python:
- Improved structure of worksheets.
- Graphical output goes either to worksheet or to a separate window (user’s choice).
- Educational resources collected in new Course menu.
- Python 3.3 is already on beta server!
PLaSM:
- Improved visualization with multiple new viewing modes.
- Graphical output goes either to worksheet or to a separate window (user’s choice).
- Educational resources collected in new Course menu.
LaTeX:
- Improvement of automatic uploader of archives.
- New modules for Letter, Essay, CV, and other document types.
Molecule Sketcher Already On Beta Server!
After months of development, 3D molecule sketcher based on the OpenBabel library is almost ready! This module will allow users to sketch molecules by hand and obtain their true 3D shapes using scientific computing on the cloud. This will be the first cloud application of its kind.
