[Image of an electrodynamics model created with Ejs.]
Easy Java Simulations (Ejs) is a software tool designed for the creation of discrete computer simulations.
There exist many programs that help create other programs. What makes Ejs different from most other products is that Ejs is not designed to make life easier for professional programmers, but has been conceived by science teachers, for science teachers and students. That is, for people who, like you and me, are more interested in the content of the simulation, the simulated phenomenon itself, and much less in the technical aspects needed to build the simulation.
Hence, Ejs provides a conceptual structure and simplified tools that allow concentrate most of your time in the description of the model of the phenomenon you want to simulate. Nevertheless, the final result, which is automatically generated by Ejs from your description, could, in terms of efficiency and sophistication, be taken as the creation of a professional programmer.
In particular, Ejs creates Java applets that are independent, multi-platform, which can be visualized using any Web browser (and therefore distributed through the Internet), read data across the net and be controlled using scripts from within html pages.
Because there is an educational value in the process of creating a simulation, Ejs can also be used as a pedagogical tool itself. With it, you can ask your students to create a simulation by themselves, perhaps by following some guidelines provided by you. This way, Ejs can help your students make their conceptions explicit.
The OSP Demo Launcher package has been embedded into this page using the ApplicationApplet applet You can also execute the Launcher package directly using your native file system by using Java Web Start or by downloading the ejs_demo.jar file to your desktop and then double clicking on the file.
Ejs (the program) and Ejs examples can be obtained from the Ejs site: