[Techtalk] improving computer usage in schools

[Blackmon, Samantha]

While some schools may shy away from hard drive installs you can look into
some of the LIVE CDs like Knoppix or FREEDUC. There is even talk of a
special version of the Knoppix CD that has special software geared toward
education. Some interesting things are in the works.

Samantha (aka technogrrl)

List of Links
Knoppix:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-knopp.html?ca=dgr-lnxw
09Knoppix

Knoppix+Tux4Kids
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/02/03/1918221.shtml?tid=23

Lindows Education Program http://www.lindows.com/lindows_esl_info.php

FREEDUC: http://www.ofset.org/projects/edusoft/edusoft.html



Read and Release at BookCrossing.com... The Karma of
Literature...BookCrossing.com 


-----Original Message-----
From: techtalk-admin at linuxchix.org [mailto:techtalk-admin at linuxchix.org] On
Behalf Of sara
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 8:03 PM
To: 'TechTalk -- LinuxChix'
Subject: RE: [Techtalk] improving computer usage in schools


Depending on the school (Some schools are so rigid it feels like you're
trying to invade a small country every time you offer a suggestion) the
board and parents might be extremely open to having dual-boot computer labs,
or a dedicated Linux workstation. Especially if you offer to teach a quick
lab or host an after-school educational club. Some schools might even be
willing to consider migrating entirely over to Linux/BSD or another
alternative OS somewhere down the line if you point out gently that it's
gaining popularity very quickly, and that it will save the school a lot of
money, and provide the children with a wonderful learning environment. 

As for the rest of the question... "Fun and useful"--check out some of the
projects on sourceforge, see if there are any educational games or things of
that sort. Suggest installing OpenOffice, and having the kids use to
powerpoint-like component to create slideshows oral reports. 

I vaguely remember hearing about an application that was like "battlebots",
but that involved very minor programming--that would be fun and educational
if the parents didn't object too much to it. =] 

One of the things I remember most fondly about my own schooldays (not too
long ago!) was a project that my teacher involved us in--building a 3
dimensional city out of cardboard. It taught us about geometric shapes, and
things like that. Maybe the kids would be interested in learning basic 3D on
an application like Blender? Or in learning how to create art with Gimp? I
know my friends' children who are of that age group LOVE these
activities--and some are even surprisingly good at them. 

Hmm.. If the school is networked, the kids could even use some HTML editing
program to create a series of websites, and have their own "internet". It
would be a great learning experience, that's for sure. =] a basic $30
quickcam would be a cool addition to the computer lab if you could get them
to go for that. =]


-Sara


> -----Original Message-----
> From: techtalk-admin at linuxchix.org [mailto:techtalk-
> admin at linuxchix.org] On Behalf Of Aguido Horatio Davis
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 7:30 PM
> To: TechTalk -- LinuxChix
> Subject: Re: [Techtalk] improving computer usage in schools
> 
> 
> On Wed, 12 Feb 2003, Lea de Groot wrote:
> 
> > I was wondering who here has experience in making this sort of
> proposal to
> > their kid's school, and if anyone can think up anything else that
> would be
> > fun and useful in using their resources?
> 
> Zope. Runs on Windows, supports Zwikis and Squishdots and other fun
> stuff out of the box, lets you use collaborative learning environments 
> like Fle3
> (http://fle3.uiah.fi/) and for the truly ambitious gives you a context
> to
> teach the kids Python
> (http://www.inetarena.com/~pdx4d/ocn/overcome.html).
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Horatio
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Techtalk mailing list
> Techtalk at linuxchix.org
> http://mailman.linuxchix.org/mailman/listinfo/techtalk


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