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Re: [school-discuss] Idea for mobile computer teacher/specialist in enterprise Linux thin client schools



I'm giggling over this thread because for the past several months I have
been working on a framework to allow teachers to select the boot params
from a menu for the thin clients in their classroom. They can choose
from several predefined setup or create a new one and they can select
whether it is a one-time boot or permanent for their class (plus some
other stuff I'm still mulling over).

This idea came from the discussion several months ago around allowing
teachers free-reign over the applications on the student machine vs. the
needs of the IT staff to not have to support applications that don't
behave well in a thin client environment.

Plus I'm working on a thick/thin client environment for heavy-weight
clients that are workstation ready but still have no local application
storage.

Need sleep, funding, more hardware for testing and for Les to put LDAP
support in OA :)

(just poking at you - OA needs to be the cornerstone for schools)

On Wed, 2007-12-12 at 16:13 -0600, Les Richardson wrote:
> Hi Casey,
> 
> > they never seemed to take off.  I am sure there were a variety of
> > reasons behind that, our high prices as one, but the feeling I got
> > from feedback was that it was simply too complicated.
> 
> Strong Agree!
> 
> > This speaks to
> > many issues like training, change management, teacher motivation, etc.
> >
> > For this to be successful, I think the thin clients would need to boot
> > to a specific server with a specific image that had everything the
> > teacher needed.  The idea of your average teacher plugging and
> > unplugging wires isn't going to go very far is my guess.  And the idea
> > of every teacher having their own server sounds like a logistical tech
> > nightmare for IT.  It really has to be simple so the focus is on the
> > instruction and not the technology.
> 
> >The technology needs to be
> > practically invisible in education for true success.
> 
> Exactly right, IMO. Ubiquitous. Reliable. Well Understood. Well integrated 
> with other classroom activities and curriculum support materials.
> 
> Les Richardson
> Open Admin for Schools
> 
> 
> 
> > My opinion if it helps!
> >
> > Casey
> > casey@xxxxxxxxx
> >
> > On Dec 12, 2007 3:10 PM, Marilyn Hagle <marilyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> I have enjoyed reading this thread.  It is true that when there is overcrowding,
> >> teachers often lose their classrooms.
> >>
> >> This brought back memories of teaching elementary music.  The music room is
> >> often the first to go, and then the teacher gets the pleasure of pushing a cart
> >> of stuff from room to room.  When I was a student teacher, we had to push a
> >> piano.   Yikes!
> >>
> >> You might be forced to go to a portable class, if there are space constraints.
> >> However, for the teacher - it will suck (couldn't think of a better word).  It
> >> wears you out pushing a bunch of stuff around all day.  Organizing your stuff
> >> can be a challenge.  I think the worst problem is usually discipline because
> >> you can't control your environment.
> >>
> >> I thought you might enjoy the views of an old traveling teacher.  :)
> >>
> >>
> >> Marilyn
> >>
> >>
> >> Quoting Daniel Howard <dhhoward@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> >>
> >>> I'm talking to several Atlanta schools now that are expecting the new
> >>> enterprise thin client system that William and I recommended within the
> >>> coming months, and one thing that keeps coming up is what happens to the
> >>> computer lab teacher when there are so many PCs (at least 2:1) in each
> >>> classroom.  Plus, many of these schools are bursting at the seams with
> >>> enrollment growth, so the computer lab is a likely target for a regular
> >>> classroom anyway.  This is what happened at Brandon, e.g.
> >>>
> >>> One thought I had was the following: suppose the computer teacher went
> >>> mobile and had on her cart a server that she could use to go into a
> >>> classroom, quickly connect the thin clients in the room to her server,
> >>> and voila, she's in command and can run any apps she has on her server,
> >>> including TeacherTool, etc.  Wireless connection from mobile server to
> >>> Internet would likely be best to prevent the mobile server from handing
> >>> out IP addresses to other school computers if miswired, and that's one
> >>> less wire to mess with too.  At the end of the session, she reconnects
> >>> the classroom clients to the main school server (single wire from room
> >>> switch to data port, e.g.), and the kids reboot and they're back where
> >>> they started.
> >>>
> >>> Any thoughts from the group, pro/con?  Assume all rooms have the same
> >>> thin client platform, so a single config with dhcp could be used.
> >>>
> >>> Best,
> >>> Daniel
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Daniel Howard
> >>> President and CEO
> >>> Georgia Open Source Education Foundation
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> :)
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Casey Adams
> > 205.612.5489
> >
> 
-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC        
770-493-8244                    
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7

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