Re: [school-discuss] Educational Killer App for OpenSource

[Gary Dunn <knowtree@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2008-12-25 at 20:07 -0800, lee rodgers wrote:
> 
> I was thinking about the laptop hinge problem. I have a Dell with a
> half-busted hinge. Reflecting on this last night I wondered if the
> laptop is indeed a poor solution for K-12, just not durable enough. I
> wonder how the OLPC machines will hold up.
> 
> I use a Nokia 770, my friend has the 810 with the slide-out keyboard.
> I think this type of UMPC design is far more durable overall and would
> serve well in even a slightly larger format for K-12. Last year I
> participated in discussions & research with the now-dormant Open Slate
> reference design. One idea was a separate slide-out keyboard that
> tucked away in a small compartment & propping up the touchscreen with
> the equivalent of a simple mirror or picture stand.

Hey folks, the Open Slate Project is alive and, well, alive anyway :-)
What we need is more participation!

Regarding the discussion about How-To documentation, Open Slate has a
wiki for that very purpose.  http://wiki.openslate.net/ Recently I
noticed that there is no obvious way to become a contributing member and
am working to resolve that issue. If anyone would like to contribute to
a Gimp or Open Office user guide, by all means have at it. Those of you
using this software at school should invite students to contribute. Make
it a class project.

In the last couple of years off-the-shelf miniaturized hardware has made
huge advances. Coupled with the new large capacity, high speed flash
memory devices, a rugged, inexpensive slate is just over the horizon. I
decided it was time to get closer to the hardware, so I just purchased a
Fujitsu T1010 tablet PC. I have FreeBSD and Gnome running, and am
working on the digitizer interface. You can find a running account on
the wiki.

This is not a project that will put something in student hands this year
or next. The wiki does have the potential for a quick return, but let's
be honest, a good reference manual takes a lot of time to develop.

I would be delighted if more of you would sign up for the
openslate-brainstorms mailing list
<http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/openslate-brainstorms> and
I promise I won't inundate you with OSP issues here. I do find much of
what is discussed here of tremendous value, and I thank all of you for
your efforts in promoting FOSS in our schools.

-- 
Gary Dunn, Honolulu
osp@xxxxxxxxx
http://openslate.net/
http://e9erust.blogspot.com/
Sent from Slate 1