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



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