[aclug-L] Re: Linux from Kindergarten to High School

[dave <dww@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great article.  I particularly noted that they bought new, up-to-snuff 
computers.  So often projects like this are sparked by an attempt to 
keep old computers resulting in problems which are then attributed to 
Linux.  

Dave

jeffrey l koehn wrote:

>>From the Linux Journal
>
>
>Linux in Education Moving the school computer lab to Linux was not 
>an easy decision to make--but it was a beneficial one.
>
>As the bell rings to begin class at Greater Houlton Christian 
>Academy, enthusiastic students sit down at their shiny, new 
>computer workstations. In one corner, the red cabinet housing the 
>server hums quietly as two stuffed penguins look on fondly from 
>their perch. Other penguins keep watch from different locations as 
>the students enter their user names and passwords to access their 
>accounts. Ask a student who ``Tux'' is, and he or she will point to 
>the large penguin painted on the front wall of the computer lab and 
>say, ``He's the Linux penguin!'' About this time KDE has loaded, 
>and young boys and girls are opening the application they need for 
>class as easily as kicking a ball.
>
>figure
>Figure 1. First graders learning some penguin art fundamentals.
>
>Now for a little history. Greater Houlton Christian Academy (GHCA) 
>is a private school and nonprofit organization in Maine. As such, 
>it does not have the same access to funding as the public school 
>system. As the computer science teacher and system administrator, 
>this means I have to be creative about providing our students with 
>computer technology while working with a tight budget. In the past 
>I relied on area businesses and generous individuals to donate 
>their used computers. While these donations were a great blessing 
>to us, they were a temporary solution at best.
>
>Last year it became quite evident that we would need to replace our 
>old, secondhand computers running Windows 95. The decision to move 
>from donated computers to new computers was based on many factors, 
>though our primary goal was to make sure our students had the best 
>technology available for the enhancement of their educational 
>experience. Therefore, this would be a software upgrade as well as 
>a hardware upgrade. In fact, choosing the software was by far the 
>bigger challenge.
>
>Interestingly enough, it was during this time that many schools in 
>the western US were being audited by Microsoft concerning the 
>school's use of Windows and Office software. I began to realize my 
>ignorance concerning exactly how strict and inflexible the 
>Microsoft EULA is. It was also during this time that Microsoft's 
>new licensing initiative, called Software Assurance, was causing 
>quite a stir in the tech headlines. As my research opened my eyes 
>to the various limitations to proprietary software, I began to 
>think that the answer for us might be found in open-source software.
>
>The decision to switch to an open-source platform for our new 
>computer lab was not an easy one. My experience was with DOS and 
>various versions of Windows and not with UNIX-compatible operating 
>systems. I had experimented with Linux a few years earlier but 
>found it somewhat difficult and incomplete. Because some time had 
>passed, I decided to give Linux another try. Going with Mandrake's 
>8.0 distribution, I installed Linux at home to see if it could 
>replace Windows in a desktop environment. To my amazement, I found 
>Linux to be much more capable this time around. I was one step 
>closer to making my decision to switch our computer lab to the 
>Linux OS.
>
>Other factors went into the final decision to go with open-source 
>software, not the least of which was cost. By purchasing bare-bones 
>computer ``kits'', we were able to save considerable money on the 
>hardware. Part of the savings in purchasing a bare-bones system is 
>that the computer does not come with an operating system. We knew 
>by then we would have to spend more money on software than we did 
>on hardware if we went with Microsoft. Not only would I need to 
>consider the initial purchase of the operating system and 
>application software, but I would also need to factor in the costs 
>of upgrading our software every couple of years. Needless to say, 
>going with an open-source platform would save us considerable money 
>now and in the future.
>
>Another key issue was flexibility. As many of you know, it takes 
>time to install an operating system, customize it for the 
>particular hardware it runs on and install the desired 
>applications. Having purchased 20 new, identical computers, it made 
>sense to completely configure one machine and then clone the hard 
>drive to the other 19 computers. However, Microsoft's EULA prevents 
>a user from doing this, even if they have 20 copies of Windows. Not 
>only would Linux save me considerable time by allowing me to clone 
>my configured PC, it also gave me great flexibility in the degree 
>to which I could customize the OS for the hardware. By recompiling 
>the kernel to take advantage of our specific hardware, I could 
>fine-tune the OS to run at peak performance. Linux would even save 
>us money in the cloning process, thanks to the dd command.
>
>A few aspects, however, made the decision to switch to Linux a 
>difficult one. The smaller software base to choose from and the 
>lack of mature drivers for our hardware were among the lesser 
>obstacles. The major obstacle was my own lack of experience with 
>the Linux OS. In fact, most of the money and time spent in the 
>software upgrade of our computer lab was for a shelf full of books 
>I had to purchase and read to really feel confident using and 
>teaching Linux. It isn't always easy to teach an old dog new 
>tricks, but I found the experience one of the most challenging and 
>rewarding experiences of my IT career.
>
>Today our private school of over 170 students has one of the finest 
>computer labs in Maine. We have 20 computers with Athlon 1600+ XP 
>processors, 128MB of RAM, 20GB hard drives and all the 
>accessories--3-D graphics, sound, 17" monitors and 100Mbps Ethernet 
>networking. Our computers run Mandrake Linux 8.2 with KDE 3.0.2. 
>What is most amazing is we upgraded our computer lab for under half 
>the cost of what many neighboring schools paid for inferior 
>equipment. Most of this savings was the result of switching to 
>Linux.
>
>Our servers also run Linux. Using NFS, students can access their 
>accounts from any computer in the lab. Student- and staff-owned 
>files are backed up on a daily basis, so gone are the days of ``the 
>computer lost my homework.'' Our proxy server runs Squid to help 
>speed our wireless internet connection to 20 workstations, and we 
>use proxy software along with iptables to provide firewall 
>protection. A nice program called Dansguardian provides filtering 
>to protect our children from pornography and other inappropriate 
>content.
>
>Many of you may be asking at this point, ``How do you use Linux in 
>teaching your students?'' GHCA is a K-12 school, and so we strive 
>to offer some level of computer training for each grade. 
>Kindergarten students, for example, can use such programs as Potato 
>Guy to practice hand-eye coordination and familiarize themselves 
>with how to use a mouse to manipulate objects on the computer 
>screen. Elementary and secondary teachers integrate the computer 
>lab into their curriculum by using the computer for research, 
>multimedia enhancements or even something simple as coloring 
>digital pictures.
>
>figure
>Figure 2. Potato Guy develops mouse skills.
>
>Starting with grade seven, education in computer science takes a 
>more formal approach. Seventh graders are taught keyboarding skills 
>using programs such as KTouch and TuxTyping. Grade-eight students 
>are taught the basics of programming with the kate editor and 
>yabasic interpreter. It is during this class that students gain a 
>better understanding of how computers process instructions.
>
>figure
>Figure 3. Students learn touch typing with KTouch.
>
>Computer Fundamentals is a one-credit course that introduces the 
>ninth-grade student to ``how a computer works'' and ``how to work a 
>computer''. During the second semester, students learn about the 
>purpose and use of the operating system and various applications, 
>such as word processors, spreadsheets and web browsers. Because our 
>computers run Linux, it is the Linux OS and open-source software 
>that students learn in this class. Being sensitive to the fact that 
>Microsoft currently dominates the PC market in corporate America, I 
>do spend time discussing the similarities and differences between 
>Linux and Windows.
>
>Tenth- through twelfth-grade students can chose from a variety of 
>computer electives, including how to upgrade and repair computers, 
>web site design, advanced programming and even an upcoming course 
>in robotics. In making the switch to Linux, I easily found all the 
>tools needed to teach these courses using open-source software. In 
>many cases, the open-source software we now use is superior to the 
>proprietary software originally donated to us.
>
>This is our first year with our new computer lab, and I am very 
>pleased with how it is progressing. One of the most pleasing 
>experiences I am having as a system administrator of a Linux-based 
>lab is the actual ease of administration. Once I set something up 
>in Linux, I rarely need to worry about it again. This was not the 
>case with Windows. Last year we were constantly suffering from 
>system crashes, frozen servers, strange bugs and the infamous 
>``blue screen of death''. Needless to say, it was a frustrating 
>situation for many students. While Linux is not bug-free, it has 
>been a far more stable operating system for both our workstations 
>and servers. Linux also has shown itself to be a much more 
>versatile operating system to administer in a network environment. 
>My job is more pleasurable thanks to our switch to Linux.
>
>As a teacher of computer science, I am finding this year a 
>fascinating test for Linux. Very few of our students, parents or 
>teachers knew what Linux was before this year. I have actually 
>found this to be a great advantage in teaching computers. In the 
>past, I have found students to be disinterested in learning about 
>the personal computer running Windows, because it is something most 
>of them grew up with at home. This lack of interest made it more 
>difficult to teach the more-advanced aspects of the operating 
>system. However, Linux is something completely new, different and 
>unexplored. Instead of being intimidated by the change, as many 
>adults might be, young people are excited to explore the 
>``uncharted territory''. This opens a door for me as a teacher, 
>allowing me to educate eager minds in the more-advanced aspects of 
>computer operating systems and software. In fact, it only took two 
>weeks until students began to ask me, ``Where can I get Linux?''
>
>People sometimes ask me, ``Is teaching our students Linux preparing 
>them for the workplace?'' This question is based on the fact that 
>Microsoft is the current dominating presence in operating systems 
>and office software. It is a question I have thought over a long 
>time, and the answer I always come up with is, ``Yes, most 
>definitely.'' The basic principles of any type of operating system, 
>office application or other similarly grouped software are the 
>same. A student who becomes proficient in Linux will not find 
>themselves lost in a Windows environment. I have found Linux to be 
>the more advanced of the two operating systems, yet our students 
>are very quickly and easily learning it. The process of copying a 
>file or formatting a paragraph is not so different between one 
>operating system and the other. The important thing is we are able 
>to offer the latest in hardware and software tools to train our 
>students in these fundamental principles--something we could not do 
>if we went w!
> ith proprietary software.
>
>Another question that may be even more important to ask is, ``What 
>is the future of Linux?'' When our students graduate a few years 
>from now, will they enter a Microsoft-dominated workplace or will 
>the tide have changed? Even in our small New England town of 
>Houlton, Maine, businesses are beginning to look to Linux as an 
>alternative to proprietary operating systems. These businesses will 
>need qualified personnel familiar with the Linux operating system 
>and open-source applications. Greater Houlton Christian Academy 
>will be graduating young men and women who will be able to meet 
>that need, a claim not many schools in our nation can currently 
>make. In fact, some of our students may go on to write the future 
>applications for Linux, giving back to the community that helped 
>them during their school years.
>
>For us, switching to open-source software running on the Linux 
>operating system has been the right choice, allowing us to provide 
>our students with modern equipment and software for a fraction of 
>the cost of a computer lab running proprietary software. If Linux 
>continues to grow in popularity and gain a foothold in the 
>workplace, we will look back at our choice as one of the most 
>important decisions we've ever made.
>
>Michael Surran is the system administrator and computer science 
>teacher at Greater Houlton Christian Academy (www.ghca.com) in 
>Northern Maine. Michael enjoys church, outdoor adventures, target 
>shooting, sci-fi, collecting penguins and his wife, Lisa, who also 
>teaches at GHCA.
>
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