I read a Twitter post yesterday about a new mini-laptop (I think the new term is going to be netbook) that may retail for as low as $98. According to the
YouTube video and various blog sources, it has built-in wifi, a 1GB flash drive, a card reader, 3 USB ports, and Ethernet connection. It apparently runs a custom version of Linux which includes Firefox and Abiword among its apps. This is just the latest and cheapest in a series of increas…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on September 9, 2008 at 12:23pm —
No Comments
Open source enthusiasts often talk about two kinds of freedom, which they sum up with the phrases "free as in speech, and free as in beer" (although I prefer "free as in pizza"). By "free as in speech" they usually mean among other things, the freedom to use and modify open source software as they see fit. The source code is open, so you can see it, modify it, adapt it to your needs. You can also make multiple copies, distribute them, and install the software on as many computers as you like.
"…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on August 19, 2008 at 9:00pm —
No Comments
I've never been completely satisfied with the performance of our main family computer, a Dell desktop. I've used a couple of versions of Ubuntu, and most recently have been using OpenSUSE. Still it has always seemed sluggish and occasionally exhibited some odd quirks. I've read in a couple of places that certain older Dells were so optimized for Windows that they never perform perfectly with Linux. I don't know if that is true, but this particular machine seems to bear that out. So I've always b…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on August 5, 2008 at 6:00pm —
No Comments
I've found some really fun and informative videos on Google Docs and I'm posting them to this site as I see some that look like they'd be fun to share. Feel free to take a look!
http://projecttree.ning.com Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 27, 2008 at 6:40pm —
No Comments
Seems like every time I blog about the changes I see in computing, something new comes along to add grist to the mill. I recently checked out Adobe Buzzword, albeit only briefly, and was once again (1) impressed by the rapidly improving quality of web-based office apps; and (2) convinced even more that we may be in for a revolution in the way we use computers. The question is, are we ready?
In my non-Project TREE life, I deal almost daily with people (mostly teachers) who are trying to come to…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 24, 2008 at 9:37pm —
No Comments
I spent a very enjoyable couple of days working alongside a retired technology coordinator for a school system, who had been contracted to help provide tech support for our workshop. A silver-haired, soft-spoken, gracious Southern lady who could have been anyone's favorite grandma, but who had a real love for all things tech and who had a knack for making nervous teachers feel at ease with computers. Not your stereotypical technology geek for sure. During breaks we did the usual commiserating ab…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 19, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
The latest issue of Education Next has a fascinating article by Christiansen and Horn entitled
"How Do We Transform Our Schools?" The premise is that real transformation takes place through what they call "disruptive innovation;" that is, innovation that is disruptive in the sense that it takes things in an entirely new direction. They cite as an example the invention of the transistor. While RCA was spending huge amounts of m…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 13, 2008 at 8:30pm —
No Comments
Besides our Project TREE Edubuntu computers, I have two computers at home which are currently running OpenSUSE. I am captivated by the idea of having these computers which have beautiful slick desktops, powerful office suites, and tons of games, and nothing on them was bought from the store. It almost feels like growing your own food, or raising your own livestock. Kind of "home-grown computing!"
With the price of gas what it is, I recently did some serious research into biofuel cars. Turns out…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 4, 2008 at 10:30pm —
No Comments
It seems as though many of the exciting things being done with open-source in education is happening in other countries. Places such as Macedonia, Brazil, and Chile have ambitious programs aimed at creating a 1:1 computer/student ratio. These programs are generating some wonderful out-of-the-box thinking with thin-client networks, multi-user configurations, recycled hardware, store-and-forward Internet access, cloud computing, mesh networking, the list goes on and on. Meanwhile here in the State…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on July 1, 2008 at 2:08pm —
No Comments
Are we moving toward platform-indepenent computing? Perhaps. A lot of great software is now available on multiple platforms--the recent release of Firefox 3 is a good example. Earlier today I was working in Wink, an open-source screen-capture program available for multiple platforms. This week I also checked out 280Slides, a new web-based presentation application, similar to Google Presentations but with a very slick and easy-to-use interface. And there are lots more; OpenOffice.org, etc.
In a…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 25, 2008 at 7:50pm —
No Comments
For some reason I've recently been finding myself in conversations about various aspects of open-source software. Not just Linux specifically, but other open-source programs and free software in general. I know that there are multiple points of view regarding free and open-source software, and there are those who are philosophically opposed to closed-source or proprietary software. While I respect that view, my own view is that there is room for a spectrum of software, software providers, and li…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 23, 2008 at 10:32pm —
No Comments
Every time I do a PD workshop I am reminded of the most important, and most labor-intensive, part of educational technology: teaching the human being at the keyboard. If the user doesn't understand what to do with the computer, no amount of amazing features will be of any benefit. And if the trainer training the users doesn't understand what to do with the technology...well, probably the best you can hope for is some footage for some kind of reality TV show. ("Computer Lab Survivor"??) It would…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 19, 2008 at 7:48pm —
No Comments
I heard it again today--yet another teacher complaining that her students couldn't complete their assignments because of lack of access to computers at school. What should have been a 20 minute task ended up taking a whole day because the students had to take turns using the single computer in their classroom. What's worse, the complaint came during a training session in which 28 teachers were trying to use 18 computers in a lab. I wish I had some numbers showing how many used computers were dis…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 18, 2008 at 7:53pm —
3 Comments
Some more thoughts on extending the technology life cycle, particularly as it applies to schools. The idea of a two-stage computer life cycle can be applied to ordinary school technology purchases, even without corporate hardware donations. If school purchases are done on a bid system, the specs may be written into the bid, which means the proprietary operating system and software is already included. This is fine; it is beneficial for students to have a variety of computer experiences, both pro…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 12, 2008 at 10:03pm —
No Comments
In the 1980's when I worked in consumer electronics, if your VCR or television broke, you took it to the repair center and had it fixed. Considering that the most basic entry-level VCR cost over $400 in 1984, it made sense. The last time I noticed a VCR for sale was about two years ago. It was at the grocery store of all places. The price? $29.95. No one has a $29.95 VCR repaired. Electronics have gone the way of the paper plate.
For the home user, a computer is still a major purchase, and most…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 12, 2008 at 12:31am —
No Comments
In our state we have no shortage of school technology programs. Distance learning, laptop labs, STEM initiatives, etc. Many of these have won national recognition. The problem is that all these technology programs require student access to technology. I've conducted numerous workshops where I've demonstrated software, shown websites and PowerPoints, etc, only to be told, "That's great, but our students only get 15 minutes a week in the computer lab;" or "Most of the students in our school are po…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 9, 2008 at 6:30pm —
No Comments
I have to spend a lot of time in hotel rooms this month, so I'm hoping to take the time to blog some about topics that might be of interest to Edubuntu/open-source/thin-client users.
Today I sat in on a collaborative learning workshop which had a session about classroom management. It got me to thinking that if you're using Edubuntu and K12LTSP for your thin-client lab, you've got a great classroom management tool built right in. Edubuntu's Thin Client Manager has some really nice features to h…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 5, 2008 at 9:16pm —
No Comments
Project TREE had a booth at the Huntsville-Madison Great Teacher Conference at Columbia High School in Huntsville, Alabama. The conference is sponsored by The Schools Foundation
www.theschoolsfoundation.org Lots of interest from teachers who'd love to have an open-source computer lab for a fraction of the normal cost! We have a couple of schools who are very interested and are working this summer to get a Project TREE classroom this fall.
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on June 4, 2008 at 8:42pm —
No Comments
Project TREE is a project to get affordable computers into the hands of students by making use of recycled hardware coupled with open-source software, backed by training and support for teachers.
The following blog is composed of notes from the slide show you've been seeing on the home page.
“Technology Counts 2007,” Education Week’s annual report of technology in schoo
…
Continue
Added by Jerry Cobbs on April 30, 2007 at 3:04pm —
No Comments
