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I'm currently working at a school district in Lancaster, PA. We have gone with Linux laptops for all of our students. Even more, we've given them root access.

I'm currently working at a school district in Lancaster, PA. We have gone with Linux laptops for all of our students. Even more, we've given them root access. We chose this because of exactly the points that many people are bringing up in these comments. What does the iPad offer to the pedagogical process? Not really that much outside of the sanitary iOS enviroment. Are they teaching kids about programming or computer skills? Probably not. However, with a laptop (and root access), students are able to, and encouraged to play around and experiment. Yes, we have some students that don't care about it at all, but there are others that have created some genuinely interesting projects. We've actually modified and used one of their projects to help support the linux laptop deployment. More info: http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/?cat=69 http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/?cat=69 My boss did an amazing TEDx talk regarding the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Co37GO2Fc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Co37GO2Fc

keithpeter 12y ago
Excellent project. I especially liked slide 5 of your presentation... http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/1to1devices/#/5 http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/1to1devices/#/5 I'm wondering what materials the students are working with. I'm hoping it isn't some kind of holistic purchased package as per the OA.
- tomswartz07 12y ago
  Thanks! The project launched last year with the High School, and this coming school year we will be expanding to the Middle Schools. It was genuinely exciting to see the students helping their peers. It's almost all stock Ubuntu, Google Apps for Education, and a few other tools thrown in. We aim for Open Source where we can.
  - keithpeter 12y ago
    By 'materials' I meant what the (entirely mythical) Mrs Scroggins uses with class 3P at 10:30 am on Tuesdays when they are learning to solve one degree linear equations. I'd imagine that Mrs Scroggins continues to use her trusty textbooks for routine skills development, perhaps with a few Khan academy resources, some mathpapa demos and, perhaps, a group exercise where students work together in Google Apps to document their steps in solving some bobbydazzlers.
    - tomswartz07 12y ago
      Ah- I misunderstood. I do not frequent the High School (I'm stationed at the Middle School levels), but from what I understand it's pretty much exactly as you've described. The traditional books are used, but then supplemented with at-your-own-pace videos and online activities and projects.
dinergy 12y ago
I'm an IT Dir. for a district in St. Louis county. I remember reading this article and being blown away. I ran a copy over to my Superintendent. While we're not ditching Windows or Chromebooks at the moment, the part I was most interested in adapting for our district is student involvement in the tech process and peer support. We're setting up a student led and staffed tech support group so that they can help their classmates out with issues around BYOB, Chromebooks, etc. I was an enterprise Linux admin in a former life, and I'm working on integrating it more. I've already got it in the hands of a few students on their own BYOD devices. Great job out there.
baldfat 12y ago
Awesome. I am in Allentown, PA and running for School Board currently. I need to make sure I look into this project for some of our students in our city.
eatonphil 12y ago
Wow! I'm from Lancaster. This is the last thing I would have expected coming out of there. That is some great stuff.
userbinator 12y ago
Even more, we've given them root access. From your link: each laptop is equipped with a filter to block material deemed harmful to minors. Filters are enabled both on and off campus I bet that won't be much of an obstacle... but I like how you're encouraging them to "hack" - it's great to give them full control over their computers and see what they can do.
- tomswartz07 12y ago
  Very true, but I can guarantee that if a HS kid is able to figure out a way to access 'adult' material, it won't stay a secret for long. After that, the HS admin will deal with it in the same way as if they brought a skin mag to school in their backpack. :)
  - wernercd 12y ago
    Oh boy... whats going to happen if they bring a sears catalog? The kinds of things they show in there...
- Frozenlock 12y ago
  Please tell me such filter is for blocking violent images and politicians, not the natural reproduction process of our species.
  - tomswartz07 12y ago
    Traditionally, I believe that the district has aimed to go by the bare minimum CIPA requirements. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
mwcampbell 12y ago
Have you had to deal with accessibility for disabled students (e.g. blind, low-vision, or mobility impaired) yet? As I understand it, assistive technologies on desktop Linux are much less mature than on Windows or Mac. And AFAIK, the only desktop environments that are accessible to blind users in particular are GNOME and Unity.
- tomswartz07 12y ago
  I'm not certain. Although I work in the district, I'm typically stationed at buildings other than where the current 1-to-1 deployment is happening; so I miss out on a lot of the day to day details. That being said; the computers run stock-ish Ubuntu 14.04 with Unity. The students are able to install whatever accessibility tools they wish.
  - mwcampbell 12y ago
    Maybe you guys should challenge one of your student apprentices to use one of the laptops with their eyes closed (or with the screen turned off if that's feasible), try to get through tasks that a student typically has to do, and fix any problems that come up, even if that involves contributing to the relevant open-source projects. The Orca screen reader is written in Python and supports application-specific scripting. The process could be quite educational.
    - click170 12y ago
      I just want to say that contributing can sound daunting, but its honestly as simple as proof reading docs or filing bugs. No coding required.
- Kluny 12y ago
  Slightly off topic, but students with disabilities that cripple them on computers will be dealing with those issues their whole lives - I just think that it's awesome that they'll be able to start exploring the technology and assistive devices that will make computer use possible for them while still in the low-stakes world of high school, with techs to help them out. It's a great opportunity for learning that would be lost if they were simply provided with an Apple device with Apple approved assistive technology, and told to make the best of it since there's no way to customize anything.
tootie 12y ago
My kids' school district had a ridiculous iPad plan that they ditched for a more sensisble appraoch with Chromebooks. I would think the ChromeOS interface would be far friendlier than anything from Ubuntu and still allow you to grant root access.
Lawtonfogle 12y ago
This program was mentioned at POSSCON earlier this week as one of the ways open source is improving society.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

keithpeter 12y ago

Excellent project. I especially liked slide 5 of your presentation... http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/1to1devices/#/5 http://www.pennmanor.net/techblog/1to1devices/#/5 I'm wondering what materials the students are working with. I'm hoping it isn't some kind of holistic purchased package as per the OA.

tomswartz07 12y ago
Thanks! The project launched last year with the High School, and this coming school year we will be expanding to the Middle Schools. It was genuinely exciting to see the students helping their peers. It's almost all stock Ubuntu, Google Apps for Education, and a few other tools thrown in. We aim for Open Source where we can.
- keithpeter 12y ago
  By 'materials' I meant what the (entirely mythical) Mrs Scroggins uses with class 3P at 10:30 am on Tuesdays when they are learning to solve one degree linear equations. I'd imagine that Mrs Scroggins continues to use her trusty textbooks for routine skills development, perhaps with a few Khan academy resources, some mathpapa demos and, perhaps, a group exercise where students work together in Google Apps to document their steps in solving some bobbydazzlers.
  - tomswartz07 12y ago
    Ah- I misunderstood. I do not frequent the High School (I'm stationed at the Middle School levels), but from what I understand it's pretty much exactly as you've described. The traditional books are used, but then supplemented with at-your-own-pace videos and online activities and projects.

dinergy 12y ago

I'm an IT Dir. for a district in St. Louis county. I remember reading this article and being blown away. I ran a copy over to my Superintendent. While we're not ditching Windows or Chromebooks at the moment, the part I was most interested in adapting for our district is student involvement in the tech process and peer support. We're setting up a student led and staffed tech support group so that they can help their classmates out with issues around BYOB, Chromebooks, etc. I was an enterprise Linux admin in a former life, and I'm working on integrating it more. I've already got it in the hands of a few students on their own BYOD devices. Great job out there.

baldfat 12y ago

Awesome. I am in Allentown, PA and running for School Board currently. I need to make sure I look into this project for some of our students in our city.

eatonphil 12y ago

Wow! I'm from Lancaster. This is the last thing I would have expected coming out of there. That is some great stuff.

userbinator 12y ago

Even more, we've given them root access. From your link: each laptop is equipped with a filter to block material deemed harmful to minors. Filters are enabled both on and off campus I bet that won't be much of an obstacle... but I like how you're encouraging them to "hack" - it's great to give them full control over their computers and see what they can do.

tomswartz07 12y ago
Very true, but I can guarantee that if a HS kid is able to figure out a way to access 'adult' material, it won't stay a secret for long. After that, the HS admin will deal with it in the same way as if they brought a skin mag to school in their backpack. :)
- wernercd 12y ago
  Oh boy... whats going to happen if they bring a sears catalog? The kinds of things they show in there...
Frozenlock 12y ago
Please tell me such filter is for blocking violent images and politicians, not the natural reproduction process of our species.
- tomswartz07 12y ago
  Traditionally, I believe that the district has aimed to go by the bare minimum CIPA requirements. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

mwcampbell 12y ago

Have you had to deal with accessibility for disabled students (e.g. blind, low-vision, or mobility impaired) yet? As I understand it, assistive technologies on desktop Linux are much less mature than on Windows or Mac. And AFAIK, the only desktop environments that are accessible to blind users in particular are GNOME and Unity.

tomswartz07 12y ago
I'm not certain. Although I work in the district, I'm typically stationed at buildings other than where the current 1-to-1 deployment is happening; so I miss out on a lot of the day to day details. That being said; the computers run stock-ish Ubuntu 14.04 with Unity. The students are able to install whatever accessibility tools they wish.
- mwcampbell 12y ago
  Maybe you guys should challenge one of your student apprentices to use one of the laptops with their eyes closed (or with the screen turned off if that's feasible), try to get through tasks that a student typically has to do, and fix any problems that come up, even if that involves contributing to the relevant open-source projects. The Orca screen reader is written in Python and supports application-specific scripting. The process could be quite educational.
  - click170 12y ago
    I just want to say that contributing can sound daunting, but its honestly as simple as proof reading docs or filing bugs. No coding required.
Kluny 12y ago
Slightly off topic, but students with disabilities that cripple them on computers will be dealing with those issues their whole lives - I just think that it's awesome that they'll be able to start exploring the technology and assistive devices that will make computer use possible for them while still in the low-stakes world of high school, with techs to help them out. It's a great opportunity for learning that would be lost if they were simply provided with an Apple device with Apple approved assistive technology, and told to make the best of it since there's no way to customize anything.

tootie 12y ago

My kids' school district had a ridiculous iPad plan that they ditched for a more sensisble appraoch with Chromebooks. I would think the ChromeOS interface would be far friendlier than anything from Ubuntu and still allow you to grant root access.

Lawtonfogle 12y ago

This program was mentioned at POSSCON earlier this week as one of the ways open source is improving society.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]