Background: The May 23, 2000, McPherson Sentinel in a first page story reported: The Unified School District 418 Board of Education voted 4-3 against a a request by the district's technology committee that the board accept a proposed four-year rotational lease plan to replace and upgrade district computers. Assistant Superintendent Perry McCabe...said the district has invested considerable funds the past few years in upgrading its technology. Now, he said, the district needs to consider its responsibility to maintain and continue to upgrade that technology. The district currently has 800 computers, printers, and scanners. The computers range from models that are six to seven years old to the most current line of I-Macs and G-4s.[1]
The McPherson school district is noted as being one of the top districts in the country. If such a district is having problems with upgrading and maintaining computers both in the classroom and in the offices, other districts must be facing the same problem. While we would like to see the latest hardware and software in each school district, we know that resources are limited. As computer budgets grow, other program budgets shrink. This is the reality of working with a limited resource such as money, space, and personnel.
Any use of computers in the classroom requires thought, planning, and leadership. We must first determine if the computer is the best tool for a given learning objective. As much as I hate to admit, sometimes computers simply are not the proper medium for teaching a given subject. You can't use a computer to teach a student to play a violin or to improve the person to person, face to face skills of people. (Please see pages 115 to 120 of Evil Geniuses in a Nutshell[2] for a succinct example.)
If we decide to use a computer, we must properly plan for it's integration into the classroom. Not only must we determine the hardware and software to purchase, but we must also evaluate the infrastructure which makes using the computer possible. Where do we put them? What kind of desks do we use? How do we share printers, scanners, and Internet connections? Does the building have enough power to run multiple computers? Can phone lines, network cable, and other communication links be easily installed?
Those are just the physical problems. What about technical support? How large a budget is allocated for teacher education? What is the plan for upgrade and replacement of obsolete and broken equipment? Who determines the software which will be used?
Strong leadership is necessary for resolving the problems of computers in the classroom. Sometimes unpopular decisions must be made, especially ones concerning the level of technology which will be supported. The strong leader must also concern himself with the impact of his decisions outside the school. Can the lessons learned in the classroom be applied outside the school setting? Hardware and software decisions certainly can not be made in a vacuum.
For the rest of this paper I will contend for the following points.
1. There is a place for technology in the classroom. 2. Linux can be used as an alternative to combat hardware and software obsolescence, while maintaining a cutting edge technology program. 3. Given the right programs and circumstances, Linux makes much more sense in an educational setting than other operating systems. 4. No computer is user friendly, easy to use, or intuitive. The proper use of technology requires hard work by everyone involved, the school board, the principal, the teachers, the technical support team, and the students. 5. It is the job of technology coordinators, concerned members of the community, and interested staff to persuade school administration to implement Linux. 6. One can not implement Linux just because it is cool. Linux must fulfill a given function otherwise it is just another useless computer.
What is Linux? As a review, and as a way of defining the way we will use the terms in this presentation, let's take a quick glance at the question, "What is Linux?"
Linux Defined: To begin, Linux is an operating system kernel. It is the heart of the program which communicates between the user and the hardware of the computer. Like the UNIX operating system before it, the strength of Linux comes from the large number of tools and commands added to the kernel. Unlike the UNIX operating system, many of the features of Linux can be added after the kernel is compiled through the use of special modules. These modules come into play as the system administrator configures the sysem for various tasks.
We will use the name Linux to refer to the kernel, the modules, and the basic programs which are part of almost any distribution. The graphic user interface, X-Windows, is not a part of Linux, but runs under many operating systems. When we need to refer to X-Windows apart from Linux, we shall do so. Otherwise we shall lump both the graphical user interface and the kernel under one term.
Linux is made available under the GNU General Public License. This is one of the non-technical strengths of the operating system, indeed the one which makes Linux the hands-down winner for system economics. That Linux is more stable than other desktop operating systems, that Linux has more built-in capabilities than most other operating systems, becomes icing on the cake.
GNU-General Public License: One can hardly exhaust the wide number of programs which already can be compiled on a Linux system. Many thanks must be given to the thousands of programmers who have contributed to the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation. Because of the nature of the GNU General Public License and the expertise of countless hoards of computer professionals, Linux has a wide array of applications and tools available.
GGPL'ed software is not free-ware or public domain software. It does have a copyright so the authors are protected. Under the terms of the GNU General Public License, the software is freely distributed and the source code is made available.
Unlike other software, schools can freely install GPL'ed software on every system without having to worry about site license fees. This simple fact opens a new world to school districts. Now money budgeted for software can be used for teacher training, technical support, and, we hope, donations to various programmers for the work they are accomplishing.
A recent visit to the GNU web site showed over 150 different programs which are available under the GNU General Public License. Many were programming tools, but the number included editors, music notation and authoring systems, word processing programs, grammar checkers, graphics utilities, and office applications.
Essentially every program which is needed to use Linux in the classroom for two of the three educational categories (to be discussed in a few moments) is available under the GNU General Public License or other open source equivalents.
Why Linux? As we attempt to introduce Linux into the classroom we must have positive reasons to make the change from the status quo. Yes, Linux runs on hardware that would otherwise be unusable for the latest releases of either Windows or Mac-OS. Yes, your software costs per seat can be measured in pennies rather than hundreds of dollars. Yes, Linux gives you complete access to current data, plus includes cross platform abilities that both Windows and Mac-OS lack. Yes, with the use of various emulators, Linux can run software for computers that are otherwise non- existent. But we must ask ourselves, is Linux the typical best solution for classroom computing? Is our only criteria cost, or are there other factors? We must tackle the questions of setup, support, and reliability. We must tackle the question of training technical support.
Depending on our intended use, Linux may not be the best choice. Right now there are few purely educational programs written or ported for Linux. If our stated purpose is to run nothing but Windows based educational games, then Linux may not be appropriate.
If all we are doing is running educational games we are misusing the computer. Indeed, if that is the idea behind educational computing, we have missed every opportunity to properly integrate computers into education. But if we are using Internet access, web page authoring, programming, multi-media production, and office automation in the classroom, Linux becomes the operating system of choice.
The skills developed in using Linux and the classic UNIX operating system tools clearly can be transfered cross-platform. Unlike the point and click mentality of a graphical user interface, the text based interface requires a better understanding of the underlying concepts of hardware and software. This understanding can be used as new operating systems and environments are developed.
Yet if a graphical user interface is needed, the X-Windows system has by far more power and potential than other alternatives. Because X-Windows is provided in virtually every distribution of Linux there is no trouble in making it available to users.
So, "why Linux?" It is by far the most cost effective operating system for classroom use. It already has an extensive set of available programs. It hones and teaches skills that can be used with any computer operating system. It brings power and reliability to the student that may otherwise be lacking.Computers in the Classroom: As earlier promised, we will now define the three educational uses of computers in the classroom. These are tutor, tutee, and tool. This is discussed in Grabe and Grabe (1998).[3] A tutor is one who teaches. A tutee is one who learns. A tool is that which is used to enhance existing talent or strength.
Tutor: In the role of tutor, the computer is used to teach the student. Tutorial programs include such classics as Reader Rabbit, Oregon _Trail, Word Munchers, and various math programs.
The classic example of a tutor is the "drill and kill" flash-card type of program. Here the student is given an item to identify, such as a math problem or a word definition. He or she then enters the correct answer, thereby reinforcing basic skills or knowledge. Typing tutors and the like give the student an opportunity to learn or hone a new skill.
In the role of tutor, the computer program controls the information to which the students are exposed, the order of presentation, and the final scoring. Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) may be written to be quite flexible or may be quite constrained.
Of the three categories of educational software, Linux is most lacking in the tutor programs. The Simple End User Linux education group (www.seul.org) maintains a list of educational software that is readily available. This includes programs from all three categories.
Tutee: Much of the power of educational computing comes, not from having the student learn from the computer, but in having the student "teach" the computer. Problem solving skills are enhanced and communication skills are honed as the students create programs, multi-media presentations, and web sites.
Programing - LOGO and Other Languages: Students are taught to program computers for three reasons. First, programming may lead to a lifetime profession for some people. Even if the student does not become a computer programmer, programming helps students learn the inner workings of the computer so to better utilize the resources available. Second, programming is seen as an environment in which problem solving or general cognitive skills can be developed. Finally, programming may help the student learn other subjects, especially as various rules and theories are explored to program the computer.
Dr. Seymour Papert, one of the mavins of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, developed LOGO as a learning environment for math and computer skills. As an interactive and graphics based language, LOGO exposes students very quickly to various concepts such as program loops, subroutines, and other structures. Students get immediate feedback on their problem solutions and easily develop very sophisticated programs.
LOGO is not the only language used in the classroom. Where LOGO is appropriate for any age student, advanced languages such as C++, Pascal, and Java are used successfully in high schools. Indeed, there are many languages available for Linux. All of these languages are offered either under the GNU General Public License or an equivalent.
Multi-Media: Linux offers many programs for manipulating images, sounds, and line art. Blender (www.blender.nl) provides some of the authoring capability of Macromedia's Director, but in an open source format. When you consider that much of the movie Titanic was rendered with Linux systems, multi-media productions from the classroom seem almost trivial.
Web Authoring: More than fifty percent of the Internet runs with the Apache server and on Linux or Unix systems. Using various Linux editors and tools to author web pages for either intranet or Internet use is quite feasible. Where most, if not all, distributions include Apache, the students have little need to upload web pages to another server.
Not only does Linux have a number of web authoring tools, but it has a complete suite of ASCII editors as well. Students can easily be taught the use of a markup language rather than using generated code. In going to the basics, the students learn how a computer works, and how to properly design a web page for efficiency.
Tool The historic use of the computer is in office automation and as a tool for mathematics or data analysis. This, too, is quite appropriate for the classroom.
3Consider, if you will, the model of the junior high science fair. The students can write a proposal using a word processor. They can collect data using a database. They can analyze the data using a spreadsheet program. They can graph the spreadsheet data from the same spreadsheet program. They can print the final report using a word processor. They can develop a presentation using a graphics package.
Sacred Three: The basic "sacred three" applications for desktop computing are word processing, database applications, and spreadsheet. Without a doubt Linux has a number of each category available.
Linux word processing goes far beyond nroff/troff/groff, however the various roff programs are certainly viable. Not only does Corel sell a Linux version of Word Perfect, but several companies sell complete office suites (Applix, StarOffice, Word Perfect Office). But one need not go farther than LyX or the other TeX front-ends to find a good "WYSIWYG" type of word processor.
Linux supports databases from the very simple to the very complex. Several styles of open source SQL databases are available, as are compilers for the xBASE language (dBASE, FoxPRO, Clipper). Informix has been ported to Linux, as has IBM's DB/2. For simpler databases, Applix and StarOffice offer database engines that are part of a larger office suite.
Finally, Linux comes with various spread sheet programs. SC is character based. Oleo, which comes from www.gnu.org, provides support for graphing data as well as tabulating data.
Programs in the "sacred three" category are available as office suites or stand alone. Either way, Linux is a viable platform for teaching office automation techniques and theory.
Special Purpose: Under special purpose programs we would have to put presentation graphics, web authoring tools, graphics manipulation tools, and the like. Browsing www.gnu.org, www.linuxapps.com, www.freshmeat.com, and similar sites will show the wide number of programs available.
Linux Demonstration Projects: In the past few months I have been involved with several demonstrations of Linux. Both were designed to show how Linux can be integrated into the schools. The Kansas State demonstration was geared to server applications and the training of system administrators. The Kansas Correctional Industries project is designed to showcase Linux for the end user.
Kansas State University: Dr. Nancy Knupfer and Mr. Bill Rust of the College of Education were the instigators of this project. The purpose of this research class was to determine how to teach educators Linux installation and administration. Two E-Machines with 366 Celeron processors were networked to two 486/DX2-66 computers. These four systems were running Redhat 6.1. Included in the network was a 486/DX4-100 running Slackware 4.6, and two Macintosh 8500 systems as network clients.
By the end of the course each student could install Linux, configure TCP/IP networking, Domain Name Service, and electronic mail. In addition several students got Appletalk running so the Macintosh computers could share files as well as act as telnet terminals.
Two of the students had Linux background, while the other five did not. Using various tools such as linuxconf, all of the students were able to administer the systems and network under most circumstances. Before the class began, two of the students had never installed cards or memory into a computer. This was one of the first projects of the class, installing network interface cards and a floppy drive into one of the slower 486 systems.
Overall the demonstration project was successful in showing that Linux is fairly easy to configure and administer. Once the initial fear of breaking something was overcome, each of the students did a marvelous job of working with the "back end" functions of Linux.
As a follow up to this class we should develop a formal syllabus built around Linux Documentation Project manuals. We should also maintain the demonstration project in some form so that educators from Kansas schools can see Linux in operation. 4.2 Kansas Correctional Industri#s (State Surplus) - Topeka, Kansas
Kansas Correctional Industries has the responsibility of re- utilizing or disposing of equipment which may be surplus to state agency needs. State agencies, municipalities, schools, and the general public can obtain various items from automobiles to office equipment to computers.
Early in 2000 Mr. Steve Magee, the manager of the State Surplus project, asked me to set up a Linux demonstration network which he could show to schools. As state agencies replaced early Pentium computers (up to 200 MHz models) with larger computers, these systems would become available for reuse. These early Pentium systems can run Windows 98, but are not very reliable with that operating system.
Mr. Magee's idea was to pre-load computers with Linux and sell them at a very good price to various schools. He needed to show administrators that these computers are a viable alternative to new, larger systems, running Windows 98. Thus we needed to show both the server aspect of Linux and end user educational software.
The project network, located at Forbes Field, Topeka, has one 486/33, one 486/66, and a Pentium 133 all running Slackware 7. A Macintosh 8500 is also on the network to demonstrate Appletalk. Only the Pentium 133 has a CD-ROM drive, so the two 486 systems were loaded via the installed local area network.
Unlike the Kansas State University project, we could not simply use distribution software. To demonstrate the versatility of Linux and to give an idea to the administrators what they could do with limited software budget, we decided to install StarOffice. This we obtained via a promotional CD from Sun. StarOffice runs best with faster hardware and lots of memory. The 486 systems, due to the size of hard drive and the processor speed, do not have X-Windows installed. Thus we have been seeking several console or text based office suites. We will install the Cliq office suite (www.quad.com), a commercial product which is based on an older MS/DOS character application.
Because this is a demonstration to show what can be done with older hardware, we are considering adding several 286 systems to the network to run telnet. These will act as intelligent terminals to the Linux systems. We discussed running some 8086 computers as terminals, but decided that finding those boxes may be difficult. If we truly want to show the proper reutilization of older computer equipment, such a demonstration would certainly prove our point.
The State Surplus project is not yet complete. We have not gotten the Macintosh running on the network because we have not been able to change its TCP/IP address. We have not yet installed the character based office applications. This project will be finished in July.
So far we have had no Linux software problems in installing the network. There were some hardware issues which were addressed, namely using 10base-T rather than 10base-2 Ethernet. Several network adapter cards were changed, and hubs were obtained to get the network operating.
In addition to the system work, I developed an eight page brochure which explains the project. This brochure is freely available for copying. It can be used to begin the process of introducing Linux into the classroom or into the school district.
Web Sites of Interest: In researching this paper I found several web sites dedicated to Linux in the classroom. Simple End User Linux (www.seul.org) maintains a site which discusses the user friendly or unfriendly nature of Linux. One of the working groups in this organization is concerned with education. They have many good links to other sites as well as papers, programs, and information.
Linux in Education (www.linuxined.org) provides similar links and discussion areas. It is geared directly for the educator, not as an adjunct to the task of simplifying Linux.
Linux in Education (www.linuxined.org) provides similar Linked to Linux in Education is Open Classroom (www.openclassroom.org). They are dedicated to bringing the advantages of the open source movement into education.
An interesting paper on the economics of Linux in education can be found at www.thelinuxgurus.org/schools.html. It provides good ammunition in the fight to use school budgets in the wisest possible manner.
Obtaining Tutor Applications: As earlier mentioned, there are few tutor applications readily available for Linux. The Simple End User Linux web site has a list of several programs, with more being added. In addition, some are available from the GNU web site (www.gnu.org). These include Denemo, a music notation system; Diction, a grammar checker very similar to Writer's Workbench from AT&T; and Dr. Geo, an interactive geometry program. For the most part, tutor applications will probably be MS- DOS, Windows, Macintosh, or Apple II software run under various emulators.
DOSEMU (www.dosemu.org) does a credible job of running MS- DOS programs either on a character terminal or in an X-Window. This program actually is a virtual machine running MS-DOS, not merely an emulator. It is released under the GNU General Public License.
Wine (Wine Is Not Emulator) is a set of programs which allows Windows programs to run under Linux. This program is available from www.winehq.com. It is also under the GNU General
Public License. A commercial program, Executor, available from Ardi (www.ardi.com) allows Intel based Linux systems to run Macintosh programs. Educational institutions receive a very good discount for this product.
Other system emulators exist. A search under "emulators" on www.linuxapps.com will show that many obsolete computers can be emulated under Linux.
Various web browsers (which may be considered tutor applications) are part of the normal Linux distribution. Netscape is commonly installed, as is the text only browser, Lynx. Seyon or the K-Desktop browsers may also be installed.
Defining Tutee Applications: Tutee applications include any program with which the student instructs the computer to do something new or different. It is the student figuring out how to print "hello, world!" in twelve different languages.
For the most part any desired programming language is already included in a Linux distribution. However, LOGO may not be part of a distribution. Thus it must be obtained via FTP from either: cher.media.mit.edu/pub/logo/software/ucblogo/logo.tar.Z or anarres.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/ucblogo. The MIT version is the source for the Unix implementation of the language. You'll need to compile the source.
Selecting tool applications: Again, most tool applications are already part of a Linux distribution. Web authoring tools abound, as to text editors, word processors, database tools, and the like. If the desired tool is not installed, check with www.linuxapps.com, www.freshmeat.com, www.tucows.com, or www.gnu.org for a list of programs that are available.
Conclusion:This has been a very quick overview of the resources needed to begin to use Linux in the classroom. If we truly believe that Linux is a viable alternative to either Windows or Macintosh, we owe it to our students, our school boards, and our communities to help make this happen.
Acknowledgments:My thanks to Mr. Steve Magee of Kansas State Surplus Properties; Dr. Nancy Knupfer, Dr. Diane McGrath, Mr. Bill Rust, and Dr. Tweed Ross of Kansas State University for their encouragement in this project. Special thanks to Mr. Greg Palmer for allowing me the opportunity to present this paper at Linuxfest 2000 in Overland Park, Kansas.
References
BOE turns down plan to upgrade computers. (2000, May 23). The McPherson Sentinel, p. 1
Illiad (2000). Evil geniuses in a nutshell. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly.
Illiad (2000). Evil geniuses in a nutshell. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly.
Grabe, M. & Grabe, C. (1998). Integrating technology for meaningful learning (2nd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
