Hi Maning, I see Jerome has replied to you pretty comprehensively. I'll include some of my thoughts inline below as well.
> 1. Will edubuntu run "comfortably" on a 64-128 ram? Should I use xfce > as my desktop environment instead? Jerome covered this quite well. In my experience, using xfce over gnome on an "older" machine made a noticeable difference. > 3. Which programs/applications should I remove to free up space (such > programs that may not be suitable for day-care envi for instance, or I guess this really depends on your target audience. I can't help thinking though that if you're intending to package a large volume of offline content, then a central file server of some kind would be a good idea. For one, 5-10GB could then be more than adequate for a desktop install. > 4. As part of the project I would also like to monitor how the PC are > being used (both by teachers and students). One mechanism is to save > the syslog (possibly on a diskette) and send them to me for analysis. Monitoring application usage can be a helpful exercise but can also be misleading. Using programme access logs as such does not really give an indication of use. Children (and adults too I guess) can have an inquisitive tendency to open up everything but not necessarily use it. It can be helpful, though, in looking for anomolies, i.e. - is the workstation in the corner ever following the lesson plans during a lesson period - very popular applications will peak out in usage logs - and the opposite too The effectivity of a PC lab is not best measured by accounting for its usage but rather for looking at its intended impact: - do the learners improve in attitude, confidence, exposure and basic knowledge of technology. A simple before & after Likert scale can be quite handy here. - where do the subjects/learners proceed to from there and are they better quipped? Etc. A much harder assessment to make is whether the technology intervention is an improvement on or serves to compliment traditional teaching methods. > Supplemental resource materials: > We also want to support the teachers in designing and creating lesson > plans and resource materials that will make full use of the equipment. There is a lot of work going on world-wide to facilitate content sharing and collaboration. A friend of mine put it quite nicely: there are "recipes" and "ingredients" in this arena. - the recipes take the form of educational portals (e.g. moodle etc.), forums, LAMS, mailing lists... - the ingredients are the contents. Here there are a number of issues around localised and relevant content making it harder to share lesson plans across social, economic and language borders. There are a number of open resources for ICT competency (e.g. OpenICDL) but fewer relevant resources for local implementation/application of ICT in an educational context. I guess it depends again on what your intended outcomes are. > 2. On what certain subject matter should computer use be appropriate > for inclusion? Outcome based education requires good research skill amongst others (communication, collaboration etc.) A PC as a tool/source for resource is fantastic, especially if internet connected. There are certain applications that are quite handy for specific subjects or learning areas (e.g. maths programmes, typing tutors etc.) > 3. Any links references on computer use for ages 5-8 years old? I'll dig around for this. I found that generally simple gaming or gcompris style activity produces the necessary exposure and basic interactivity competence needed for young kids to continue learning to learn. > 4. As this is an offline workstation, we also plan to archive some > However, most are copyrighted and does > not allow archiving the whole site offline. You'll be surprised at how often the authors will be more than willing to allow you to obtain their materials freely for a non-profit purpose. I'll continue to dig around for some resources that might help you. Best regards, Will van der Leij -- edubuntu-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users
