Middle School Ubuntu Computer Lab Class --Lesson Plan Ideas?

[Prospero2006]

Hello Everyone,

I am a teacher in San Antonio, Texas. I teach with a magnet technology program call iMAK (interactive Media Applications at Krueger.) http://www.neisd.net/imak

Briefly:
-Two years ago I re-imaged my computer lab so that it runs Ubuntu.

-Last year, I taught a general seventh grade multi-media class curriculum
using Ubuntu only.

-This year, I petitioned the school board to allow me to teach an 'Advanced Linux/Programming' class for 7th-8th grade students. (They said yes!)


So, school has started and I've found that the best way to handle a new class like this is to plan 2 weeks at a time. (It's hard to gauge what the pace of the students will be until you actually get in there and start working with the concepts.)

The curriculum for my first two weeks can be found here:

http://www.neisd.net/imak/lessonplan...nux/aug25.html

Here is where I ask for advice from the community:
-Although I have a lot of ideas as to where I want to take this group of kids, it's always good to ask for advice on these forums.
-This class is wide open. I can teach any application or concept.
-It is an advanced group of students. --High achievers/High Potential kids.

Concepts I plan on covering this year:

-Live CD Creation, Setup, and Operation.
(We're behind a school district proxy. So, teaching the kids about how that works should prove interesting...)
-USB Pen Drive Live Installation (Every Kid Gets a Pen Drive.)
-Introduction to Python
-Very Basic introduction to 'C'


Anyway, any ideas about applications I can teach or concepts I can cover will be welcome.

Once again, my lesson plans for this class can be found here:
http://www.neisd.net/imak/lessonplan...nux/aug25.html

Thanks!

[nolimit974]

i just wanted to say i wish i had this class when i was in school.

[kjohansen]

A couple of things I thought of:

-The process of dual booting and configuring bootloaders (windows and/or other *nixs).

-The difference between an operating system and a windowing system.

-Many different ways to accomplish the programming you teach. Too often I see people taught in one editor or one way. For example if you use gcc to compile your C code, show them something else so they know gcc is not C, it is just a way at C. Show emacs and company but also show an advanced IDE etc...

-Find common problems on linux (reading through the absolute beginner section here is a good place to find some) and have your kids try to find solutions through reading linux documentation or web searching.

[Prospero2006]

I love the solution about finding common problems and having them troubleshoot. That's good.

Right now, I'm making sure the interest level is high by having them learn how an old school MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) Works. It's fun.

After we've spent enough time there, I'm going to teach live cd creation and have them configure it for use from the ground up without actually installing anything on the hard drive. That way, I can give the students sudo privileges without risking the integrity of the system I have set up.


This week's plans are here:
http://www.neisd.net/imak/lessonplan...inux/sep8.html

Thanks again,

[appier]

I just looked at your lesson plans. It looks like a really neat class! Do keep us posted on how it's going.

Regarding the lesson plans, if you're able to successfully plan two weeks out, you're one week further than me. I see teachers in other subject areas that have quarters and the whole year already planned to the day. I don't know how they do it. As for me, in the science areas, I feel satisfied if I can keep relatively on track for a week. Sometimes what I think is hard, they breeze right through, waiting for the next challenge. Then we come to something that every class before them thinks is a piece of cake, and we have to take a couple of extra days reteaching and reviewing it before they get it.

[Prospero2006]

Here's an update on what my seventh grade students are doing with Linux:

http://www.neisd.net/imak/lessonplans/beck/linux/Oct6.html

-Essentially, I've issued each kid a pen drive.

-We'll start by installing a non-persistent Ubuntu image.

-The kids will all learn how to configure firefox and synaptic
by grabbing sources.list and doing appropriate proxy configurations.
(We're behind a school district web proxy.)

-Once the kids can configure firefox and synaptic from the ground up
in under 10 minutes, we'll reformat the drives so that the
Operating System image on them is persistent.
(The Directions are here! )

The kids love the class. Keep the good ideas coming!

[croxis]

When I get my own class I hope to offer something similar

I suggest looking into having student lead projects (inquiry) that will play to their strengths and intrists and demonstrate what they learned.

You might also want to consider the importance of giving back to the developers by filing bug reports. You (or they) can set up bugzilla for their projects so when they collaberate and test each other's work they can submit reports.

[Prospero2006]

I created a podcast this morning with two of my advanced kids.
It's about three minutes:

Direct Link
http://www.neisd.net/imak/Beck/podca...01008final.mp3

RSS
http://www.neisd.net/imak/Beck/podcasts/Beck/rss.xml

In this episode we talk about:
-USB Pen Drive Installation
-Synaptic
-A Game Called Glest


Thanks!

[Prospero2006]

Here's a video of my kids using synergy:
It's a lesson we did in class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtsBGrrR8ks

[Prospero2006]

For anyone who has in interest in how Linux is being used in the public schools, the page linked HERE!

Covers what I'm doing with my advanced 7th/8th grade class during the first part of the second semester.

We are going to start using:
Apache
Mysql
PHP

If anyone out there has any ideas after reading the lesson plan linked above, please let me know!

Thanks,