Colorado Technology In Education (TIE) Conference Info

Contents

  1. Colorado Technology In Education (TIE) Conference Info
    1. Announcements
      1. May 28, 2008 - Meeting at Panera in Longmont
      2. March 17, 2008
      3. March 3, 2008
      4. General notes
    2. Date and Time
      1. Volunteers Manning the Ubuntu Table
    3. Related teams and web pages
    4. Planning Meetings, Goals and Updates
      1. Impromptu Discussion June 20 at Panera
      2. Meeting Agenda for May 28, 2008
      3. Details of Planning Meeting on March 17
      4. Goals Developed at Planning Meeting on March 3

Announcements

May 28, 2008 - Meeting at Panera in Longmont

We will meet to work out various aspects of the TIE conference and seek volunteers for the different roles. A great many things can be done from home without attending the conference. Please try to make the meeting or check back here for additional info. There is an agenda for the meeting below.

March 17, 2008

Second planning meeting today. We discussed what software to demo and discussed further the idea of having an Ubuntu based custom VM to demo some of the Linux only apps as well as customizing an Open Disc with more education apps.

March 3, 2008

We held our first meeting today to discuss objectives and goals. See below for items discussed.

General notes

Jim Hutchinson, a media specialist at Windsor High School in Colorado, along with Bryan Gartner and NealMcBurnett and other from the loco ColoradoTeam will be giving two 3-hour presentation on Open Source Software for classroom instruction at Colorado's Technology In Education (TIE) Conference in June 2008. This page is for organizing the presentations, demos and perhaps an Ubuntu table to help spread the word, answer questions and pass out CDs.

The two sessions are:

See more info about the conference itself on the TIE web site http://tiecolorado.org/2008/

Date and Time

I think that if we have up to 4 people in addition to myself and Bryan (and Neal at one of them) helping out that would be great. If more want to sign up then that is fine. I'm just hoping we can get 3 or 4 additional volunteers. Please add your name below to indicate you will be available during the session(s). We also need some help setting up the labs the night before.

Volunteers Manning the Ubuntu Table

Please sign up for times you would be willing to sit and demo Ubuntu, answer questions, pass out CDs, and generally proselytize for Ubuntu. During the times marked Session we need one or two people to set up outside the presentation rooms and help bring in attendees. Having two people at all other times would be nice as well as it would be more fun. Anyone wanting to come up for more than one day can get group rates on a room. Email Jim for more info.

Planning Meetings, Goals and Updates

Impromptu Discussion June 20 at Panera

For the free software session:

  1. Talk about Moodle?
  2. Show OLPC?

Meeting Agenda for May 28, 2008

  1. What opportunities/needs exist and how do we meet/fill them?
    • Help during sessions
    • Help at table
    • Make and deploy a custom rolled Ubuntu VM to run on windows
    • Others?

  2. Exploring the lessons

  3. What do we want to show/explore during the final 30 minutes in the Linux VM?
    • Kig is a program we need to use more in schools (any experts on this?)
    • I have done a lesson for Kalzium. It's simple but may be an option.
  4. Server Session
    • Who can assist here? We need help setting up the lab on Wed night (June 25) and to help users during the session.
  5. CDs will we pass out
  6. Anything else?

Details of Planning Meeting on March 17

Software Session

  1. We discussed further the breakdown of the session into 3-45 minute software demos or 4-30 minute demos. No firm decision has been made on this but we did select 3 software titles to focus on.
  2. Math Session - this will be divided into two parts for elementary teachers and secondary teachers.

    • Elementary teachers will focus on Shodor (http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/) which is a collection of Java apps. Fhe FOSS nature of this is not all that clear but it was included in a FOSS catalog of education apps. While there are activities for all grades we will focus our effort here on elementary.

    • Secondary teachers will be shown Maxima (http://maxima.sourceforge.net/).

  3. Science Session - We will look at both Stelarium and Celestia. Developing lessons for both would be ideal. Teachers can then choose which app to play with or both if they have time.
  4. Squeak/freemind - exactly the focus here is still being explored, however, Freemind is a FOSS version of mind mapping software like Kidspiration which is somewhat commonly used and clearly not free (in either sense). Squeak also has some "programming" tools that may be worth looking into.
  5. VM session - here we are hoping to roll our own VM appliance with some of the Linux only tools (Kig comes to mind) included and ready to roll on windows desktops. Teachers attending would be given a CD that they could use in any windows lab to use Linux apps. This might also help Linux break into schools. If teachers use them a lot they might start asking for dedicated Linux labs - at least that's the hope.
  6. We also discussed running through some smaller, simple apps either via the VM or not. Kalzium for example is quite simple but useful. There are undoubtedly others as well.

Server Session

We did not discuss this much. This session is quite straightforward. It will be mostly a hands on session for attendees to do an actual server install and configure for a thin-client.

Ubuntu Activism

Although not discussed in detail, we would like to see some sort of Ubuntu presence at the conference. The working idea at the moment is a table with demo boxes, swag, and knowledgeable staff to show off Ubuntu and answer questions. During the two sessions, the table would be set up outside the session room to help advertise the session.

Needs

  1. We need volunteers willing to help install the software on the laptops, be available for questions during the session, and promote the session by setting up some demo boxes outside the room and encourage people to attend.
  2. We also need volunteers to help with a table at other times throughout the conference to follow up on sessions, pass out CDs, answer questions and generally get people excited about trying Ubuntu. I've put together a sign up below. Please consider coming up for a day or more and spending some time advocating. You can also take advantage of being at Copper Mountain and do some biking, boarding, hiking or whatever -ing you are into.

Goals Developed at Planning Meeting on March 3

Software Session

Outline

  1. General overview (15 min)
  2. Brief discussion of "popular" FOSS such as Firefox, Open Office
  3. 30 min session on a science app
  4. 30 min session on a math app
  5. 30 min session on an exploratory tool like Squeak
  6. 30 min session on another app
  7. 30 min session exploring Ubuntu via a Vmware appliance

Goals

  1. Explore various math, science and "other" applications to select the ones that will be used.
  2. Find or develop simple but high quality tutorials for each.
  3. Find or develop a sample lesson plan that teachers could actually use (possibly a generic lesson they can adapt as necessary.
  4. Explore how to load the software on all 30 computers in the lab quickly and easily.
  5. Explore how to use a virtual appliance to demo using Linux only apps without having to install Linux (useful for teachers who may not have the option to re-purpose computers in their school).

Server Session

Outline

  1. Quick Introduction to LTSP (20 min)
  2. LAB - Each of four groups will install a server (30 min)
  3. LTSP Overview (45 min)
  4. LTSP configuration tasks (20 min)
  5. LTSP advanced topics (30 min)

  6. Q&A.

TIEColorado08 (last edited 2008-08-06 17:01:16 by localhost)