 | A Great Weekend |
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Hello everyone, This weekend has been a great breakthrough for ELDER on two fronts: 1) Open Education Disc (OED) What is Open Education Disc? Many of the classrooms that I have visited have a lack of quality educational software/office applications/learning software that reduces the usability of the classroom computer. These machines run Windows, and sometimes it's not possible to load a Linux OS like Ubuntu on it (as the example of the Computer for Schools desktops in Sandy Lake). How do we make these classroom computers usable again? The solution is simple - open source software for windows. Open Education Disc is a compilation of open source educational software and teaching tools that is available to Windows users. Simply burn the ISO file to a CD, and install which programs you want! (Note that the difference between OED and Edubuntu is that Edubuntu has MORE educational software and tools available as well as other major advantages, such as operating speed and being virus free - there are fewer open source programs available to windows). You can visit the OED site here: http://www.theopendisc.com/education/ as well as download the ISO. I will be putting up a more extensive creation/installation version on the ELDER site. I will also be bringing the OED installation CD during my travel to Fort Severn this Nov 15th. 2) The EASY way (but a bit longer) way to install edubuntu. I have devised an easier (albeit longer), way to install a dual-boot edubuntu. Many Windows users who are interested in trying ubuntu are afraid/don't know how to repartition their drives, like the method that I usually use, to install a dual boot system. Wubi is a program that allows you to install ubuntu as a dual-boot by installing it as a huge file inside of Windows and then modifying the Windows boot loader to add an entry for ubuntu. The neat thing about this is that there's no risk of accidentally deleting the entire drive, you don't need to worry about partitions, and you can easily remove ubuntu on the Windows system. However, there is a drawback. This wubi installation method does not include Edubuntu, the educational version of ubuntu that we wish to have. What I've been able to do is devise a way to install updates and the necessary software to ubuntu through a simple configured USB (which takes a bit of time to make, as well as a strong internet connection) - but the upside is that all you would have to do is plug the USB, install the packages and other software (such as ofris) with no internet connection at all! Overall? A shorter and easier installation method for schools, especially when there's no internet connection. No BIOS required, and easy to uninstall as well! Instructions will be posted up soon. Many thanks! M |