Joel Garcia's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-19T05:20:29ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarciahttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1950253609?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2g110jl7bqh4w&xn_auth=noHawaiian Technology Inventors Club, Arduino and Beyondtag:www.classroom20.com,2015-04-28:649749:BlogPost:10369452015-04-28T03:31:32.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
<p>Well, this is week three of exploration into the realm of electronics using the Arduino microprocessor board, the Elenco Electronic Lab, and the Elenco Snap Electronics Lab. This week students began to code using Sketch to control the behaviour of circuits made on the Arduino. Lessons learned, one has to write code correctly in order for the IDE to recognize it. Second, all components must be correctly connected to the board. Students practice following directions and learned the difference…</p>
<p>Well, this is week three of exploration into the realm of electronics using the Arduino microprocessor board, the Elenco Electronic Lab, and the Elenco Snap Electronics Lab. This week students began to code using Sketch to control the behaviour of circuits made on the Arduino. Lessons learned, one has to write code correctly in order for the IDE to recognize it. Second, all components must be correctly connected to the board. Students practice following directions and learned the difference between brackets { } and braces ( ) and how to type these symbols. Also, they learned that these specific symbols have a purpose and a specific place in coding. The software is fairly easy to use and tells you what errors were made. Most students were successful and the others realized what they did wrong. Next week they will fix it. The first circuit involved controlling a flashing LED. Students also really enjoyed the Elenco kits. You can easily see the flow and construction of circuits with these kits. Students drew these circuits in their journal entries and you can see the flow in their drawings. I was pleased to see that my students were enthusiastic about drawing and writing about what they learned. Next week I will include pictures in my blog.</p>
<p>Until then, Straight Ahead!</p>Hawaiian Technology Inventors Club, Arduino and Beyond- First Meeting 10/07/14tag:www.classroom20.com,2014-10-08:649749:BlogPost:10352522014-10-08T04:30:00.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
<p>First day of the inventor's club went well without a hitch. Half the time was spent introducing the materials and methods of work. We will be using the Cornell Notes format to write reflections and about discovery while completing our projects. Students will keep a journal each day. My fifth and sixth graders really did well the first day and were able to follow directions and work together to solve any problems with understanding they may have had. I was just the facilitator watching and…</p>
<p>First day of the inventor's club went well without a hitch. Half the time was spent introducing the materials and methods of work. We will be using the Cornell Notes format to write reflections and about discovery while completing our projects. Students will keep a journal each day. My fifth and sixth graders really did well the first day and were able to follow directions and work together to solve any problems with understanding they may have had. I was just the facilitator watching and asking questions to help guide the process. They did need help in setting up the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to begin writing code needed to upload to the Arduino Uno board. Students will complete 15 projects and during this process will learn to create circuits for lighting, motors and other actuators as well as writing code to control the parameters of each. They will also be encouraged to change numerical values within the code to change behavior. Once completed, they will have developed a base knowledge needed to move on to controlling servos and sensors in robots. This is my goal. Until next week straight ahead!</p>Hawaiian Technology Inventors Club, Arduino and Beyondtag:www.classroom20.com,2014-10-05:649749:BlogPost:10351232014-10-05T17:30:00.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
<p>On Tuesday, October 7th the Hawaiian Technology Inventors Club will begin. Fifth grade students will be involved in exploring hands-on activities using various electronic kits to create electronic circuits and mini projects. Most projects will utilize software and text sources available through the vast resources in the open source community. This is the beginning of a science lab experience that I hope to grow that will include many more activities in the future.</p>
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<p>Here is what…</p>
<p>On Tuesday, October 7th the Hawaiian Technology Inventors Club will begin. Fifth grade students will be involved in exploring hands-on activities using various electronic kits to create electronic circuits and mini projects. Most projects will utilize software and text sources available through the vast resources in the open source community. This is the beginning of a science lab experience that I hope to grow that will include many more activities in the future.</p>
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<p>Here is what is included in the lab so far. First of all, the computing platform that is in place is the open source, Linux based Ubuntu operating system. With this system, all the software needed for production of quality presentations, from essays, art, photo manipulation, and pamphlets is available. Also, all coding software and programming languages, from Python to Java and basic Scratch is easily accessible and free. We will use the Arduino embedded micro controller as one of the platforms to learn and explore the world of programming. One reason for this choice is that students can not only put together basic circuits, but can program the parameters, frequency, and specific tasks of the performance in each circuit project created. All this is done on the Arduino Uno board and the IDE called Sketch, based mostly in C programming language. Later, I am going to look deeper into integrating the ROS library for robotics. Arduino already has a library for this, however ROS is an international robotics standard. Anyhow, the Arduino platform can be utilized in countless ways from lighting one bulb to a multifunctional robot that speaks and blue tooth controlled, by phone, computer, tablet... you get the picture.Your imagination is the only limitation. Other kits included are the Elenco electronics lab and the Elenco Snap On electronics lab. I chose the first one because you actually put together wires to create circuits (real world). The second Snap On kit is great to see the flow and the circuit itself. The last kit I have is an electronics junk box with various speakers, wire, batteries, lights, clothespins (for switches, holding light bulbs etc.), paper clips, wire cutters, magnets, bolts, on and on; it grows as I write. This is where students just put stuff together to make it work based on what they have learned previously.</p>
<p>The fabulous thing about this is that students can go home and do this stuff as well at a minimal cost. Even if they purchased the kits, Elenco or Arduino, we are only talking about $20 to $60 or cheaper if you go and buy everything at Alibaba.</p>
<p>One last detail, other elements in the lab will include using GIMP (art, image processing), Python for Kids, Audacity (multitrack sound processing, and Openshot (video, picture editing), all open source and readily available.</p>
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<p>We will see how it works.</p>A Viable Reliable High Quality Software Student Proof Solutiontag:www.classroom20.com,2014-01-04:649749:BlogPost:9871272014-01-04T00:20:10.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ca92887-5a9b-0baa-85ba-9e7c9fb12b6d" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A Viable Reliable High Quality Software Student Proof Solution…</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-3ca92887-5a9b-0baa-85ba-9e7c9fb12b6d"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A Viable Reliable High Quality Software Student Proof Solution</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There is hope for those archaic computers that are running XP which will reach end of life support on April 8, especially if they have a gigabyte or less in RAM memory. This is a real solution for schools with older computers, who are strapped for cash, and require a system that virtually fixes itself. Most important of all, it meets the requirements for Common Core implementation.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have been experimenting off and on with an operating system that is a variant of Ubuntu 12.04. It is an operating system that has been created by</span> <a href="http://community.saugususd.org/jklein/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Jim Klein</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, specifically for education with more than 60 preloaded software packages. It is an operating system used by schools in the Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita. Jim Klein is the Director of Information Services and Technology for the Saugus Union School District. I met Jim at the Southern California Linux Expo and he has been one of those who have encouraged me to pursue high quality alternative solutions for classroom use. The name of the Ubuntu variant is</span> <a href="http://www.ubermix.org/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Ubermix</span></a> <span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">based on Ubuntu 12.04.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why use</span> <a href="http://www.ubermix.org/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Ubermix</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">?</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">preloaded with 60 ready to use software applications for student use with access to over 65.000 more.</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">student friendly applications, office, art, photo, education, etc</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5 minute</span> <span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">turn-key installation (installation with 2GB usb flash drive or DVD)</span> <span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #ff0000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">True!</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">20 second recovery</span> <span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">mechanism</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">works on most laptops and desktops</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reliable and easy to use</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">extremely intuitive like a phone</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">drivers for printers, cameras, flash drives, wireless dongles, scanners, included</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">requires only 500MB RAM, flies with a gigabyte</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">customizable; create your own variant</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">change to original desktop settings in seconds (no more hassling with student modifications)</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How do you get started?</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you need a PC with at least 500MB RAM and P4 processor or better</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">flash drive 2GB or more</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">download image and format flash drive</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5 minutes to install</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Where do you go for information, image, and instructions?</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Information:</span> <a href="http://www.ubermix.org/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.ubermix.org/index.html</span></a></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Download and Install image:</span> <a href="http://www.ubermix.org/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.ubermix.org/download.html</span></a></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ubermix basic operations:</span> <a href="http://www.ubermix.org/basics.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.ubermix.org/basics.html</span></a></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I will be happy to help:</span> <a href="mailto:joel.garcia@abcusd.us" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">joel.garcia@abcusd.us</span></a></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One final thought, as you begin upgrading, hold on to your old technology for classroom use. If purchasing Windows OS, virus software and applications is too costly, try this solution. After all it is Open Source, powerful, supported by the world, and represents freedom of technology available for everyone to use in all communities on this planet.</span></p>Reflections Upon Using the Ubuntu LTSP Lab in the Fifth Grade Classroomtag:www.classroom20.com,2009-12-23:649749:BlogPost:4229212009-12-23T18:49:09.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
The 2008-2009 school year has ended and we are now in December, two days before Christmas 2009. I have been incorporating Open Source technology into my classroom for some time now and find the results quite rewarding. If I were to categorize how I have used technology thus far I would include mainly four areas of concentration: writing, research, reference support, and enrichment. The main issue in using technology in a fifth grade classroom is finding time and utilizing time in a meaningful…
The 2008-2009 school year has ended and we are now in December, two days before Christmas 2009. I have been incorporating Open Source technology into my classroom for some time now and find the results quite rewarding. If I were to categorize how I have used technology thus far I would include mainly four areas of concentration: writing, research, reference support, and enrichment. The main issue in using technology in a fifth grade classroom is finding time and utilizing time in a meaningful productive manner that will in no way take away or waste time in learning.Building Computers in Fifth Grade: Foundation for the next Linus Torvalds or Andy Hertzfeldtag:www.classroom20.com,2009-08-15:649749:BlogPost:3731442009-08-15T17:05:31.000ZJoel Garciahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoelGarcia
This year I am going to create a class for our after school program that shows students how to build computers from scratch using spare parts from other computers. I think working with the computer today is like rebuilding old cars of the past. Find parts for that Chevy and make it run better than it did before. No need for for new parts, go to the junk yard. Anyhow, I have been experimenting this year building thin clients and servers from computers that people throw away and thought this…
This year I am going to create a class for our after school program that shows students how to build computers from scratch using spare parts from other computers. I think working with the computer today is like rebuilding old cars of the past. Find parts for that Chevy and make it run better than it did before. No need for for new parts, go to the junk yard. Anyhow, I have been experimenting this year building thin clients and servers from computers that people throw away and thought this would be a great skill for my students to learn. Many fifth graders are more tech savvy than most adults these days and have no problem assembling a stereo system. We will learn about the different components of a computer system and how everything goes together. We will use Linux as our primary operating system since it will work on virtually any system and is free providing all the software needed for office applications, music creation, art, and photo processing etc. These skills will help to give access to technology in our low economic community where technology is not readily available. Empowering students to create something from bare minimum resources builds confidence and prepares them for the future. Who knows, there might might be the next Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, or Andy Hertzfeld in my community. This is a totally green project using legacy technology to teach skills for the future. This is another way to teach recycling valuable resources.<br />
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Goals:<br />
1. Teach components of a computer system.<br />
2. Assemble a basic computer.<br />
3. Install an operating system<br />
4. Build classroom labs that are virtually trouble free.<br />
5. Build computers for our community.<br />
6. Create a community of learners providing technology for our school at no cost to our school or district other than the electricity and a room for us to use.<br />
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Oh! By the way, is there anyone out there in the Los Angeles and Orange County area in California with computers that need recycling? Computers with a P3 or P4 processors would be preferable and they don't need to work. I'll come and pick them up. It never hurts to ask.<br />
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Please, give suggestions and ideas on how to make this a valuable experience for my students.