[Server-devel] antitheft:: avoiding the need
We got around the need for antitheft measures with a community-based approach. This may not work in all communities, but it has worked very well for us. BEFORE distributing any computers for student use, we held meetings with all participants, including teachers, students, parents, and the community. After getting their input, we guided the teachers and school administrators in developing a written set of rules and regulations for the project, with four sets of contracts that the students, parents, teachers, and school administration had to sign in order to participate in the project. We did this by posing a series of what if scenarios, and then requiring the local educators to come up with answers that best suited their school and community's culture, needs, and economic situation. Included in the contracts that resulted from this were fine schedules and clearly defined consequences for any damage, loss, or theft of a laptop. Because we work in very poor communities, work in lieu of fines for parents was included, with a very detailed schedule of hours and type of work required. One critical stipulation that we required to be included in the governing documents was that, if a laptop goes missing (lost or stolen), the project comes to a complete halt until there is a satisfactory resolution. What constitutes a satisfactory resolution is clearly defined in the documents. Since deployment, within the school and immediate community, laptops can be left unattended in classrooms and the school yard without worry. This is because they aren't ever really unattended. The entire community is hyper-vigilant about keeping an eye on them. When students or teachers who live in other communities take laptops home, they are hyper-vigilant about taking care of the laptops and protecting them, to the point that one teacher who lives in an unsafe area will not even take his flash drive home with him, let alone a laptop. Their protectiveness is so strong that one school paid to put burglar bars on the classrooms and storage room, and another school hired a security guard for off-hours. The result has been that 2½ years after deployment, we have not had a single laptop damaged, lost, or stolen. This is especially impressive considering that I was told repeatedly before we started about cases of computer theft and vandalism at other computer projects in the country. We were told this would be a major impediment, but we proved them wrong. Our approach was a long, grueling process, but by bringing the participants into the process, allowing them to customize the governing documents to meet their needs, and giving them complete control over the outcome, we have not had to deal with any theft or vandalism. That's not to say it can't happen someday, or that it will be as effective in all countries and communities, but I think it is essential to long-term success to incorporate community involvement in the design, implementation, and operation of any computer project. The time invested in laying the groundwork pays huge dividends in the long run. Janissa Balcomb Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.org ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
[Server-devel] antitheft:: avoiding the need - cont.
I plan to attend the OLPC conference in San Francisco in October. I will be available there to anyone who wishes to discuss our Laptops to Lesotho model in more detail. You can see the Rules Regulations, Contracts, and Fine Schedules written in December 2010 for Nohana Primary School on our blog at: http://olpc2010-lesotho.blogspot.com/p/2011-rules-regulations-contracts-fee.html Janissa Balcomb Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.org ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
Re: [Server-devel] antitheft:: avoiding the need - cont. 2
p.s. One anti-theft thing that I forgot to mention in my previous list serve response was that we label and ENGRAVE all the laptops with big bold numbers and codes in various locations on the laptops so anyone can tell exactly who they belong to. Its pretty obvious they are from a school or organization, not individually owned. Through public outreach, contact with the local police, and local word-of-mouth, most everyone in the region knows about our project. So anyone seen with one of these laptops who isnt a student or teacher at one of our schools would be reported to the authorities. Even communities with schools that dont have computers want to cooperate and stay on our good side because they know we are gradually expanding to other schools in the area. We find that if we give them incentive to cooperate and keep them invested, theyll bend over backwards to help. Janissa Balcomb Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.org ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
Re: [Server-devel] Lesotho project network server: obstacles needs
Hi David, The document you sent looks extremely helpful. Thanks so much! Janissa From: David Leeming Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 3:19 AM To: jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Cc: 'XS Devel' Subject: RE: [Server-devel] Lesotho project network server: obstacles needs Hi Janissa I am copying you separately a document that we use in PNG and Solomons that helps with a basic default installation of XS 0.6 and some very basic Moodle settings. It's a bit country/project specific so I need to clean it up before sharing on this list. I have installed from a USB stick before, but it's a while ago. OLPC-AU do this so will leave that to Sridhar. We use CD based installation. I too am learning by seat of my pants so happy to share your experience! David Leeming ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
Re: [Server-devel] Lesotho project network server: obstacles needs
Hi David, Sorry for my delayed reply. Thanks for your comments and advice. Please do send me the specs for the EPC-AT270 you are using. I tried downloading the XS operating system from the OLPC website onto a dongle/flash drive and installing it from that onto the PC we have designated as our server, but the installation failed. Later, we had two computer specialists reformat the PC and try the same thing without success. Each time, we got errors that said the XS files were incomplete. Did you install your XS software from a dongle, or did you download it directly onto your server? If you installed from a dongle, do you have any suggestions on what we might be doing wrong? Do you know if there is information anywhere with very detailed, step-by-step instructions for installing the XS from a dongle? We are all total Linux and XS novices, and none of us have ever operated a server before. Since we havent been able to install the XS, Im unfamiliar with the XS features you mentioned (Moodle home page, /library, class segregation etc.) Thanks, Janissa Janissa Balcomb jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.inc - Hi Janissa Your programme sounds very worthwhile and I wish you all the best with it! Maybe I was not clear, but my point is that for us, the XS (we are using v0.6) installed on a low power e-box such as the EPC-AT270 (I can send you the spec sheet, it is available in Australia not sure where you are) has proven exactly what you seem to be looking for. Very low power, running at 15W or less on 12V DC solar power, with auto-power on enabled so even if there is a power outage the locals don't need to intervene. At one site it ran 18 months continuously and no problems. The access points all using DC power via PoE too. Our schools in PNG only theoretically have Internet access in some locationsas the quality of service is insufficient. Even if it were, it's only for the teachers due to cost. But the teachers do have some limited options with 3G dongles if they wish to sign up to the OLPC-Australia XO-Certification programme (extended to Pacific) laptop.moodle.com.au and so we spent time training them to do so. It is true one does need some initial centralised or outside expertise to set the servers up but in our case we are all Linux novices really and we get by. On site, as I said the servers are very useful, but as in your case we have to just install and leave them and expect little maintenance work although as time goes on various champions emerge. I am typing this in the remotest place in PNG, and yet I am planning today to training one teacher to be able to do some role assignment work on the XS Moodle in some schools we can't visit this time. I guess this list can help you design a suitable configuration for the XS. As I said in our case it is really basic, just using the Moodle home page as a links page to folders of resources in the /library, and some upload folders and the general news/forum. We don't use the class segregation as yet because we are unable to assist when the students change class at the new year, so the strategy is just to tell teachers try not to overload the server, coordinate with each other etc. In the future we can improve on it. David Leeming Solomon Islands Rural Link P.O.Box 652 Honiara, Solomon Islands +677 7476396 (m) +677 24419 (h) www.rurallink.com.sb -Original Message- From: server-devel-boun...@lists.laptop.org [mailto:server-devel-boun...@lists.laptop.org] On Behalf Of jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Sent: Monday, 16 April 2012 9:07 a.m. To: server-devel@lists.laptop.org Subject: [Server-devel] Lesotho project network server: obstacles needs I work with a non-OLPC-affiliated XO laptop project in Lesotho. Our project uses G1G1 XO-1 laptops we buy on the open market and refurbish ourselves. Like David Leeming in PNG (see Server-devel Digest, Vol 60, Issue 13, Topic 1 -- Re: Looking for new low power server hardware candidate), I work with schools in a very remote area with rough terrain, difficult access, limited resources, and poorly trained teachers. Unlike David's area, our schools do not have access to internet. The teachers we work with have absolutely no computer experience coming into our program. They are all eager to receive training and use the computers in their classrooms, but because of their own poor education, they have trouble following general instructions and retaining the computer skills we teach them. We find that they need very detailed, written, step-by-step instructions for everything. Most of the time, they are incapable of extrapolating what they've learned and applying it to a slightly different situation or another activity. Much of the teaching at the schools is done in English, despite the fact that English is the teachers' second language. Many of them have small vocabularies with low language proficiency.
[Server-devel] Lesotho project network server: obstacles needs
I work with a non-OLPC-affiliated XO laptop project in Lesotho. Our project uses G1G1 XO-1 laptops we buy on the open market and refurbish ourselves. Like David Leeming in PNG (see Server-devel Digest, Vol 60, Issue 13, Topic 1 -- Re: Looking for new low power server hardware candidate), I work with schools in a very remote area with rough terrain, difficult access, limited resources, and poorly trained teachers. Unlike Davids area, our schools do not have access to internet. The teachers we work with have absolutely no computer experience coming into our program. They are all eager to receive training and use the computers in their classrooms, but because of their own poor education, they have trouble following general instructions and retaining the computer skills we teach them. We find that they need very detailed, written, step-by-step instructions for everything. Most of the time, they are incapable of extrapolating what theyve learned and applying it to a slightly different situation or another activity. Much of the teaching at the schools is done in English, despite the fact that English is the teachers second language. Many of them have small vocabularies with low language proficiency. Those of us helping them are educators and administrators, not computer technicians. For us, most of the discussions and instructions in this server-devel forum go way over our heads. We have tried to get computer specialists to help us set up a server, but this is nearly impossible because it requires a commitment of days to reach and service our area. Twice, computer volunteers have come to our first school to install the server software from a CD onto a standard PC. But, both times the OLPC XS software didnt work and/or was incomplete. Without internet access, they were unable to complete the process. After two years, we still do not have a functional server for the 86 laptops at that school. We havent even tried to set up a server at our other school, which will have a total 50 XO laptops by the end of this year. Our schools charge and operate all their computer equipment off solar panels and batteries. During rainy months, computer use is greatly reduced because of reduced power output. For all these reasons, we need a very simple, user-friendly, low-energy network server that can be installed and maintained by non-specialist people with limited computer skills and without any internet access. A plug-n-play style server would be the best solution for us. Instructions for installation, maintenance, and use need to be as detailed as possible, in very simple English. We need to be able to purchase 1-2 servers at a time, and we need the server to be available for purchase outside the official OLPC deployment framework. Janissa Balcomb jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.inc ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
Re: [Server-devel] Server-devel Digest, Vol 54, Issue 2
LESOTHO LAN NETWORK SET-UP, INTERNET ACCESS This is a very timely thread for me. Next month, I will be trying to set up a similar LAN system at a remote school in the mountains of Lesotho, Africa, where we have a Windows XP desktop computer and 90 XO-1 laptops. We have a wireless router for the PC. Currently, we do not have internet access at the school, so we are unable to download software directly. When I was there last, we tried to load the XS software onto the PC from a USB drive, but it didn't work. This time, I am taking the XS software on a CD and will try again. Any advise for a newbie who doesn't speak computer-geek? I am also taking the latest stable OS on a flash drive. We will reflash all the XOs so they have the gnome internet sharing software. We can access the internet via cell phone at the school, but when we tried to use a GSM modem (unlocked Vodaphone compatible) with the PC, it didn't work. Vodacom Lesotho (the only ISP in the country) said that it won't work because there is no internet signal there. Can someone explain this apparent paradox to me? Can gnome access the internet via a cell phone signal? Is there a website with instructions how to do this? Thanks, Janissa Balcomb jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.org ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
[Server-devel] link to download XS software not working
I'm trying to download the XS 0.6 software but I get an ERROR: NOT FOUND. No handler matched request to /xs/OLPC_XS_LATEST.iso I used the link: from- http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XS_Installing_Software to- http://xs-dev.laptop.org/xs/OLPC_XS_LATEST.iso I tried the XS 0.5 and 0.4 links with similar results. Can you send me the correct URL for downloading the latest XS software? Thanks, Janissa Balcomb jbalc...@laptopstolesotho.org Laptops to Lesotho Inc. www.laptopstolesotho.org ___ Server-devel mailing list Server-devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
