10 pc Cybercafe for 30ukp!!!!

[Mr.Goose]

Cool! I will have a crack this weekend! Thanks guys!

Best wishes, Garf

[WhoDo]

Edit: Hmm, Whodo, you seem to be up to something - teachers will love you (more) if you release a MoodlePup!

Ok, I have uploaded a Moodle dotpup and a MoodleThemes dotpup to MU's mirror. I'm sure when he has a moment he'll post a link or include the dotpups under PSI.

Caution: For the uninitiated, you will need to have Xampp running to access the Moodle environment via your web browser - http://localhost if running locally to trial.

Cheers

[Mr.Goose]

@ Whodo....

For the uninitiated, you will need to have Xampp running to access the Moodle environment via your web browser

By which you mean have XAMPP installed and running on the server, not the client, right? Unless the server is also the client, of course.

Best wishes, Garf

[MU]

http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Internet/Moodle.pup
http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Internet/MoodleThemePack.pup

Mark

[WhoDo]

http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Internet/Moodle.pup
http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Internet/MoodleThemePack.pup

Mark

Thanks, Mark. Much appreciated.

By which you mean have XAMPP installed and running on the server, not the client, right? Unless the server is also the client, of course

Yes, and yes. If you want to trial it locally, then access localhost via your web browser with Xampp running locally.

Cheers

[ecomoney]

What kind of courses can be run with Moodle? Would this be useful for any of the learning eactivities at the cybercafe? We had a mini-breakthrough last night with the internet connecton sharing so we may be having ourselves a network server after all.

[WhoDo]

What kind of courses can be run with Moodle? Would this be useful for any of the learning eactivities at the cybercafe? We had a mini-breakthrough last night with the internet connecton sharing so we may be having ourselves a network server after all.

Hmmmm...sorry, ecomoney, but there's that "piece of string" again!

I suggest you pay a visit to moodle.org and have a play in the demo area. That will show you all of the miriad of resources at your disposal in Moodle and let you see how they work.

A word of warning: Moodle is NOT a substitute for thoughtful preparation of learning resources. It is an environment that is designed to shorten the "distance" between student and facilitator, but one cannot simply upload content and call it online learning - not that I'm suggesting you would.

It's just that there are many misconceptions about e-Learning that will confront the serious educator when tackling something like Moodle. It's great for so many things, but not everyone needs it. Here is another example of e-Learning that I apply with some of my students, no Moodle involved.

http://www.quia.com/pages/hww.html

OTOH, Moodle being SCORM compliant means that there is a world of resources available that can be repackaged for Moodle. Take this computer skills assessment for example:

http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/ ... lector.htm

That can be used within Moodle to assess computer literacy, as a form of knowledge gap analysis that includes some learning. It can be used as a "gateway" to more in-depth computer-based learning.

"Just because you can doesn't always mean you should!"

Hope that helps.

[Mr.Goose]

What kind of courses can be run with Moodle? Would this be useful for any of the learning activities at the cybercafe? We had a mini-breakthrough last night with the internet connection sharing so we may be having ourselves a network server after all.

We are using it for blended learning - this is where you run a course partly in the classroom and partly on line. I use it for ALL my courses now because...

• 1. It effectively extends a relatively brief classroom experience into one of near-infinite length.
  2. Students who have taken the classroom part of the course at different times can communicate with one another.
  3. I can leave ll the teaching materials, course notes, presentations etc. on line.
  4. I can easily develop and extend my teaching materials subsequently if I wish.
  5. Being a totally disorganised sort of chap, I find having all my material ready on Moodle greatly simplifies my lesson preparation because I have all my materials laid out and ready to go.

Would it benefit your learning programmes at the Cybercafé, Robert? Short answer is yes!

My Moodle-ised courses are still at an early stage of development - but I am actually using them 'in anger'. My Students seem to like them. Any puppies who would like "enrollment keys" to check them out please PM me. Unfortunately the best courses on DEOSS Moodle are the ones I can't actually show you because they are run by other people. I seem to spend more time building theirs than my own! It's a case of cobblers kids having the worst shoes I guess!

Best wishes, Garf

[Mr.Goose]

I would just like to develop the very good points that WhoDo made, if I may...

There is indeed a world of difference between the relatively straightforward task of creating a Moodle course and the much more demanding and protracted process of creating a good Moodle course.

Best wishes, Garf

[raffy]

Whodo:

I have uploaded a Moodle dotpup and a MoodleThemes dotpup

Thanks, Whodo, much appreciated!

So this must be a moodle folder that the admin can put in the webserver (like /some/location/htdocs) and then installed from there? So the Xampp server must have been installed (not necessarily running) when placing the files in htdocs. After the server is started, browse to http://localhost/moodle and the install process should start automatically.

(Have not tried this yet as I don't have a Xampp install - am too much a fan of what Nathan is doing at grafpup.com with his grafpup LAMP )

[WhoDo]

So this must be a moodle folder that the admin can put in the webserver (like /some/location/htdocs) and then installed from there? So the Xampp server must have been installed (not necessarily running) when placing the files in htdocs. After the server is started, browse to http://localhost/moodle and the install process should start automatically.

Yes, that's the folder that goes in the website root location of your webhost. When you open index.php the first time you access the site, it runs install.php to check if you have acceptable configuration details for your Apache, MySQL and PHP. Then it runs through the general configuration of Moodle before unpacking all of the resources and utilities, etc.

The whole process should take less than 30 minutes, but some are quicker than others!

[mechmike]

From Digg - interesting article on a similar setup using Edubuntu on thin clients: http://inpics.net/isolemamba/

[rarsa]

ecomoney,

Just in case you hadn't already read this:

Building a 6 headed linux box:

http://linuxgazette.net/124/smith.html

- One computer
- Six Video cards
- Six Monitors
- Six keyboards
- Six mouses
- SIX USERS!

For a cybercafe you should definetivelly use a multiuser linux such as Mandriva so it requests password for each user (each "station" may have a predefined password and always start in a clean chrooted environment)

[ecomoney]

Rarsa, this is VERY very cool! Thanks for posting this link.

Puppy, with its efficient hardware use, would make it possible to do this with even a modest specced PC. We would be interested in cybercafe setup like this one. Apparently it works with "any" linux distro? I can see some pitfalls with puppys peculiarities.

Firstly, it requires multi-user, Puppy just runs as root?

Secondly, it requires USB keyboards and mice. Would it be possible to rewire normal mice and keyboards to work as USB? I know with some new mice, they have a simple usb to ps/2 adaptor.

In the recycling trade, monitors are a big expense to get rid of, and frequently outlast their computers in terms of lifespan. Keyboards and mice are also very common compared with actual computers.

[rarsa]

Firstly, it requires multi-user, Puppy just runs as root?

Well I don't think it "requires" multi-user, it is just that you maynot want users you do not trust to have access as root.

It would be interesting to do the experiment with Puppy as a dual head in environments where being root really does not matter (A home with two children one computer, a couple sharing the same computer, two students in a single dorm room, etc)

Would it be possible to rewire normal mice and keyboards to work as USB?

I have no clue but as they say... the only way to know for sure is to try it.

And I mean, you can even try it in a single headed computer.

[sunburnt]

HEY GUYS... I posted the exact same link previously!!! (gripe, gripe)

No multi user isn't really relevant, just need a patched kernel & the newer Xorg.

Yes I think PS2 to USB & USB to PS2 adapters are available, but...
the cost is probably the same as just buying a cheap USB keybd. or mouse.
You'll be seeing alot more USB eq. in the recycle as it's what newer PCs use.

Some video cards can run 2 "independant" monitors, not just 1 desktop, but 2.

[Colonel Panic]

Here's a question for you.

I do voluntary gardening work at a local community centre (gets me away from computers for a while) which has a computer suite, and they have a problem with users, particularly young ones, accessing porn (which is not allowed there), downloading software which may contain viruses etc. They use Windows XP but feel the need to lock users out of a lot of the functions such as installing applications.

I don't suppose viruses are a problem with Puppy, but is it possible to install filters to stop users accessing certain sites, such as porn, hate sites etc.? Just out of interest, has this or a similar issue arisen in your CyberCafe?

[GuestToo]

the Win XP policies can be edited to control exactly what powers a particular kind of user has, and what he can access and not access, and what programs he can run or not be allowed to run

you can install a filter program, to block certain web sites and allow certain other web sites, and the filter can be setup to blobk web pages depending on whether it finds certain words in the web page ... but a filtering program is not perfect, and some good web pages will inevitable be blocked, and other bad web sites will get through the filter

[rarsa]

gets me away from computers for a while

I guess that it does not take too far away based on your question

they have a problem with users, particularly young ones, accessing porn

There is no real solution other than supervision, either electronic (log usage) or physical (chaperoning), filter programs work for 8 year olds or younger, after that some will learn how to triangulate to get to blocked sites.

They use Windows XP but feel the need to lock users out of a lot of the functions such as installing applications.

This is definetivelly a most do. After my father got tired of cleaning his computer (and even paying up to $400 to recover lost data) I recommended to setup my brothers and nephews with non admin accounts. If they need something installed, they can ask him. I even advised him to normally run on a non admin account and just switch to the admin account when needed.

[Gekko]

Colonal Panic:
There is Squid Proxy which I was trying to make work on Puppy but wont work without another user in Puppy; it can't run as root. So we'll have to wait until I get the time to look at the source, or until 2.14.