Puppy in my classroom

Booting, installing, newbie
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fhsteacher
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed 12 Jan 2011, 21:56

#16 Post by fhsteacher »

Thanks to all those with helpful input.

To be more specific: I teach Math and Pre-Algebra to 7th and 8th grades (12-14). Our school has one learning program (compasslearning) that is installed on the schools server and one program we can access over the internet (usatestprep).Students work on these programs while logged in to their accounts and it tracks progress. I currently have 3 windows computers with three internet connections. With 20 students per class, these computers are rarely used and the software we have purchased is a waste of money. My immediate goal is to get 7 more older (free) computers up and online so that I can do half class rotations.

We have no IT department so I will be maintaining this myself. The good thing is that I can get away with almost anything. We have a firewall at the district that only serves to block unproductive sites. Our school has a server that no one maintains, but at least it gets us internet service.

With puppy, I think I can get enough computers operational. I would place them around the perimeter of my classroom and students would work at them individually. The only networking that would be needed is to get each station access to the internet. I would prefer to get a switch or router so that I didn't have to network anything, but each station just connects to the internet. I could set up my computer as a server, but I would still need a switch, so I don't see the point.

I have no experience to speak of with linux. In the past few days I have gotten familiar with the whole mounting/direct hierarchy scheme. I have also played with a few commands. I don't think that is going to be a big issue though.

In short, I just need 10 internet stations. No student folders or accounts or printing capabilities. Browser Puppy would be a good fix if someone could guide me to it. If not, just help me on hiding or disabling features. I've seen where you can install lots of extras, I want to uninstall certain things without messing up the OS.

Thanks again for all the help.

Dewbie

#17 Post by Dewbie »

fhsteacher wrote:
optional word processor and nothing else for any of my students
Browser Puppy would be a good fix if someone could guide me to it.
I need to clarify something I posted before:
Be sure to download current and previous BrowserLinux versions, as they are compiled with different kernels. Some computers won't work well (or at all) with certain kernels.
BrowserLinux is not equipped for word processing. MijnPup is:
http://www.browserlinux.com/mijnpup/index.html
It's basically BrowserLinux with an OpenOffice derivative, LibreOffice.

However, MijnPup only has one kernel (shared with Puppy Linux 5.1.1), and it's still in Beta...so there may still be some bugs to contend with. I'm sorry that I didn't clarify this before.

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DaveS
Posts: 3685
Joined: Thu 09 Oct 2008, 16:01
Location: UK

#18 Post by DaveS »

It sounds to me like a simple re-master of maybe Wary is what is required here. Get it how you want, re-master, then if it gets screwed up, just delete the 'save' file and you are back to square one.
Please download and install Wary on something (Frugal install please) then tell us how you would like it to be. Maybe we can then guide you through the steps. Its not so difficult really.
Spup Frugal HD and USB
Root forever!

muggins
Posts: 6724
Joined: Fri 20 Jan 2006, 10:44
Location: hobart

#19 Post by muggins »

Would SageLive be too advanced for your students?

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technosaurus
Posts: 4853
Joined: Mon 19 May 2008, 01:24
Location: Blue Springs, MO
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#20 Post by technosaurus »

to make applications hard to access
  • 1. delete (or move) the corresponding <program>.desktop files from /usr/share/applications
    2. open a terminal and run fixmenus
    3. restart the window manager (Menu ->Shutdown ->Restart jwm)

    To remove the menu entries that don't go away with the .desktop files just remove them from /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc
Desktop icons can just be deleted (including the file manager)

Pup-Advert-Blocker has a list of adult sites that can be banned - It is in new Wary, Quirky versions and listed in the forum

Puppy/Wary can be exited to the prompt (not Quirky though except from the menu) and accessed that way but you can add a "dontzap" property to the xorg.conf to prevent it (Most users would never figure it out because it is Ctrl+Alt+Backspace instead of Del)

Only do all this work once though - then you can remaster and have a quick install cd for the rest and a backup for when (not if) a student figures out how to bypass stuff
Check out my [url=https://github.com/technosaurus]github repositories[/url]. I may eventually get around to updating my [url=http://bashismal.blogspot.com]blogspot[/url].

raffy
Posts: 4798
Joined: Wed 25 May 2005, 12:20
Location: Manila

internet connection sharing

#21 Post by raffy »

fhsteacher wrote:The only networking that would be needed is to get each station access to the internet. I would prefer to get a switch or router so that I didn't have to network anything, but each station just connects to the internet. I could set up my computer as a server, but I would still need a switch, so I don't see the point.
A router that does DHCP (for internet connection sharing) is all you need, which you can combine with ordinary router/switch to connect more computers. The ISO link I gave you burns to a CD that you can use to boot the PCs, and Internet Connection via DHCP is automatic. There is word processing there.

Note: If your current setup does DHCP for Internet Connection sharing, you need not do anything other than add router/switches/s.
Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

gcmartin

Do you want internet ONLY stations or local tools too

#22 Post by gcmartin »

Hi, again, @fhsteacher

In trying to craft a simple solution to recommend based upon your information you've provided, I must ask the following:
  • Do you want them to use word-processing on the computers they will be using? If so, how will they print work to turn in to you?
  • Are you looking for some other kind of solution that is just a pure internet computer with NO LOCAL CLASSROOM PC services active? Like, say, what one has when using a cell-phone.
  • Can the 3 PCs you have, currently, do any of the things you want Puppy to do for you? in order words, do they connect to the internet now or do they connect to the schools network for student use?
This helps us hone-in on a recommendation for you: One that a newbie can provide a class-room in a very short period of time.

Here to help

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