Educational Software To Donate With Laptop? 332
SlartibartfastJunior writes "I will be sending my four-year-old laptop to a school in Uganda this fall. I plan to load up an older version of Windows (or something free), and I need suggestions - what should I load on it? I need suggestions for educational games, educational software, etc. that won't drain my battery too much (since the computer will only be able to recharge at night), won't require a CD (since my drive doesn't work 80% of the time), and won't be too America-centered (most of these children have never been more than ten miles out of their own villages, and wouldn't understand "Oregon Trail"). Also, any great ideas on where I can acquire copies of this software?"
Older Versions of Windows (Score:2, Insightful)
Arrrrrr.
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:3, Funny)
Came with a license? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Came with a license? (Score:2, Interesting)
Transferrability of software licenses? (Score:2)
Are the licenses nontransferable just because the EULA says so? Does this violate fair use (In the legal, not the ethical sense)?
-jim
Re:Transferrability of software licenses? (Score:2)
And you're looking for a violation of the doctrine of first sale, not fair use.
Re:Came with a license? (Score:4, Insightful)
If MS does not like that, I will get them a spoon so they can eat my ass.
Re:Came with a license? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Came with a license? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you put gnome on it, with a nice shiny interface and easy to use buttons, etc, I'd say linux is the best way to go with this. It'll last the longest, use the least ammount of battery, and if you keep the root password (unless they for some reason have a linux guru, who asks for the root password) after installing everything, they can't delete any system files on accident.
The same does not go for any version of Windows before NT.
Educational Linux...the info is right here... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Came with a license? (Score:3, Insightful)
I would say that even stronger, Linux works BETTER on old laptops. If I see how many of my colleagues have an awful time to get things like wireless, power management, etc. working on their latest/greatest notebooks, while I run various (at least 5-6) different distro's on mainly 4 year old Sony's and Fujitsu's (the PIII, 500-600Mhz type) and have no issues with video projectors, USB sticks, battery monitoring and suspension/hibernation, WiFi, PalmPilot interfacing, y
Re:Came with a license? (Score:3)
Re:Came with a license? (Score:3, Insightful)
Useful software (Score:5, Funny)
put 1 Gigabyte of JPG files of pretty California girls engaged in sexual activity.
They can erase it if they like with a simple:
Format c:\
Or, they can copy them to CDs and sell them. That way they can get enough money to buy several good PCs to go with the end-of-its-life donated PC that is being sent to them.
Label the files: 0001xyz.jpg; 0002xyz.jpg, ect...
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
I plan to load up an older version of Windows (or something free)
He wants an older version of Windows OR something free.
No one said anything about Windows being free. He isn't trying to pirate anything.
If you don't want to RTFA, at least RTFP(ost)
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:2)
"I plan to load up an older version of Windows OR something free,
You read it
I plan to load up an older version of Windows or SOMETHING free
That's how I read it and it sounds like he's implying that older versions of Windows are free.
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:2)
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:2)
I guess the same way it was modded funny. Its actually good advice, which is why i said install Linux in previous post: so if they get other computers, they can use the same OS without breaking the law or paying money.
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:3, Informative)
Quite easily on Slashdot.
Certain comments, like the grandparent, always come up when certain topics are raised. While many of these are 'funny' (Soviet Russia, beowulf clusters, frist psot) and get modded as such, some are not, and can be marked as Redundant, even though the comment is the first of its type in a thread.
Complaining that the original poster is pirating software is worthless, but done in almost every single case where someone makes a vague refer
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:2)
People should always be made to follow the letter of the law and feel the costs where windows is concerned.
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:3, Informative)
Actually most proud owners an older version of windows are still pirating it if they install it on a laptop. Most of those proud owners, own OEM licenses which are only valid on the computer they came with.
Perhaps you didn't realize those oem versions of windows that come preinstalled have a special license agreement, are tied exclusively to the computer they came on, and are non-transferable in the event of a resale?
Re:Older Versions of Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
But there are also the several thousand people who have never seen a slashdot story before, fresh faces reading the comments on any given article. And some messages are important enough for them to see for the first time as well. Even if they do drive US up the fscking wall
Real Lives (Score:2, Insightful)
Openoffice (Score:5, Insightful)
Civ and SimCity type games (Score:5, Insightful)
Those are educational and addictive enough. And are not American centric.
Ted
Re:Civ and SimCity type games (Score:2)
Re:Civ and SimCity type games (Score:4, Informative)
In Uganda "Sim City" would be an extremely unfamiliar game, completely out-of-step with the realities of life even in Kampala.
There is no concept of "urban planning" in most African countries; it might not be "American-centric" but the game is highly prejudiced toward a western mindset.
Re:Civ and SimCity type games (Score:3, Funny)
OT: your .sig (Score:2)
Tubgoat [google.com]
Now you can change that disturbing .sig
My own experience (Score:5, Insightful)
I had loaded a copy of Microsoft Encarta on the PC and they absolutlely loved that!
Re:My own experience (Score:5, Interesting)
That's a good idea. Better might be the Wikipedia. there's probably one in whatever language they speak (well, I guess that would be English in Uganda.) and is certainly one in English.
You can download the Wikipedia database [wikimedia.org], export out static pages, and shove those on the computer. I'm pretty sure there's software to do this.
Of course, you'll end up with a lot of Star Trek and Middle-earth articles, as well as an article for every tiny town in the US, at least if you use the English database. You could sort out useful subsets using things like their new categories system.
Maybe I should ask a MediaWiki-knowledgeable person to post. I'm mostly just a user.
Uganda country profile ... languages (Score:2)
Says that English is official language, then Swahili. There must be stuff in Kswahili around.
Re:My own experience (Score:2, Insightful)
So even though wikipedia sounds good, it is rather bland and dull to the average person. Encarta is a winner in this case.
Give it to Uconnect (Score:3, Informative)
While you're at it... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:While you're at it... (Score:2)
Re:While you're at it... (Score:2, Insightful)
Check into Linux For Kids (Score:5, Interesting)
I think they have multilingual games... Or maybe it's just their website.
Celestia (Score:5, Informative)
The OpenCD! (Score:5, Informative)
CB
Why don't you ask the recipients? (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not saying they won't want computers, but you shouldn't assume that they might not be better off with the money you get selling it on ebay. Even a 100 bucks / euros / whatever could buy a lot of other teaching materials that may be more needed.
Send licenses (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Send licenses (Score:2)
Fell for the spam, eh? (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Sir,
I am Umbumbo Bumbalilo of Uganda. PLease send your Laptop.
Thank you.
Umbumbo Bumbalilo
Do they speak English? (Score:4, Insightful)
--
Only 5 Gmail invitations left! [retailretreat.com]
Educational games? (Score:4, Funny)
IN YEAR 1997, 97,234 PEOPLE STARVED, 0 CAME TO THE CITY.
POPULATION IS NOW 2,123,872
THE CITY NOW OWNS 543,213 ACRES
RATS ATE 1,234,612 BUSHELS
YOU NOW HAVE 5,190,212 BUSHELS IN STORE
YOU WERE DONATED 1 LAPTOP
YOU STARVED 97,234 PEOPLE IN ONE YEAR!!!!
DUE TO THIS EXTREME MANAGEMENT YOU HAVE NOT ONLY
BEEN IMPEACHED AND THROWN OUT OF OFFICE BUT YOU
HAVE ALSO BEEN DECLARED A NATIONAL FINK!!!!
SO LONG FOR NOW
What level are the kids at? (Score:4, Informative)
Childsplay [sourceforge.net]
OFSET [sourceforge.net]
Tux Typing [sourceforge.net]
and that was just in 5 minutes on Source Forge [sf.net]
The Gutenberg Project (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The Gutenberg Project (Score:2)
Good idea, here's a link to the gutenberg cd project [gutenberg.net].
-jim
Re:The Gutenberg Project (Score:2)
Even if they do speak English, classic (i.e. European) literature may not be all the useful. How valuable would you find the works of an Egyptian author, even if you read the language?
Re:The Gutenberg Project (Score:2)
Regardless of that, even if you are the stereotypical monolingual anglo-saxon, do you not enjoy literature from other countries (Adams, Tolkien,
Of course Gutenberg includes increasing numbers of non-english texts, even ignoring translations
Include a compiler or interpreter (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Include a compiler or interpreter (Score:3, Funny)
how useful? (Score:3, Insightful)
Linux as the OS (there are tons of language options), Open Office for docs, ALL the standard Linux games that come with typical distros to first expose the kids to computing and get them used to using a computer. Most dont use text, so language is irrelevant, and they teach basic thought skills. (Tux Racer may seem weird to them, watching a penguin belly flop on snow trying to catch herring is not a typical scene in Africa
Suse 9.1 (you can buy a home rolled copy on ebay for $10, shipping and all) is an EXCELLENT distro. 5 CDs and unreal amounts of software. Fedora is a decent choice as well. Choose to install all the extra games with Gnome as well.
One of the biggest advantages of using Linux instead of Windows is that they can copy it to other computers they get without breaking any laws, so everyone can use the same platform, making training and maintenance easier, and support is available in many languages from many people. Another advantage is the ability to have true multiple users on the system without the threat of screwing up someone elses files, and you can't delete the system files by accident if you are not root. (win9x is dangerous for newbs in that way).
The average win9x system comes with less than 300mb of software (200mb of it bloat), but you can install up to 4+ gigs of software from a good Linux distro, so its easier to prep the box and make it useful, using all Free software. Or you can install much less and still have a great system.
Also, using Linux, your gift is less likely to become a source of trojaned spam in the future
Re:how useful? (Score:3, Insightful)
And why won't they be able to configure Linux for themselves? Believe it or not, it's not necessarily that difficult, and if it's been set up before, there may n
Great Idea :) (Score:2, Interesting)
My parents are currently in Ethiopia where they run a library for students to study for their high school graduation exams. The tests are required to pass high school and get into college, and the books are in such short supply that t
I dont know what it is... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I dont know what it is... (Score:2)
Re:I dont know what it is...because hes right (Score:3, Insightful)
As long as the thing works, there's nothing wrong with donating it. Although, I would suggest he replace the finicky cd-rom before sending it off. It may not be any use to him (having been replaced by newer hardware) but that doesnt make it useless. The fact that
Burn project gutenberg CDs (Score:5, Informative)
Bang: you've just donated a library not an obsolet laptop!
Re:Burn project gutenberg CDs (Score:2)
Re:Burn project gutenberg CDs (Score:3, Informative)
The question here is... (Score:4, Insightful)
I know it sounds silly, but you should ask the people you are donating to what specifically they need. It is much better for them if they get something they don't need to make any modifications to whatsoever. They will have some experience in the field and will have dealt with many people like you. Maybe they are more concerned about the shape of the hardware (perhaps they will format it as soon as they get it and put their own stuff on it).
So ask. :)
octave (Score:5, Informative)
Re:octave (Score:2)
And be sure to get lots of goodies from the octave-forge project on sourceforge.net
If you learn how and why everything in octave works, you'll be a damn fine engineer.
Which part of Uganda is the school? (Score:5, Informative)
Freeduc (Score:4, Informative)
If you go the windows route (which frankly I don't recommend) I'd go with OpenOffice [openoffice.org], TheOpenCD [theopencd.org] and Gnuwin II [gnuwin.epfl.ch] for lots of free software.
Dave.
Here's a must- have (Score:3, Informative)
Hey, don't they say math is the universal language?
The OS License is Probably bound to the LT! (Score:3, Informative)
I work for a school district, so we are in the position to accept donated gear, and we have been around and around with donated Microsoft OS's. If there is a Windows OS sticker on the unit, you can send the laptop with that OS intact and it will be legal! That is, of course, unless you purchased the LT without an OS and bought a retail OS off the shelf, in which case you still would own the OS, or actually just have the rights to borrow it from MS since that is the way most licenses are worded anyway.
Re:The OS License is Probably bound to the LT! (Score:2)
And working for your school district makes you an expert in Ugandan copyright law, how? Stop spreading FUD.
LOGO (Score:2, Funny)
** Mod Parent up! ** (Score:2)
kde 3.2 and gcompris (Score:2)
Ok... I should admit something. I've never used kde in kiosk mode, but I've heard its cool. Sounds like it should suit the bill, no?
Try helping America first. (Score:2, Insightful)
My question is, why in the world are you sending it to another country? There are plenty of students right here in the U.S. that could use this hardware. I am all for helping out other countries, but I feel that we should take care of our own first. When all of our students have laptops, then we should consider sending them to other contries.
k12ltsp.org (Score:2, Interesting)
let 'em have fun...put it in their language...
all jazzy and juicy!!! They'll love it!!
Especially the educational games!
--Huck
I'm suprised. (Score:2)
1. A 4 year old laptop, regardless of what is running, will not last a day on a battery. I'd be quite suprised to see it go 60 minutes.
2. Why not games like Oregon Trail. For the love of all that's holy, why would you assume that Oregon trail would "confuse" them. Let them learn what OT is! Sweet jubus, They might actually learn something about an area outside the 10mile radius around their village.
3. Give them tools. BASIC, C, Java, whatever. Some ma
ROTT (Score:3, Funny)
I heartily recommend Rise of the Triad [3drealms.com].
It is very imporant for all of the children of the world to learn of the dangers of The Triad.
Typing tutor (Score:5, Informative)
I need suggestions for educational games
I taught computer literacy in Ghana, West Africa (see my site [vocaro.com]), and I didn't find much use for games, educational or otherwise. For one, such software usually assumes a native-level English language ability, which I doubt any student in Uganda will have. Also, you have to keep in mind that most students there may never have even seen a computer before. They will likely be intimidated even by the most basic educational software.
You know what program my students really loved? Notepad! None of them had ever used a computer, so the chance just to type their names was a huge thrill. It helped them overcome their fear of the computer and move on to more advanced programs...such as Minesweeper. (Seriously! They loved it.) They also loved Paint for similar reasons; it was a great way for them to learn how to use the mouse. So, instead of fancy games or educational software, I recommend supplying a simple typing tutor with your laptop. The students will likely benefit from and enjoy it far more than any game.
However, I did find that certain educational titles such as The Way Things Work [utexas.edu] are helpful as visual aids for science lessons. They do not provide much benefit when used by students alone (again, because of the language barrier and intimidation), but when used by a teacher as part of a group lesson, they can be quite useful.
any great ideas on where I can acquire copies of this software?
Half.com [half.com] has lots of stuff available second-hand. I've picked up software there for one or two dollars per title.my drive doesn't work 80% of the time
Then perhaps there is no point donating this laptop. Without a CD-ROM, it will be nearly impossible for the recipient to add new software, upgrade the OS, etc. And I doubt they will have the ability to fix or replace what is likely a proprietary part. I strongly suggest getting the drive replaced before sending it, or at least providing an external one as an alternative. (You can get second-hand ones pretty cheap.) Otherwise, the gift you are sending could be just a liability.
TrevorAbandonware Software (Score:3, Informative)
Tux Paint! (Score:5, Informative)
Other stuff from Tux4Kids [tux4kids.com] would be good, as well. All/most of it is cross-platform and, of course, open source.
-bill!
Send Learning, Not Technology (Score:3, Insightful)
After spending some time in Eastern Africa, at times dealing with technology concerns, most villages don't have the resources to take advantage of software applications in reality. For example, what good is OpenOffice if they don't have a printer, toner cartridges, and paper? Also, climate control might be difficult for them, so just keeping any of this stuff operational is going to be a huge undertaking.
Maybe give them an archive of Wikipedia or HowStuffWorks would even be better! What good is Celestia when they need to learn how to fix a motorbike or a radio? Or health information?
Especially if the equipment isn't being sent to a *large* city, then the dust, humidity, shipment, and general treatment is going to send the equipment to the graveyard pretty soon anyways.
Sell your laptop on Ebay ... (Score:2)
Sounds like a dumb question. (Score:2)
Robot Odyssey in Java! (Score:2)
FYI, it requires JRE1.4.2 and is free for personal or educational use.
gcompris (Score:2)
I was expecting this to have been posted already, didn't see it anywhere though ... didn't look at the age range (did you mention one?) but this is good stuff for primary ages (under 11).
http://www.ofset.org/gcompris [ofset.org]
They also mention: http://childsplay.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]
Plus, I'd make sure they have KStars, it's awesome and the Ugandans are likely to be very familiar with alot of constellations (I'm assuming light polution there is low).
Wikipedia (Score:3, Interesting)
Similarly there are open source content sites like planetmath.org [planetmath.org]. I think there are similar sites in other discplines worth sending along.
I'd also think about toolsets that might be of use in the third world like cad software and the like.
If you have disk space (or get the CD working), collections of art and photographs would be good too. Toss in a copy of the Gimp.
Finally, music generation software would probably be very popular.
Notes from the field.... (Score:2, Informative)
I'm currently doing a volunteer IT gig in the South Pacific. I'm not saying it will be the same in Uganda, but in my experience, when computers go to schools, they go to administrators and teachers first. Consider putting straightforward office software on it, as well as educational goodies.
And... DO NOT put Microsoft anything on, if you can avoid it. Even trivial bugs can make a computer useless if it's unsupported. Spend some time configuring a bullet-proof installation of Linux with OO.o, and everything
Software in Zaire (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're going to donate software, just remember that most people in Africa do not speak English.
1. Outlook and a browser would be first on the list. Congolese want to explore and the most impotant thing for them is exploring the world through WWW and keeping in touch with loved ones.
2. Second on the list is antivirus and anti-spyware. After various worms like Blaster receed here, they persist for months in the RDC because no one protect their computers. I often hear about the crippling effect viruses have on computers there.
3. With few printers and no projectors, Powerpoint, Excel, and Word are possibly over the top.
4. RPGs, Strategy game would just not make sense . Sport, Racing, and first person shooter would be a better choice.
She says that the situation there is dire. The school system is rudimentary and most have never seen or touched a computer. The average person there finishes school before 6th grade to work. Most work laborful jobs, the lucky ones work as maids, sentinels, chauffers, and other service jobs making $30-$50 a month.
With computers costing twice as much there than here and Cybercafes charging several dollars an hours, very little of the population can afford computing of any kind. FYI, With almost no phones lines, everyone uses cellular phones and to connect to an ISP, you need to buy a $1000 transmitter that gives you about 6 Kilobytes max a second. The monthly charge is > $100 a month.
In 2003 and then in 2004, They had an Internet Festival aka "Fête de l'Internet" [digitalcongo.net] . The most popular booth was by far the President's booth. He had some computers with free internet access and there was apparently a line around the corner to use this access.
A craigslist for RDC called infoCongo [infocongo.com] was started and this is one of the most popular sites there. Unfortunatley, with a small amount of user base, what's popular there looks quite void to US Standards.
Don't Waste Your Shipping Money (Score:5, Interesting)
Many American charities and organizations send used equipment to Africa. One of the principle functions to the giant tax write-off foundation that Bill Gates created years ago was to send brand new computers to African schools. The net effect is that computers are not difficult to acquire and your laptop, although probably still appreciated, would be less useful than many other things you could send.
What they really need, as I understand it, are plan, old everyday books. The student-to-textbook ration in most schools is 20 to 1 or greater, and many libraries are downright pathetic. What books they have are arcane, products of the 1950's and 1960's. Since they speak (British) English in Uganda, why don't you do them a favor and ship some of your old textbooks, or some good children's stories instead. These will probably go a lot farther than a half-useable laptop.
Re:Why a laptop? (Score:3, Informative)
Anyone who doesn't know this idiot yet, read his post history or check here [google.com]. Known troll from the semi-olden days of Usenet that always falsely claims to be working at Nintendo, Sega, etc.
I say +1 Funny (Score:3, Informative)
(( That's not Super Mario brothers, you idiots, it's super MARX brothers! sheeh. ))
Re:I say +1 Funny (Score:2)
Now, how in the H*ll it got rated 'interesting' is another question. I think that somebody didn't pay close attention to the posting.
What did you think the purpose of his posting was?
Re:Why a laptop? (Score:2)
If that joke sounds familiar, check it out here [slashdot.org]
Re:Games don't vary power consumption (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Games don't vary power consumption (Score:2)
The "do nothing" command I'm talking about doesn't suspend, and is the instruction the "System Idle Process" accounts for.
The Suspend instruction occurs when the system has idled to some timeout, at which point several things cut out to save power, especially the screen.
If you have the urge to reply, BEFORE you do so, read up on this subject online. If you reply anyway, link to what you read.
Re:Games don't vary power consumption (Score:2)
Even if you don't enable power management on your x86-laptop, Linux will always issue the HLT instruction to your processor whenever nothing needs to be done [1]. Many Microsoft Windows CPU cooling program use this technique. This results in lowering the power consumption of your CPU. Note that the system doesn't power down when it receives the HLT instruction; it just stops executing instructions until there is an interrupt.
Battery-Powered-HOWTO [tldp.org] near the bottom of the last page.
Re:What to install... (Score:2)
Er..... (Score:2)