Technology & Learning November 2007 - (Page 22) District: Vassalboro Community School Snapshot: 550 K–8 students; 100 percent white, non-Hispanic; 39 percent students eligible for free or reducedprice lunch program Innovation: Introduced Linux-based thin clients throughout the school, as well as installing an entire thinclient computer lab Case Study: L inux Solution in Maine Getting It Off the Ground Vassalboro Community School, located in Central Maine along the banks of the Kennebec River, had used Linux in the server closet for several years, when David Trask, the school’s technology director, decided to conduct an experiment. “At first I introduced it to the kids, and then set up a small experimental lab,” he says. “Later that year I set up a kiosk out in the hallway with some dummy accounts and lots of printed screenshots showing people what they could do with Linux.” Even Trask was surprised by the reaction: “All day long kids and teachers alike stopped by and ‘played’ with the computer. About two weeks later I put out an e-mail asking for any teachers who would like additional computers in their rooms. I only got a few, but I got the ones I was aiming for.” With interest piqued, Trask was able to transform the school’s outmoded computer network by introducing thin-client–style computers from recycled Pentium 2 and Pentium 1 workstations. Once teachers saw how much the kids were writing and pub- 22 | www.techlearning.com PHOTO BY KAREN RAMSAY http://www.techlearning.com
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