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Welcome
Welcome to the Open Slate Project Wiki. Please visit the Open Slate project web site for a general description of the project. Open Slate is a registered SourceForge project. If you have questions or comments you can post them to our forums. We also have a mailing list, openslate-brainstorms@lists.sourceforge.net, which you may sign up for at our registration page.
You must have an account on this wiki to contribute. To request account, send mail to Gary Dunn, OSP Project Leader.
Hardware
Slate
Slate:Brainstorming - A page to collect design ideas. See also Slate Hardware Design at the main project site.
Network
Servers
Network:Installing FreeBSD - A step-by-step beginner's guide to installing FreeBSD on servers.
Connectivity
Network:OSP Networking Overview - Networking requirements and proposed solutions.
Software
Operating System
Operating System:Installing FreeBSD 7.0 and GNOME - A step-by-step beginner's guide to installing FreeBSD in a desktop or laptop configuration.
Operating System:Installing FreeBSD 7.1 on the Fujitsu T1010 tablet PC - Notes on building a dual-boot install with FreeBSD 7.1 and Vista. (Dec. 2008)
Operating System:Installing Gnome on the Fujitsu T1010 tablet PC - Adding Gnome to a basic FreeBSD install. (Dec. 2008)
Operating System:Installing the linux-wacom driver on the Fujitsu T1010 tablet PC (Dec. 2008)
Operating System:Upgrade to Win7 / FreeBSD 8.0 / Ubuntu 9.10 - Upgrading Slate001 to a triple boot system. (Jan 2010)
Squeak Smalltalk Environment
Chalk Window Manager
Chalk Dust Ports
Chalk Dust Applications
Super Chalk Board Design (draft)
Inkscape as a Proof-of-Concept Whiteboad
Courseware
The primary goal of Chalk Dust is to create educational software for the Open Slate computer. Many subjects, including math, foreign language, and music theory, just to name a few, are suitable for creative interactive applications. On the other hand, many subjects can be taught without specialized software. A key Chalk Dust application, called Super White Board, is intended to provide a rich set of presentation and review features that can be used to present content in a standardized manner. These goals will take time to achieve, and in the meantime it seems like a good idea to get started developing content using a proven technology, a wiki.
Guidelines
- Chalk Dust content should specify a target age group or grade level, and strive to use suitable vocabulary and grammer.
- Avoid writing stand-alone articles on narrow topics. Look for ways to contribute to a succession of articles that build on one another and present a unified theme. For example, the topic The American Civil War should be presented in a series of articles that approach the subject in a variety of ways while creating a unified whole. The material on Abraham Lincoln could tie together with a separate thread on American Presidents.
- Work with teachers to design a series of lessons that fit their academic schedule. Consider organizing content by time reference, such as Day 1, Day 2 or Week 1, Week 2, etc.
- Use summaries and study questions to reinforce knowledge transfer.
- Offer additional information for those students who wish to go further.
- Here is one possible outline to follow:
- Introduction -- present new vocabulary and concepts
- Detailed Presentation -- vocabulary and concepts explained, examples given
- Review -- repetition is good
- Optional Extra Material
- Study Questions
- Good educational material is not just about content. Presentation is essential to maintaining interest. Do not count on students being as passionate about your favorite subject as you are.
- Subjects should be presented in a balanced manner. The more controversial the subject, the more important this becomes. Balance should not be achieved by sanitizing the material. Rather than avoid controversy, try to present all sides in an unbiased and respectful manner.
- Do not confuse opinion with fact. Beliefs are neither factual or theoretical.
Subjects
Chalk Dust courseware is organized by topic. With a few exceptions, the topics listed below follow typical K-12 practice.
Placing courses in topics is useful in determining what requirements a course fulfills, but it leads to compartmentalization. One of the goals of Chalk Dust is to break down the walls that isolate topics, to unify the learning experience by tying together information presented in different contexts. To this end, Chalk Dust courseware should be designed so that it can be listed under at least two topics. For example, a French language unit could use examples that describe pre-revolutionary life and current political events, and profiles of significant French scientists and mathematicians, the same material covered in history and science units. What makes this possible is the change from commercial content -- textbooks -- to open-source content.
Art
Athletics
English
History
Industrial Arts
Information Technology
Languages
Mathematics
Personal Development
Links
Just what you were looking for, links to other web sites!
Help with using MediaWiki software
The links that used to be here have been moved to the help page, which you can find in the navigation area along the left side of the page.
