Calling fanboys, seniors and all members here

[rhitwick]

@din, I agree with u...

Tell the teacher (i guess u've already done) that this course is not a mandatory one. Its only targeted to interested students. That way it wont cause extra pressure/nurden to students...etc. Put some senti stuff, like...u r very much grateful to them for the education and now u think u should give them back. They should not take this opportunity from u etc... (don't u see movies? )

Now, one thing I want to warn u, don't teach the children anything directly related to syllabus. Because, tomorrow when u won't be there, students may ask their students "but Din sir told something else", which will just embarrass them. (well, this is not a valid point, but it can happen)

 

[din]

@Crazykiller - Thank you for joining. Upgraded your status to admin in the wiki.

@rhitwick - Yes, I already mentioned it without hurting them. I told the IT teachers, it will be a burden if they have to take this class too, they will have to spend more time etc. Also mentioned, it may need not be me, but anyone from the IT field.

And yes, I was thinking about it yesterday, I mean the second point you mentioned ! But there are some which may overlap. For example, text book shows max capacity of a memory card as 4 GB or so. When I tell them it is 16 GB or more, that will be a small problem.

I am planning to warn the students never to mix up the course with the official syllabus. For the school exam, they have to write whatever is there in their text book, plus they should not show any 'superiority' in the regular class knowing lil more than the rest. I will sure keep this in mind, thanks for the point and it is sure a valid one.

 

[din]

OK, just checking.

Anybody has sound cards that you do not need anymore ? Like non working cards will be pretty OK too. I will pay the shipping charges. (Of course you are not supposed to charge for the non working sound card )

Idea is to show the students parts of computer. I already have (and purchased few parts like memory etc) working parts for the assembling session. But this is for them to have a look, not for assembling.

Like I have 56kbps modem, old network cards, floppy drive etc ! Which may be obsolete but can show them those. And can open things like HDD, CD drive (non working) and show them the internals. Good idea ?

 

[drgrudge]

din sir,
Awesome initiative. Unfortunately, I can't contribute much for various reasons (read excuses).

By the way, where is your school?

 

[din]

@drgrudge

Thank you. Happy to see you back in TDF after a long time.

No problem, I understand. If you have any suggestions/comments, please post here or even in chat.

School is in Wayanad District of Kerala state. Near to Kerala / Karnataka border. Typical village.

 

[din]

Gentle reminder (another name of bugging lol)

Those who contributed in the wiki site / posted their suggestions in this thread / those who are planning to contribute -

Would you please send the bio that I mentioned in the previous post ? I will be going to the village next week, creating a multimedia presentation (using openoffice) now.

I will mention the names of people behind this initiative and show their bios in the presentation.

 

[Aspire]

I'm still using an antique PC, so cant even think of contributing unless i get a new one

 

[din]

@rhitwick

Thank you, I see you added more content.

I will be leaving on Sunday. Will take a print out of the entire wiki to show the teachers. But please feel free to add/modify content after that too, as introduction, PC assembling class etc will take few weeks (seems only weekends can be used for taking the classes, but will confirm once I reach there).

 

[NucleusKore]

Sorry for being "away" for so long. My motherboard has gone for a warranty replacement. Am making do with my netbook for the time being

 

[din]

@NucleusKore

PC ok now? Please send resume once you get time ok ?

The students are having their exams this week. Will be able to go and give the intro talk on Monday.

I will keep you updated.

Wish me good luck

 

[rhitwick]

The students are having their exams this week. Will be able to go and give the intro talk on Monday.

Eagerly waiting for this day.
Well, going home this 18th for two weeks. Will be away from forum for the same duration. So, won't be able to celebrate wid u...

But...don't forget to post updates.

 

[NucleusKore]

@NucleusKore

PC ok now? Please send resume once you get time ok ?

The students are having their exams this week. Will be able to go and give the intro talk on Monday.

I will keep you updated.

Wish me good luck

I just got it back yesterday. Will send you the resume.

 

[din]

Finally !!!

Went to School yesterday. It was nice to be with the teachers and students again. Did the intro session and a small (open office impress) presentation explaining the course, why they need it, advantages etc etc. The students are really interested and eager to know latest things in IT.

Will be selecting the small group (16 numbers) by Monday (Will leave it to the students and teachers) and will be starting the regular classes from next week. May be 3 days a week or only on weekends. Yet to finalize on that.

Showed the names of all TDF members participated in the discussion and that of people who contributed and sent their resumes. They thought it is really a great thing as a group of people, especially from a wide variety of fields are behind this. The students and teachers asked me to convey their thanks and regards to all of you

Seems it is going in the right track even though it got delayed a bit. I will sure keep you updated.

Once again - Thank you all.

 

[infra_red_dude]

It is very heart-warming to hear about that. Hats off to you, Din for taking up the initiative!

 

[din]

I know this is bumping an old thread after about 1 year !

But, things didn't work as planned and the classes were not regular last year. Didn't get much days to spend with the students, So I had to stop in between.

I made a new plan and was testing it, yes, another crazy idea.

I started with the present batch of students - using voice and video chat

Yes, it is working pretty nice so far. Main advantage is, instead of going there and taking class, I can take class from here. Instead of long hr classes, can take class like thrice in a week or more. And the students are interested and picking up very fast. Actually much faster than what I thought.

The syllabus need some updates, like google buzz was not there last year, iPad was not in market and news like that ! I will keep in mind the new things when I take class. I am not going to make it 100% online but will use it maximum.

Once again, thanks a lot to all those who helped me in this venture and just keeping you updated that I didn't drop the plan Better late than never !

Note: ITJalakam site is under renewal process, will be up again next week - if anybody wondering what happened to the website.

 

[max_demon]

nice to know its coming back again.

 

[din]

The second day with video chat today. There were network issues and we got disconnected few times, but much better and relaxed pace in teaching now. 1 hr session from 09:00 to 10:00 in the morning.

Today's topic was E-Mail, history of E-Mail, functions, Gmail etc. I think it will take 1 or 2 classes more before going to the email clients! They are all excited as its all new to them, and the response so far is really good. Fast learners from village!

I will keep you updated.

 

[infra_red_dude]

The second day with video chat today. There were network issues and we got disconnected few times, but much better and relaxed pace in teaching now. 1 hr session from 09:00 to 10:00 in the morning.

Today's topic was E-Mail, history of E-Mail, functions, Gmail etc. I think it will take 1 or 2 classes more before going to the email clients! They are all excited as its all new to them, and the response so far is really good. Fast learners from village!

I will keep you updated.

I'm glad to hear this! And "fast learning" is very much influenced by "good teachers"!

 

[din]

The students with the help of Alumni and teachers conducted a small 'Install Fest' near their school. Mainly installing Ubuntu in few systems which was brought by the audience, then listing the open source alternatives in Windows etc. It was not just open source, but to make people aware of the advantages of IT.

Regarding classes, had two QA sessions and with today's class the 'Email' chapter is over. Moving to Email clients from tomo. I will keep you all updated.

 

[Liverpool_fan]

Installing Ubuntu? Nice. More exposure to FOSS, the better
Regarding E-Mail clients. hopefully you would discuss with Thunderbird or similar Open Source E-Mail Client than Outlook/Windows Mail